Share

April 29, 2024
Toben Traver works on his digitization project

Toben Traver Project Manager for the NEH-funded New Hampshire Digital Newspaper Project with Digital by Dartmouth Libraries

Two Centuries of American Life

Explore the dynamic interplay of historical moments and societal contradictions in an illuminating Library of Congress interview with our colleague Toben Traver, Project Manager for the NEH-funded New Hampshire Digital Newspaper Project. Toben reveals how project members meticulously selected papers spanning two centuries of American history, those papers' historical contexts, and the project team’s hope that by digitizing these multi-perspective papers, everyone will have access to a first draft of history.

From our vantage, it’s easy to think of history as predefined and knowable. However, in reading these papers, we were confronted with how alive and contested each documented moment was. In our daily work preparing microfilm for digitization and reviewing data from our vendors, we encountered the contradictions rife throughout American history.

Toben Traver
logos for National Endowment for the Arts, Dartmouth Libraries, New Hampshire Historical Society, and University of New Hampshire

The NDNP is a long-term partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress to develop a free, searchable database of U.S. Newspapers from all states and territories. Dartmouth Libraries' is a collaborative partner with the New Hampshire State LibraryNew Hampshire Historical Society, and University of New Hampshire. Check out New Hampshire's contribution to Chronicling America.

Back to top