Newspapers

While the information contained in newspapers is a wonderful resource, the papers themselves were never meant to last for longer than it took to read them. To keep printing costs down, they are printed on very cheap, acidic paper that becomes yellow and brittle when exposed to light and air. They become very fragile and cannot endure much handling. So what’s an archive to do?

Our solution is to microfilm the newspapers and discard the original papers. Properly stored microfilm can last much longer than paper, takes up much less space, and can survive excessive handling and viewing.

But there are some things microfilm is not good at. One of those is reproducing the gray shades in photographs in the papers. This is why the newspaper photographs usually appear very dark and hard to see.

Is there an index to all the newspapers published in Wyoming?

• No. Some indexes to obituaries have been developed for selected years of some papers, but the vast majority of the papers remain unindexed. If you are searching for articles published before 1923, you are in luck. The Wyoming Newspapers site is fully word searchable.

How can I access newspapers published after 1923?

• The easiest way to view newspapers published after 1923 in Wyoming is to visit us here at the Archives. If that is impractical, you can also request the microfilm through the University of Wyoming. Contact the InterLibrary Loan staff at your local library for more information. Also, most county libraries in Wyoming have microfilm of their local newspapers.

Can I request a copy of a particular article from the newspaper if I cannot visit myself?

• Yes! Since the newspapers are not indexed, we ask that you provide a location and general date (within a month or less) and our staff and research volunteers will look through the papers for you. Due to staffing and research load, we are unable to spend more than one hour per researcher fulfilling these requests. Also, keep in mind that county libraries sometimes have indexes to their local papers, often created by enterprising local genealogical groups!

How current are the newspapers in your collection?

• The Wyoming State Archives actively collects newspapers published in Wyoming. We now use a vendor to microfilm the newspapers, so papers less than 3 months old may not be available for research onsite. If you are looking for recent issues not yet available on microfilm, please contact the Wyoming State Library.

I’m looking for a photograph published in the newspaper. Can you help?

• Sometimes. Some images printed in the newspaper have made it into our holdings either as a collection or individually.

• Collections include:
  • Francis Brammar - Wyoming Tribune and Wyoming Eagle (Cheyenne) ca 1920-1970s
  • R.D. Martin/Saratoga Sun Collection - Saratoga Sun (Saratoga) 1910s
  • Kathryn Gress Collection - Wyoming Tribune Eagle (Cheyenne) 1960s-2000 (coming soon!)
  • Cheyenne Star Collection - Cheyenne Star (Cheyenne) 1960s-1970s