The Digitizing Louisiana Newspapers Project (DLNP) is pleased to announce the 27 historical newspapers selected for digitization and inclusion in the Library of Congress's Chronicling America.  These selected titles will supplement the 55 Louisiana newspapers already available on Chronicling America --  a free, text-searchable database featuring historical newspapers from 29 states and the District of Columbia.

All Louisiana newspapers were selected by an advisory board comprised of genealogists, historians, educators, journalists and archivists with the intention of capturing the greatest wealth of Louisiana history from across the state.  The 27 newspapers currently being processed for digitization were published between 1836-1922 and 17 of these newspapers feature French and Spanish language content.

The Digitizing Louisiana Newspapers Project has been actively engaged in efforts to develop online access to historical Louisiana newspapers since receiving its initial grant for 2009-2011 as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) , a partnership sponsored by the Library of Congress and funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Following the successful conclusion of the two-year grant, DLNP was awarded a second grant in August 2011, allowing for further participation in this long-term effort to create a comprehensive database of U.S. newspapers.

In addition to the endeavors involved in preparing these newspapers for digitization, Project Manager Laura Charney will be promoting use of the Chronicling America site and the DLNP titles at a number of outreach events over the next 18 months.  Recent outreach events include presentations given at the Natchitoches Parish Library, Louisiana Library Association's Annual Conference, and at LSU-Shreveport's Noel Memorial Library. More speaking events are forthcoming.

For more information on the Digitizing Louisiana Newspapers Project or DLNP outreach events, visit www.lib.lsu.edu/special/cc/dlnp, or email Laura Charney lcharn1@lsu.edu.

2011-2013 Newspaper Titles:

Baton Rouge Gazette† (Baton Rouge), 1837-1853

The Caucasian (Shreveport), 1900-1922

The Donaldsonville Chief (Donaldsonville), 1871-1922

The Feliciana Democrat (Clinton), 1855-1859

Houma Ceres†  (Houma), 1855-1858

The Houma Courier† (Houma), 1879-1922

The Lafayette Advertiser†  (Lafayette), 1869-1914

The Louisiana Cotton-Boll† (Lafayette), 1873-1879

Le Louisianais† (Convent), 1865-1881

Louisianian (New Orleans), 1870-1871

The Meridional† (Abbeville), 1877-1906

Le Meschacébé† (Lucy), 1854-1922

Le Messager†  (Bringier), 1851-1855

New Orleans Daily Crescent (New Orleans), 1851-1866

The New Orleans Daily Democrat (New Orleans), 1877-1880

The Opelousas Courier† (Opelousas), 1852-1910

El Pelayo‡ (New Orleans), 1851

Pioneer of Assumption† (Napoleonville), 1877-1895

Le Pioneer de l’Assomption† (Napoleonville), 1850-1855

The Planters’ Banner†  (Franklin), 1849-1871

Pointe Coupee Democrat†  (New Roads), 1858-1862

Semi-weekly Louisianian (New Orleans), 1871-1872

The Southern Sentinel (Winnfield), 1884-1909

The South-western (Shreveport), 1854-1870

St. Landry Clarion† (Opelousas), 1890-1921

St. Tammany Farmer (Covington), 1878-1922

Sugar Planter (Port Allen), 1856-1919

True American (New Orleans), 1835-1839

The Weekly Louisianian †  (New Orleans), 1872-1882

† Features French language content

‡ Features Spanish language content