Tips for Historical Writers – Anne R. Allen’s Blog… with Ruth Harris
— Read on annerallen.com/2020/09/tips-for-historical-writers/
Great article and excellent tips for researching historical true crimes. I would submit that similar research requirements and sources can and should be used in historical fiction as well. With more and more newspapers getting digitized and available online it may be worth a yearly subscription to https://newspapers.com, one of the largest online private collections of newspapers from around the world.
I would caution you here about one thing though. The search function on this site is not as accurate as it could be yet. When you digitized microfilm into PDF the software can only do so much with its text recognition feature. It greatly depends on the original microfilm copies. Light and/or blurry text can not be categorized properly.
With patience and knowing specific dates, you can sit and read each edition of the newspapers around that date and place. For those researching in Florida, like me, the University of Florida offers free access to the newspapers they have digitized from around the state. For some reason, they haven’t included Jacksonville’s newspapers. You have to go to the main library and slog through their microfilm. Some kind soul did try to create an index which is available online that might help. And quite a few of the rural newspapers haven’t been done yet either.
