Digital newspaper searches make former journalists' work accessible

Researching newspapers. The Hannibal Free Public Library offers access to The Hannibal Clipper, including issues from 1874, 1875 and 1877, via their website. Historic newspapers from Quincy, Ill., are accessible through the Quincy library's website. These newspapers off er researchers an unequalled perspective into the daily lives of ordinary citizens. These word-searchable newspaper archives and others like them are, in my opinion, the second most valuable element in existence today to foster an understanding history in the making at the grass-roots level. The true credit behind these search engines, however, belongs to the lowly and humble journalists, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes in order to describe the events of the day so that others could comprehend the significance of history in the making. Charles "Stern" Wheeler was just one of many journalistic heroes whose words live on so that we can understand what happened yesterday.