Digital Collections of Northwest Ohio update!

We’ve started to add digitized versions of the Toledo Jewish News to our online collection. Currently, we’re about halfway through the project with issues from 1997-2005 and 2013-2015 now available on our Ohio Memory website. This addition to our digital collection will be a great resource for genealogy research and will undoubtedly be invaluable for researching the history of the Toledo Jewish community. Once the project is complete, issues from 1938 to 2015 will be online. Additionally, we hope to add new issues to the collection as well. To access any issues not yet online, we encourage customers to use the microfilm copies of the newspaper available in the Local History and Genealogy Department on the third floor of the Main Library.

The collection is not only available for viewing, it is also keyword searchable. The system will search the metadata, as well as the full text of the newspaper for any keywords entered. I would recommend searching by name or event, but you can search using any keywords. You can also browse and search by date. To browse by decade, use the facets on the left-hand side of the screen.

The Toledo Jewish News is part of the Toledo Area Jewish History collection, which features other relevant materials. One such item is Toledo Calling, a bulletin published by B’Nai Women’s Auxiliary Number 398. This publication provided Toledo area happenings to Jewish Men and Women serving in the armed forces. The bound volume we have digitized includes issues from 1943 to 1945.

If you are interested in Jewish newspapers outside of the Toledo area, the Ohio History Connection has several other Jewish newspapers available online as well. They also have a list of Ohio’s digitized newspapers. Chronicling America is also a great resource for newspaper research, which features newspapers in the public domain, from 1789 to 1924.

This collection was made possible thanks to the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo. Our “Tracing Your Jewish Genealogy” program will be on Sunday, April 2, 2017 from 1:30-4 p.m. in the McMaster Center at Main Library. No registration is necessary. Free parking in the Main Library garage.

If you have any questions about this collection or genealogy research, please contact:

Local History and Genealogy Department 419.259.5233 lhisref@toledolibrary.org