2Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Addison Public Library
Addison, Illinois
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Addison.
1989 to 2010Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
198,700Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Addison, Illinois.
Discover another side of Addison, Illinois through newspapers preserved in the Addison Public Library's digital archive. The archive includes Addison Press and Press, with material from 1989 to 2010.
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Selected titles
In the collection shared by Addison Public Library, you will find “Addison Press” and “Press”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.
The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Explore Addison Press and Press through 198,700 digitized pages, with material from 1989 to 2010. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Addison Public Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.
Addison Press
67,306 pages from 1989 to 2005
Press
131,394 pages from 1993 to 2010
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More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Look for the story behind a result
The history of Addison includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Addison Public Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.
After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.
Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Addison Public Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
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March 18, 2025
It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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