26Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Perry Public Library
Perry, Iowa
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Perry.
1874 to 2025Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
516,218Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Perry, Iowa.
Discover another side of Perry, Iowa through newspapers as well as photographs and illustrations preserved in the Perry Public Library's digital archive. Its twenty-six titles include material from 1874 to 2025. The collection also includes newsletters, briefs or bulletins.
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Selected titles
The titles shared by Perry Public Library include “Bulletin” and “The Weekly Chief”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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Different views of the past
An image adds a visual perspective on the past. Look at what it actually shows, keeping any caption or date with the detail that draws you in. A newsletter, brief or bulletin brings its readers’ concerns into focus, preserving the subjects its creators chose to share.
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
Browse twenty-six titles and 516,218 digitized pages, with material from 1874 to 2025. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Perry Public Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
Every search for the past starts with a question. Explore the titles below, follow the sources that speak to it, and see what new detail appears.
Bulletin
404 pages from 1893 to 1894
Chief Advertiser
4,232 pages from 1937 to 1941
Chief Reporter
9,526 pages from 1896 to 1910
Dallas County Today
2 pages in 2020
Dexfield Reivew-Sentinel
25,244 pages from 1960 to 1978
History of the Minburn Area 1869-1989 Centennial
234 pages in 1969
Minburn Centennial Pageant Program
8 pages in 1969
Minburn Centennial Photos
54 pages in 1969
Minburn Photos
292 pages in 2018
Perry Bulletin
1,674 pages from 1894 to 1896
Perry Chief
5,936 pages from 2014 to 2019
Perry Pilot
1,360 pages from 1882 to 1885
Reporter
756 pages from 1892 to 1893
Sesquicentennial 150 Year Celebration Photos
296 pages in 2019
Singing Wheels Photos
416 pages from 1956 to 1963
Singing Wheels Program
184 pages from 1955 to 1963
Skating Pageant Narrative
44 pages in 1969
The Minburn Booster
12,290 pages from 1954 to 1971
The Perry Advertiser
39,546 pages from 1886 to 1916
The Perry Chief
57,564 pages from 1874 to 2025
The Perry Chief And Perry Pilot
1,044 pages from 1886 to 1887
The Perry Daily Chief
338,162 pages from 1894 to 2001
The Perry Daily Chief And Advertiser
9,244 pages from 1916 to 1919
The Perry Press
5,782 pages from 1935 to 1942
The Prohibition Journal
1,876 pages from 1910 to 1915
The Weekly Chief
48 pages in 1910
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About the Library
About The Perry Public Library
The Perry Public Library strives to provide wide-ranging opportunities, space, services, and resources for all members of the community to expand their knowledge, increase understanding, and gain perspective about our diverse and amazing world. The library serves the residents of Perry and Dallas County by providing resources to educate and entertain all patrons throughout the community and stimulate their imaginations. Additionally, the library offers a safe, comfortable place for individuals to enjoy and for the community to gather, and endeavors to inform patrons about their community and the resources it offers.
Library History
The History Of The Perry Public Library
The Perry Public Library has a rich history of serving the local community. Established to provide educational resources and a gathering place for residents, the library has grown to become a cornerstone of the Perry community. Over the years, the library has expanded its services to include a wide range of programs and technological resources, ensuring that it remains a vital and relevant institution in the community.
About the Community
About The City of Perry
Designated as one of Iowa's "Great Places," Perry boasts a combination of arts, history, culture, commerce, and recreation, unmatched to any other of its size. Perry's walkable downtown is home to more than 30 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, multiple arts and culture festivals, as well as several murals and public art pieces, including four sculptures along the Willis Avenue boulevard that pay tribute to Perry's historical ties to the railroad, agriculture, industry, and the arts.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Keep publication context with a finding
A familiar name or place can lead to a new view of Perry. Use the newspaper titles shared by the Perry Public Library to explore how newspapers described the subject in their own time, and compare available accounts before extending one report into a wider community story. Note the newspaper title, issue date, and page for a useful report. Compare another account where available, and keep differences in timing or perspective visible rather than blending them into a single version.
Save the newspaper title, issue date, and page, then compare another dated account where available. Keep differences in timing and perspective visible so the source context is not lost. If the accounts disagree, record what each source supports and use the difference to shape a further search rather than smoothing them into one version.
A research trail is most useful when it leaves room for what is not yet known. Record the title, date, and page or item reference where available, along with what remains uncertain and which question you want to follow next. Those details help keep a possible connection from becoming an unsupported conclusion.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Perry 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.
May 7, 2025
Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
Preserving documents on microfilm has been a popular method of storage for many years, and it still holds many benefits today. Here…
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May 7, 2025
Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
In the quest to trace our roots and understand our heritage, obituaries often serve as a crucial starting point. Obituaries are undoubtedly…
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April 9, 2025
Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
Even the most esteemed police forces in the county encounter perplexing cold case files. These unsolved mysteries often leave investigators and genealogists…
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. This week in history, there is absolutely nothing to talk about… April Fools! April…
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. It has officially been a year since I started writing This Week in History,…
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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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