California Digital Newspaper Collection

The California Digital Newspaper Collection (or CDNC) needs your help. This freely accessible database contains searchable scans of 1,442,777 newspaper issues comprising 21,623,444 pages and 53,713,870 articles. It is a great resource. If you like doing research, as I do, and are interested in Louise Brooks (who lived and worked in California) or film history (the industry has long been based in the state), local / regional history, or family history (genealogy), the closure of this valuable resource would be a great loss. All history is local.... Don't let history be forgot. 

The CDNC has, so far, received five grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize California newspapers for the National Digital Newspaper Program. Titles digitized as part of the NDNP are available on the CDNC website and at the Library of Congress Chronicling America website -- another great resource for researchers and history buffs. 

The CDNC, which faces the potential loss of state funding, has recently lost foundation and federal (NEH) funding support. It has also been subject to DOS attacks. 

If you live in California or the United States, write to your representative and tell them you support funding for this resource. If you live outside the United States, spread the word that this resource exists. Also, the CDNC is eager to know what users think of this site. Please email your comments to cbsrinfo@ucr.edu.

In my never ending quest to uncover all things Louise brooks, I have made use of this site dozens of times. During my last visit, for example, I dug through newspapers from Gold Rush San Francisco looking for and finding mentions of  Frank Wedekind's parents. Readers of this blog might recall that Wedekind, the author of the Lulu plays, had roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. His parents lived there, and Frank was conceived there, before his parents returned to Germany.  

The site has a bunch of Los Angeles and Southern California newspapers, including, most importantly, the Los Angeles Daily News. I have found a handful of significant articles and clippings in papers from Los Angeles (including a Spanish-language title) and nearby Palm Springs. Here are just a couple three examples.

Palm Springs Desert Sun

 

Los Angeles Opinion

Los Angeles Daily News

 

Show your support, and visit the California Digital Newspaper Collection  today.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2025. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.