Tama County Historical Society & Genealogical Library
200 N. Broadway
Toledo, IA 52342
641-484-6767
Tama County Historical Society Launches Historic Newspapers Digitization Project
TOLEDO–The Tama County Historical Society has launched the next phase of its newspaper digitization project with the addition of the Traer Star-Clipper searchable online archives, covering historic Traer newspapers from 1874-1941.
The addition of the Star-Clipper archives comes one year after the historical society launched a digital archive for the Toledo Chronicle covering 1873-1925. Both newspaper archives are housed on the website https://tamacounty.historyarchives.online.
“Preserving our county history is at the core of our work,” said Elizabeth Reece, president of the Tama County Historical Society and Genealogical Library. “Digitizing the newspaper archives makes access to these tremendous historic records more accessible to not just Tama County residents, but anyone with Tama County roots or an interest in our region.”
Digitization was completed by Advantage Preservation in Cedar Rapids. The first phase was funded entirely by historical society member donations. The second phase, which includes the Traer newspapers, was done in partnership with the Traer Historical Museum and supported in part by grants from the Tama County Community Foundation and Traer Community Foundation, as well as private donations.
“The support for this project has been tremendous,” Reece said. “The Traer Historical Museum has been an incredible partner in this effort, and we look forward to exploring more partnerships in the future to continue this initiative.”
Phase three is currently underway, thanks to a memorial from the Burnell and Rachel (DuToit) Butler family. The Tama Citizen, Tama County Republican, Tama Herald (1894), Tama Free Press, Iowa Transcript (Toledo), LeGrand Reporter, Oxford Weekly Reporter (Montour), Toledo Times, and Tama County Democrat are currently being processed and will be available on the website later this year.
The historical society is now looking into gaining copyright permission to digitize issues published after 1941, as well as adding newspapers from other Tama County towns. Anyone interested in supporting the digitization effort can contact the Tama County Historical Society at 641-484-6767 or [email protected].
Published June 11, 2019
Thank you to the supporters who make this digitization effort possible
In memory of Robert (Bob) Benda
In memory of Donald Blake
Cynthia Gage
Peggy Homalor
Nancy Jensen
Norma Nash
Connie Pugh
Stephen Rebik
Beth Richards
Cathy VanEycke
Judy Butler
Orford Weekly Leader
Tama Co. Union
Tama Co. Republican
Tama Citizen
Garwin Sun
Garwin Gazette
Garwin Star
Garwin News
The Amateur Star
Le Grand Record
Le Grand Herald
Le Grand Reporter
The titles listed to the right have been digitized by Judy Butler in memory of Burnell and Rachel Butler.
In Memory of
Burnell and Rachel Butler
Tama County Historical Society Announces Expansion of Digital Newspaper Archives
TOLEDO–The Tama County Historical Society is excited to announce the successful completion of the next phase of its ongoing newspaper preservation and digitization project, making historic newspapers from the earliest days of Tama County to 1960 freely available online for the public to explore and research.
These newly digitized newspapers are now accessible at https://tamacounty.historyarchives.online. This significant milestone was made possible by the efforts of Advantage Preservation, a leader in historic preservation and digital archiving, and funded through private donations and a $5,000 grant from the Tama County Community Foundation.
This latest phase builds upon the success of previous digitization efforts, which began in 2018 with the digitization of Toledo newspapers (1873–1925), funded entirely by member donations. Phase 2 in 2019 expanded the project to include Traer newspapers (1874–1941), thanks to the support of the Traer Historical Museum, the Traer Community Foundation, and the Tama County Community Foundation. A generous memorial gift made it possible to digitize newspapers from Garwin, Le Grand, and early Tama, and in 2020, Phase 3 added papers from Tama, Dysart, Garwin, and Gladbrook to the collection.
The latest phase was led by Diane Caloud, Vice President of the Tama County Historical Society, who worked closely with Advantage Preservation to ensure the project’s continued success.
The next phase of this important preservation project will include digitizing newspaper titles through 1978, as well as microfilm copies of all titles up to the present day. These materials will be made available at the Historical Society’s genealogy library.
The Tama County Historical Society encourages anyone interested in supporting this ongoing project to consider making a donation. For more information or to contribute, please contact the society at 641-484-6767 or [email protected].
Published September 12, 2025