1 Oklahoma Newspaper Digitization Project 1. Description of the Project

Oklahoma Newspaper Digitization Project 1. Description of the Project For the National Digital Newspaper Program, the Oklahoma Historical Society will partner with the University of North Texas and the Oklahoma Press Association to digitize approximately 100,000 newspaper pages. The partnership will demonstrate that it holds the digital expertise, staff, advisors, vendors, and resources to effectively accomplish the work plan for this program. The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) has the collections and knowledge of Oklahoma newspapers that, when coupled with The University of North Texas’ (UNT) experience in large‐scale digital conversion projects, brings the skill to manage a challenging project such as this. OHS, with the cooperation of the Oklahoma Press Association (OPA), will handle the selection process of titles, as well as the scholarly essays. UNT will outsource production of the deliverables, while managing the quality of the product for transfer to the Library of Congress (LC). Through the National Digital Newspaper program, OHS and UNT intend to deliver 100,000 pages of Oklahoma newspapers to the Library of Congress. Digitization of all deliverables will fully comply with the specifications outlined in the document, The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) Technical Guidelines for Applicants. For each title, the partnership will transmit the following: an up‐to‐date MARC record from the CONSER database, title‐ level metadata, and a 500‐word essay about the scope, content, history, and significance of the title. For each issue, the partnership will deliver required structural metadata. For each newspaper page, the partnership will send the following deliverables per Library of Congress specifications: two page images in raster formats, a 400dpi grayscale uncompressed TIFF 6.0 and the same image compressed as a JPE20000; a file with OCR text and associated bounding boxes; a PDF image with hidden text; structural metadata; technical metadata. All deliverables will be transferred to Library of Congress in a hierarchical directory structure that will facilitate identification of individual digit assets from the metadata provided. For each digitized microfilm reel, the NDNP program will receive a second generation duplicate silver made from the camera master and technical metadata concerning quality characteristics. For the project, the Oklahoma Historical Society will serve as the lead institution for the grant, handling overall management of the project. OHS and UNT will each hire a project coordinator to liaison the technical and the history and selection processes. OHS will handle the selection process for titles and provide the second generation microfilm from its camera masters. UNT will adhere to the technical policies and coordinate with the vendors. 1 Oklahoma Newspaper Digitization Project 2. Table of Contents Description of the project………………………………………………………………. 1 Tables of contents………………………………………………………………………….. 2 Narrative………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 History and scope of the project……………………………………….. 3 Oklahoma 1860‐1922………………………………… 3 Journalism in Oklahoma……………………………. 3 Significant events, 1860‐1880……………………. 4 Significant events, 1880‐1890……………………. 4 Significant events, 1890‐1900……………………. 5 Significant events, 1900‐1910……………………. 5 Significant events, 1910‐1922……………………. 5 Oklahoma’s newspaper collections on microfilm 6 Prior Cataloguing effort……………………………… 6 Prior preservation microfilming effort……….. 6 Prior digitization effort for newspapers……… 6 Methodology and standards………………………………………………… 7 Access to master microfilm, 1860‐1922……….. 7 Newspaper title selection…………………………… 7 Partner roles……………………………………………….. 9 Collaborative digital conversion projects….... 9 Work plan……………………………………………………………………………… 10 Staff………………………………………………………………………………………. 14 Budget………………………………………………………………………………………………… 20 Appendices Comprehensive list of newspaper titles, 1860‐1910………………... 34 UNT representative samples…………………………………………………… 239 Resumes………………………………………………………………………………….. 257 Letters of commitment……………………………………………………………. 264 UNT budget……………………………………………………………………………… 266 Agreement for rate………………………………………………………………….. 268 History of funding………………………………………………………………………………….. 272 Project consultants and advisory board members…………………………………. 273 2 Narrative The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS), in partnership with the University of North Texas (UNT) and the Oklahoma Press Association (OPA), plan to digitize and make available 100,000 newspaper pages to the National Digital Newspaper Project. The titles selected will reflect the state’s political, cultural, and economic history, span Oklahoma regionally and cover the mid- nineteenth to the early twentieth century time period. Combining the large microfilm collection of the OHS and the technical support of UNT, the partners believe that this undertaking will successfully contribute to the public’s access to these regionally significant manuscripts. History and Scope of the Project Oklahoma: 1860-1922 In 1844 the Cherokees published the first newspaper, The Cherokee Advocate, in the boundaries of present Oklahoma. The slow transition from Indian Territory to the Twin Territories (Oklahoma and Indian) to 1907 single statehood is well represented in the territorial newspapers. This initial project will concentrate on the tremendous growth period between statehood and the 1920s, when Oklahoma oil, banking, and agriculture fueled Oklahoma’s economic expansion. The population remained rural until the urban shift during the “Great Depression” era, a fact which underscores the importance of small and intermediate-size town media. Journalism in Oklahoma Three newspapers existed in Indian Territory prior to the Civil War, related either to missions or tribal government. Twenty-eight newspapers appeared between the War and 1889, the opening of the Unassigned Lands to non-Indian settlement. As more land opened through the five Land Runs and three Lotteries, a significant number of editors, usually with an agenda, tried their hand at publishing. Many of these newspapers promoted townsites (Boomerism), political parties (Democratic, Republican, and a surprising number of Socialist Party papers), and later quests for the county seas of the impending state. An astounding number of newspapers per population emerged during this time period, with many short-lived. Nearly eighty African American newspapers have been documented, serving not only the many all-Black towns, but urban populations. Other specialized publications included foreign language papers, catering to enclaves of immigrant settlers, with the Germans as the largest, but including Czechoslovakian and Norwegian. Other groups printing weeklies included labor unions, the Ku Klux Klan, schools, and churches. After 1907 Oklahoma statehood the journalistic trends mirrored those of the nation. Consolidation and failure led to a significant decline in numbers. By 1926 only fifty-one dailies and 354 weeklies continued to be published. As the rural to urban population shift continued, by 1961 only 276 newspapers continued to be published in the state. The local newspaper not only promoted the town and reported community events, it usually served in a leadership role. In many instances the editor became involved in state politics and carried the concerns of his constituents to the capitol. 3 Significant events, 1860 -1880 The Five Civilized Tribes prospered in their new surroundings, but the “golden era” found an end when the Civil War erupted in 1861. The story of the Five Tribes also includes an important African American aspect, as both free and enslaved blacks were part of the Indian nations. The war that pitted family against family was bitterly fought in the “Indian Territory,” as the region had become popularly known. Internal dissension within tribes divided them according to individual or factional allegiance to either Union or Confederacy. In 1863 at Honey Springs, near Rentiesville, two armies fought for possession of the region, with Union troops emerging victorious. For the next year and a half, guerilla warfare engulfed the Indian Territory. Finally, when news of Lee’s surrender came to the territory, the Indians put down their arms and returned to their homes. Cherokee General Stand Watie was the last Confederate commander to surrender his sword. Most importantly, the war caused economic devastation and social dislocation that took many decades to overcome, and postwar treaties began depriving the Indian nations of their independence. The federal government punished the Five Tribes for their allegiance to the South. Harsh reconstruction treaties forced all five to surrender their western lands, opening a new era of removals. Tribes from as far away as California and Washington relocated Indian Territory, while reservations in Kansas and Nebraska were vacated to permit whites to occupy precious farm land. By 1890, 67 different tribal groups resided in Oklahoma. Significant events, 1880 -1890 During this decade the federal government began to strip American Indian groups of their sovereignty. The 1887 passage of the General Allotment Act initiated a long process of dispossessing Indian tribes of communally owned land. The farming, cattle, mining, and railroad industries, all of which were essentially extractive and colonial in nature, developed during this era, setting the stage for urban growth and territorial government. In Indian Territory, free blacks and freed slaves founded independent towns, as did

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