Anyone researching ancestors in Boston after 1871 will be glad to hear that the complete archive (both text and images) of the Boston Globe newspaper will be digitized and made full text searchable by ProQuest, a well-known database publisher.
The Boston Globe presently has digital archives covering only from 1979 to today. That version does not contain photographs, charts or other graphics. The new effort by ProQuest should add all papers published since the newspaper's founding in 1872. It also will include all the photographs and other graphics.
There is a unique genealogy twist to the Boston Globe: In August 1873, Eben Jordan (founder of the retail store Jordan Marsh), and the other investors hired General Charles H. Taylor as temporary business manager to restore stability. Taylor was a 27-year old Civil War veteran, a staff member and printer for the Boston Traveler, and stringer for The New York Tribune. Taylor was later named president of the newspaper. For the next 125 years, a Taylor family member served as publisher of The Boston Globe.
Upon his death in 1921, General Taylor was succeeded by his son William O. Taylor. Following William O. was his son, Wm. Davis Taylor, publisher from 1955 to 1977. The fourth Taylor to become publisher was William O. Taylor, Wm. Davis Taylor's son, appointed in 1977. Then, on April 1, 1997, Benjamin B. Taylor, a cousin of William O. and a great-grandson of General Taylor, became the fifth and final member of the family to serve as publisher. In 1999, the first non-Taylor publisher was appointed: Richard Gilman.
The Globe will be the seventh paper that ProQuest has digitized as part of their Historical Newspaper program. The other newspapers are:
- The New York Times - 1851-2001
- The Wall Street Journal - 1889-1987
- The Washington Post - 1877-1988
- The Christian Science Monitor - 1908-1991
- Los Angeles Times - 1881-1984
- Chicago Tribune - 1849-forward
ProQuest does not offer services to the general public. Instead, you can access the company's huge databases at subscribing libraries and genealogy societies. Some of these societies and libraries offer in-home service to ProQuest and other online subscriptions.
