Essex Free Press & Essex Voice newspaper collections moved to Leddy Library’s Archives

by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative

The history of newspapers in the Town of Essex is one that goes back to 1879; a time where the small village was growing, even predating Essex Centre receiving town status in 1890.

  In those early days, the newspaper ran under the various titles – including The Essex Centre Chronicle and The Essex Liberal – before being established as the Essex Free Press around 1889. It remained under the ownership of the Brett family from 1896 to 2011, a legacy in literature that lived nearly 115-years.

  At this point in time, the Essex Free Press was merged with the former Essex Voice. The Essex Free Press continues to be operated by London Publishing.

  The archives – consisting of actual printed copies of the newspaper dating as far back as 1875 – have been shelved at the Essex Free Press office as time went one, with each week’s edition being added to the massive and continuously growing collection.  

  Knowing the importance of preserving this invaluable record of local history, the Essex Free Press recently donated this impressive collection to the University of Windsor Leddy Library’s Archives & Special Collections unit, where they will be housed in a climate-controlled facility that has to meet all sorts of international standards for preservation. The Essex Voice's archived hardcopies were also donated to the collection.

  Those editions that need extra protection will further be stored in archival boxes.

  Historians wanting access to them will be able to do so by setting up a time, and viewing them onsite.

  In addition, there are plans to scan the copies to fill in gaps and replace scans that were done for the online INK newspaper project, which has been offline for a year and Art Rhyno is working to reinstate.

  For Rhyno, Systems Librarian at the University of Windsor, this was a passion project on his mind for many years, as the former co-owner of the Essex Free Press with his wife, Laurie Brett, who was also the Editor and Publisher.

  Rhyno has been a volunteer with the Our Digital World project for some time, a non-profit dedicated to helping create digital collections of local history that inherited the INK system from a provincial project.

  “These are such a great source of history,” Rhyno said of newspapers. “They are really important to preserve, because there is lots of content in those papers that doesn’t exist anywhere else. They are the only source for lots of critical information.”

  Many community newspapers in Ontario have been microfilmed, but it is not a great medium for working with newspapers. “The problem is, if you lose the paper, all that you have left is the microfilm. But if you have the paper, it means you have the option to review it in a better format as time goes on.”

  The Essex Free Press was microfilmed previously, but Rhyno noted there are entire reels that are tough to read. His hope is to redo a lot of it and fill in the digital gap through scanning them. The hope is this digital copy will be accessible to the public eventually.

  The Essex Free Press, in particular, is a historic newspaper that has a very long history, Rhyno said, adding the paper is in relatively good shape for a community newspaper of that vintage.

  “It is a good opportunity to put it into a safe place,” Rhyno said. “My hope is that it’ll be around long after we are long gone.”

  Hands down, the Essex Free Press is the best resource that exists for local history, he added.

  Most of the papers in the archive are bound by year in book-style. The book of newspaper copies for the year 1923, is, however, missing. Rhyno noted that someone borrowed it in the 1970s and never returned it. He hopes someone in the community will find the large book at home, recognize it, and return it, so it can complete the collection.

  “It has got to be sitting in someone’s basement or attic,” he said.

  That is the only gap in the record in which he is aware.

  Ultimately, Rhyno hopes as many community newspapers can be preserved as possible.

  “I don’t think anyone is funding that right now in Canada at the level it needs. I am convinced that this is the last chance to get a lot of these collections."

He hopes other universities and public libraries do the same with their own community newspaper.

  The Archives & Special Collections unit jumped into action to gather the Kingsville Reporter collection, when it closed in 2020.  

  Leddy Library’s Archivist, Dr. Sarah Glassford, gave Rhyno a lot of credit for the acquisition of the Essex Free Press archive.  

  She noted the newspapers are currently being stored in the storage vault, where staff will be able to look through the collection and determine the earliest and latest copies included.

  The paper upon which newspapers are printed is typically delicate material to work with. There is a need to be cautious not to flake any portions off, as any damaged piece could contain content and information that too would become lost.

  Staff will also assess the condition of the papers, then figure out if archival boxes or a paper wrap is needed to assist with preservation.

If the environmental conditions are controlled, and physical damage is prevented, Glassford noted the papers should be fine for hundreds of years.

Then, staff will look to see if every issue has been included, and if any are missing. Once that is completed, that information will be added to the library catalogue and WorldCat, a global library catalogue.  

  From there, Glassford said better images can be made of the hardcopies as they exist. In the long-term, the hope is to digitize the collection and make it available in a better copy and online. That will take some time and resources to do.

  She spoke of the importance in preserving print and hardcopies, so they can be digitized in the future as technology improves.

  In speaking of students on campus, Glassford noted there is a real value and wonder in engaging with physical items of the past as they live in a digital world.

  Glassford noted Leddy Library Head Librarian Selinda Berg values the role that the University of Windsor can play in community heritage preservation. She is thrilled to welcome the Essex Free Press archive to its collection.