Researchers at the University of Notre Dame now have complete online access to more than 150 years of South Bend history, thanks to a recent acquisition by the Hesburgh Libraries.

The new resource, attained from NewsBank, is a full-text, searchable newspaper archive of the South Bend Tribune from 1873 to 2018.

“Acquiring the complete South Bend Tribune archive was a collaborative effort with Notre Dame faculty several years in the making,” said Mark Robison, interim program leader of Collection Strategy and Acquisitions and political science and peace studies librarian at the Hesburgh Libraries. “Having access to the South Bend Tribune back to its earliest issues has opened countless doors to our students to help them better understand our local and national history.”

The electronic database allows users to see full scans of each available issue, giving researchers the opportunity to view articles in context, exactly as they were printed, including photos, graphics, advertisements and other page content.

The addition of the database closes a gap in the library’s digital holdings. Prior to the acquisition, library patrons could access full scans of the Tribune only from 2018 onward, an incomplete run of microfilm from 1966 to 1971 or HTML-formatted text articles from 1994 to 2017. Now, the full archive from 1873 to the present day will be accessible to researchers from the Notre Dame community.

“The South Bend Tribune is proud to be the best source of local news for more than 150 years,” said a spokesperson from the South Bend Tribune.

The South Bend Tribune has been the city’s newspaper of record since its early days. It was founded in 1872 as a weekly and became the city’s first daily newspaper in May 1873.

“The Daily Tribune is an enterprise worthy of the thriving little city of South Bend,” said a June 1873 issue of the Scholastic, Notre Dame’s then weekly newspaper, which still runs today as a monthly news magazine.

"From the coverage of major social and political events, to the discussion of contemporary national issues, to the design and placement of advertisements, it is hard to overstate how much having access to a complete, full-image, primary source record of local events will benefit our students’ research and learning."

Because of the many historical ties between South Bend and Notre Dame, the database is an essential primary source for scholars researching local or University history. It also helps provide insight into local or regional perspectives on national or international historical events.

“From the coverage of major social and political events, to the discussion of contemporary national issues, to the design and placement of advertisements, it is hard to overstate how much having access to a complete, full-image, primary source record of local events will benefit our students’ research and learning,” Robison said. “Many faculty across campus helped advocate for this important resource, knowing the value it would add to their courses.”

When advocating for the Hesburgh Libraries to acquire this archive in 2023, Annie Gilbert Coleman, associate professor of American studies, said that she would use the database regularly in the classes she teaches such as Sports and American Culture, Sports and the Environment, American Wilderness, and her American studies senior seminar on sports and recreation. She said obtaining access to the Tribune archive was “vital” to the success of the minor in sport, media and culture.

“The main goal of the minor is to get students thinking critically about the culture and politics of sport. While that can take many forms, analyzing journalism related to sport and community is central to that endeavor,” she said. “So, too, is researching sport history through primary source materials and thinking critically about the relationship between sports, local government, businesses and community institutions. Local newspaper archives provide irreplaceable source materials for our students and faculty engaged in this work.”

Katherine Walden, assistant teaching professor of American studies, also supported acquiring the database for students in her sports history classes.

“For classes I teach like Baseball and America, Football in America, and Sport and Big Data, as well as the constellation of ND courses focused on aspects of sport, history, community and identity, having access to these materials would facilitate historical research and primary engagement efforts that ultimately deepen Notre Dame’s connection with the surrounding community,” Walden said.

Members of the Notre Dame community looking to use the South Bend Tribune database can do so from anywhere in the world by visiting the Hesburgh Libraries databases and searching South Bend Tribune. Visitors to campus and members of the public may also access the Tribune archive and other library e-resources using the library’s guest computers located on the first floor of the Hesburgh Library.

For more information, contact Mark Robison, Hesburgh Libraries.