In the Newspapers on Microfilm Department, we provide a look-up service for researchers who cannot make it to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in person. The most common items we look up are obituaries because they can hold information useful to tracing one’s family tree back another generation.
One of our most-requested newspapers for obituaries is the Denni Hlasatel, a Czechoslovakian-language newspaper published in and around Chicago. We have the daily newspaper from its beginnings on May 7, 1891, until July 3, 2005, and the semiweekly for January 3, 1902, through July 2, 1912, in our collection. Unfortunately, there are some issues missing from our collection.
An example of an obituary from Denni Hlasatel
According to Chronicling America, the Denni Hlasatel (which translates to Daily Herald) was founded due to a typesetters’ union strike in Chicago. The strike interfered with newspaper publication, so the typesetters decided to launch their own paper focused on the interests of Czech-American workers.
Its content ranged from local to international news, letters to the editors, advertisements, and items of interest to the local community. The obituaries found in the Denni Hlasatel are significant as many contain information pertaining to the area in which they were born in Czechoslovakia, now known as the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Czech & Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois (CSAGSI) produced an index of all the obituaries published in the Denni Hlasatel, which makes it very easy to find them.
We will look up articles and other items published within newspapers for a fee of $5. To submit a request, send an email to teri.barnett@illinois.gov or visit alplm.aeon.atlas-sys.com.
By Teri Barnett
ALPLM Newspaper Librarian