Help Center

About History Unfolded

Why did you pick these events?

The research added to History Unfolded is helping the Museum and scholars better understand American knowledge of, and responses to, Nazi persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. Originally, this research was used to support development of a special exhibition, Americans and the Holocaust. The curator of that exhibition identified several topics for investigation, and events were chosen based on his research priorities. Many were events that reflected socio-economic and political pressures that influenced American responses to the Holocaust, such as the threat of war, isolationism, antisemitism, and racism. In the remaining years the project was collecting submissions, the research helped to compile a larger, more representative collection of data about American newspaper reporting on the Holocaust during the 1930s and 1940s. We hope that the collected data will enable students, scholars, and members of the general public to better understand the nature and scope of US press responses to the Holocaust.

Was the data reviewed for accuracy? What was the review process?

All data was reviewed by the project's review team. Reviewers compared the entered data against the image supplied, and if everything was accurate, the data appears in the online database, viewable by the public.

Understanding Newspaper Articles

How can I tell what type of article I am viewing?

• News Articles are the most common type of article you will encounter. These types of articles report the facts of an event as witnessed by the author or based on information collected by the author. Typically, the author does not present his or her own opinion, advocate a position, or argue that particular actions be taken. If an article appears on the front page of a paper, it is almost always a news article.
• Editorials and Opinion pieces present the viewpoint and opinions of the newspaper or of guest columnists. The purpose of these articles is to advocate positions on topics or events. Often the author is attempting to sway public opinion or demand action. Editorials are usually presented as the opinion of the paper and its editorial board. Op-eds usually appear under the byline of a specific author. Both editorials and op-eds often appear toward the end of the news section of a newspaper, though Sunday papers sometimes devote complete different sections of the paper to editorials, political cartoons and opinion.
• Letters to the Editor are letters sent by readers—typically in response to previously published news articles or op-eds. Letters to the editor are usually printed as a collection of several short articles which are identifiable by the way they are “signed” with the name, hometown, and sometimes title/profession of the author. They usually appear near the editorials section in a newspaper.
• Other is a general category for media other than news articles, opinion pieces, political cartoons, and letters to the editor. This generally consists of photographs with or without a caption, maps, speeches with little or no editorial comments, and more.

There is a lot of big text in this newspaper. How do I know which headline goes with the story?

On many front pages from the 1930s and 1940s, you will see quite a lot of information: possibly over a dozen stories on a single page, headlines, sub-headlines, doglegs, weather, stocks, and more. To learn how you can wade through all this information and find which headline goes with the article you're looking for, visit How to Read Old Newspapers.

What’s a byline and what if there isn’t one?

A byline gives the name of the author of an article. A byline is traditionally placed between the title and the body of the article. In some cases the author of an article is a wire service, which is a news agency that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations. Large wire services at the time included the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP), and the International News Service (INS).

Copyright and Citation

How can I use the data on this site?

Anyone can access data compiled in this project through the site search. You can search by keyword and filter data by event, location, newspaper name, headline, article type, author, and date. However, in a number of cases, the article image file is not viewable or downloadable.

How can I cite data from this project?

To cite specific articles from this project in a footnote or endnote:
[author name], “[article title],” [newspaper name], [date], [edition], [section], http://newspapers.ushmm.org/xxxx (accessed [date]).

To cite specific articles from this project in a bibliography, use:
[author name]. “[article title].” [newspaper name], [date], [edition], [section]. http://newspapers.ushmm.org/xxxx (accessed [date]).

To cite general material from this project in a footnote or endnote:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust, http://newspapers.ushmm.org, accessed on [date].

To cite general material from this project in a bibliography, use:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. History Unfolded: US Newspapers and the Holocaust. http://newspapers.ushmm.org. Accessed on [date].

Content Rights and Copyright Complaints

If you have any complaints or objections to Content posted on the Museum’s website because it was not properly credited or it was posted without permission, please contact the Museum’s Office of General Counsel at ogc@ushmm.org with your contact information and the link to the relevant Content.

The Museum may not own intellectual property rights in the Content displayed on the History Unfolded website. Content owned by third parties is used with the owner(s)' permission and/or in accordance with applicable law.

PLEASE NOTE: By including newspaper materials on this website, the Museum does not intend to and is not transferring any intellectual property rights to you. It is your sole obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when accessing, publishing, or otherwise using any of the newspaper materials found on this website. Please contact the copyright owner(s) for permission requests.

Contacting History Unfolded

What if I notice a mistake or have a question about a newspaper article?

If you notice any errors in data published on this site or have a question about an article, please contact us. Be sure to include a link to the entry and identify the newspaper, date, and headline of the article in question.