Hi! I've been meaning to do this for a while. A thread about 19th-century Nova Scotian newspapers and what @smallhistory is about. I'm a historian and this account grew out of my ongoing research on the history of rural Nova Scotia.
The newspapers I use are on microfilm @NS_Archives . Other NS libraries & archives have copies of local papers too. Microfilm is strange and magical; give a try! Some NS papers are online: novascotia.ca/archives/newsp… + full Bridgewater Bulletin @ssplibraries : …lections.southshorepubliclibraries.ca/sspl/Newspapers 
In the late 19c there were more than 4 dozen(!) local newspapers across Nova Scotia + several more in Hfx. Some ran consistently, others only for a few years. Most small towns had competing papers with different political leanings or pet social causes. There were a lot of papers!
Most papers were 4-6 pages: 1-2 of international news; 1-2 of local news; 1-2 of miscellaneous stuff like serialized fiction, syndicated farming and household columns; 1 of ads + ads on every page. Lots of content republished from other papers. Lots of text, few images.
50+ papers in Nova Scotia = a lot of *very* local news. We find rural perspectives on big news events of the day, but also what was preoccupying people locally: the progress of farming, fishing, and other industries; social events; the weather; the first mayflowers each spring.
Editors wrote columns of town news and every little village sent in columns (basically local gossip) that were published in full. A lot of people could see themselves in their local paper. Mi'kmaq and African Nova Scotians were very underrepresented but not absent.
The local news columns read like Twitter. They are long lists of very small bits of news, often 1-2 sentences. Most of my tweets are a full news item just as it appeared (I also trim longer ones to fit). Social media has revived the 19c practice of short declarative news items!
The community columns (my favourite) were written by anyone who felt like sending in some news. All were published anonymously. Some people wrote regularly, others only once. The editor's own news columns were local, but these notes were hyper local and often quite gossipy.
.@smallhistory is curated not automated. I scour the papers for interesting bits of news. I look for unique language, compelling rural practices, weird mundane non-news, items that make me laugh or smile. The point isn't always to be funny but to offer a glimpse at 19c rural life
I don't tweet sad news. The papers are full of calamities. Men losing limbs in accidents, children with diphtheria, house fires, so many ways to die. There is so much crappy stuff on Twitter already. People often tell me they like the levity of this account. We all need a break.
I try to tweet a range of communities across NS (I keep a spreadsheet!) but every paper is different. Some counties had more regular papers. Some columnists only ever wrote once. The reproduction quality of the papers also varies, so I type out tweets instead of posting clips
Most papers were published weekly, so to fill in news for every day of the year I look for items that specify other dates, eg. if a paper reports on a schooner that arrived 3 days ago, I tweet it as news for the day it arrived. I really love the every-day-ness of @smallhistory
Very often our image of the past centres on major events, the extraordinary moments. But the people who lived through those times also lived through a lot of very ordinary days, just admiring large turnips. To understand our world, I think we have to know about those days too.
The small details of rural life aren't frivolous. They can be entry points to much bigger and more profound stories about the past. They help us humanize the past, to imagine ourselves as other people, in other places. Great practice for cultivating empathy in our lives today.
So @smallhistory, like the local newspapers it's drawn from, charts the seasonal rhythms of labour and leisure, land and sea. Just little sparks for the imagination. Thank you so much for tagging along! I'm always grateful for every follow, fav, and RT!
