The New York Times – “Digitized newspaper archives and hyperlocal historical sources can help you understand how your ancestors lived. Long before the internet made it easy to share the nuances of daily life, local newspapers and other regional publications reported the business, society and civic news of the people in the community. For budding genealogists, finding an ancestor in an old microfilmed newspaper and reading contemporaneous accounts of her turn in the school play or his all-city bowling championship provide a glimpse into the past that’s more textured than a chart of names and dates. Taking a more narrative approach to the family story can be a time-consuming detective project with no guaranteed results. But once you have a name and know when and where the person lived, you can start your quest to find out how they lived. Here’s how to get started…”