About the work

A closer look.

Give me a name and what you know: a birth, a marriage, a death, a town, a year, or an event your family keeps talking about. I search the Library of Congress newspaper archive (US papers, 1777-1963) and send back what the record actually holds. What you get: the paper's name, the exact date, the page number, a direct link to the page, and the quoted line, plus a short note on what it does and doesn't prove. If nothing exists under that name, I tell you straight and you owe nothing. First look is free: send the name and what you know, and I tell you whether the trail is walkable before any payment exists. One name or one event. 48 hours. One revision included.