In researching my grandfather Harry Peterson, I'm able to use newspapers as a social media way of seeing details of my
grandfather’s life that I never would have known otherwise. Here are some of the many ways, big and small, that Harry Peterson is revealed in the
newspapers.
But first, let's start with an early selfie/photo:
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| Harry Peterson, ca. 1915 |
In the first social media post/newspaper article I found, Harry is not mentioned. He was born in Kewanee, IL in 1905 so he was definitely in this moving party. Perhaps Grandma Anderson came along to help take care of baby Harry.
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| Kewanee Daily Star Courier, 6 June 1906, p. 2 |
The Petersons lived in Henry County, IL for a few years and Harry joined a local agricultural club. If this had been my daughter's social media post, you can be sure there would be a picture of the angel food cake and the cookies.
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Henry (County,IL) News Republican, 4 April, 1923, p2
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Harry and his family moved back to Princeton later in the 1920s. He met Edna Johnson and they began "stepping out," even to the big city of Chicago. They saw the Cubs win this exciting game in 1930!
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| Princeton Bureau County Tribune, 29 August, 1930, p8 |
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| Chicago Daily Tribune, 25 August, 1930, p. 21 |
Newlyweds Harry and Edna attended another Cubs game; the local paper gave the Twitter version, but the full story was in the Chicago Daily Tribune.
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Princeton Bureau County Tribune, October 10, 1932 p8
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| Chicago Daily Tribune, October 3, 1932, p25 |
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| Chicago Daily Tribune, October 3, 1932, p34 |
Social media posts also record life's high points. Harry's wedding, his son's birth and wedding, as well as his own 35th wedding anniversary, were recorded in the Princeton paper.
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| Princeton Bureau County Tribune, April 15, 1932, p8 |
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Princeton Bureau County Record,
May 8, 1936
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Princeton Bureau County Tribune,
August 10, 1961, p. 10 |
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Princeton Bureau County Record,
April 19, 1977, p2 |
One life event of Harry's that was not recorded on the social media of the day was Harry's graduation from high school, because he didn't graduate. However, he had a full and interesting work life. He worked at and managed one of the local Larkin grocery stores in Princeton, then honed his management skills working for Kroger (both in Princeton and later in Peoria).
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Princeton Bureau County Tribune,
March 29, 1929, p4 |
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Princeton Bureau County Tribune,
June 6, 1941, p5 |
Family lore says that in the 1960s Kroger changed a policy and, because of Harry's lack of a high school diploma, he was no longer qualified to do his job. Kroger gave Harry the option of leaving his current management position to run one local Kroger store or take early retirement. Harry took the retirement and found a second, lucrative career as a Country Companies Insurance Agent. (Although my grandfather was in no way a vindictive man, he might have felt some satisfaction in his former Kroger bosses seeing these posts.)
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Princeton Bureau County Record,
October 23, 1973 |
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Princeton Bureau County Tribune,
April 25, 1978, p15 |
Today's younger generations use social media to document every detail of their lives, from what they eat to what they wear, how they fill their days, and who is important to them. Will their Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat posts be available to future family researchers? Today, I'm really grateful for old newspapers, yesterday's social media posts that have survived the years to give me an inside view into my grandfather's life.
