The newspapers were picked up at various locations throughout the state by library project staff and brought to the Morris Library at the University of Delaware where they were prepared for microfilming. The actual microfilming was performed by a professional filming company, IMR, of West Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
Participating libraries and repositories in Delaware received a microfilm copy of the newspapers they provided. There is a complete "user copy" of all newspapers filmed as part of the project available for use at the Morris Library. The complete "print master," consists of approximately 796 reels of microfilm and is available at the Delaware Bureau of Archives in Dover whose staff, for a fee, can produce microfilm copies on demand.
"The project owes its successful completion to the willingness of the participants to provide newspapers for filming. As a result of the project, more than 280 newspapers were filmed, in whole or in part, depending upon the availability of print copies of the newspapers," stated Susan Brynteson, Director of Libraries.
The participants who provided newspapers for filming included: the Delaware Agricultural Museum; the Delaware Bureau of Archives; the Georgetown Public Library; the Hagley Museum and Library; the Historical Society of Delaware; the Laurel Public Library; the Milford District Free Public Library; the New Castle Public Library; the Newark Free Library; the Rehoboth Beach Public Library; the Smyrna-Clayton Sun Times; the South Coastal Library; the University of Delaware Library; the Wilmington Institute Free Library; the Winterthur Museum and Library; and the offices of various newspapers.
Among the newspapers filmed were many interesting and important publications. Newspapers filmed during the latter months of the project give an indication of the diversity of the titles and, by extension, of the state itself and include: Wiadomosci (Polish language newspaper); Il Fuoco (Italian language newspaper); Airlifter (for Dover Air Force Base personnel). Newspapers that published news for African-Americans included the Delaware Abolitionist, published by the Delaware Anti-Slavery Society; The Advance, a newspaper that claimed to be "Republican in politics, Christian in religion and devoted to the moral and industrial advancement" of African-Americans; the Delaware Reporter; and the Wilmington Herald Times. One early newspaper, the Wilmington Mercury, published lists of those who had died during the yellow fever epidemic.
Project staff associated with the massive undertaking included Anita Shaughnessy, Project Manager, Craig Wilson, Shiela Pardee, and Peggy Tatnall.
