As a local history and genealogy department

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Swilk is an Oakland-based weaver who has exhibited work around the world. They are a Genderqueer artist whose work centers queer history and the emotional experience of home. Their work has been exhibited and awarded in a number of spaces, including the CICA Museum in South Korea, Barcelona’s El Poblenou District, and a number of international artist residencies. They are the winner of the Featured Public Project grant for the world’s largest open arts competition (ArtPrize 2022).

The following guest post from Aaron O’Donovan Columbus Metropolitan Library Special Collections Manager, is part of a series written by members of the Internet Archive’s Community Webs program. Community Webs advances the capacity of community-focused memory organizations to build web and digital archives documenting local histories and underrepresented voices.

in a public library, our materials run the gamut from whatsapp number database from the 1700s about the creation of our country to yearbooks of local high schools that patrons like to peruse for nostalgia’s sake. In addition to our approximately 90,000 reference books, our archives room holds approximately 2,500 linear feet of photographic material, records, and manuscript material. We are constantly seeking new opportunities to expand access to our collections for our patrons, and when the opportunity arose to digitize materials as part of the Community Webs program, I knew what I wanted to digitize first: local neighborhood newspapers of Columbus.




· The Eastern Spectator and Eastern Review offers perspectives from the city’s Jewish community.

· The Southside Booster and Southside Leader, shares the industrial and union history of Columbus.

· The Linden NE News showcases stories from north Columbus, an area that has experienced several demographic shifts throughout its 100 years of history.


Hilltop Record, November 8, 1928

Moreover, the librarians are using the digitized newspapers in regular programming, furthering our promotion of these new digitized collections. Every month the library hosts a virtual Black Heritage Collection Spotlight on a notable person or topic from Black history in Columbus. The images and news articles from the digitized Call and Post are used frequently for the program, and we look forward to learning about more ways the digitized newspapers are used in local research to highlight and deepen our community’s connections to Columbus’ past.