(This is a guest post from researcher (and NDNP advisory board member) Russell DeSimone. If you’ve used Chronicling America and would like to share your experience, get in touch.)
The Power of Chronicling America
I have been a book collector for more than half a century and while I have collected in many areas of interest, my primary interest has been the Dorr Rebellion, an event that took place in Rhode Island in the 1840s. It was a political movement to increase the elective franchise to all men that caused an major upheaval in the state. One of the interesting things about this movement was the significant number of broadsides that were published during this period. In the late 1980s I decided to research the many unrecorded broadsides that were housed in both public and private collections. My research continued for four years, documenting more than 260 broadsides, and it ultimately culminated in a book titled The Broadsides of the Dorr Rebellion, published in 1992. One broadside in particular captured my imagination; it was for a diorama exhibition depicting many scenes from the turbulent mini civil war in the state. The only copy I uncovered was at the John Hay Library at Brown University, see figure below.
I attempted to learn more about this broadside, but at the time of my research, well before the internet and Google searches, I was unable to find any information. I didn’t even know the year the diorama was exhibited. My only hope was to manually go through microfilm from this period housed at the Rhode Island Historical Society. The search was grueling and as anybody who has sat in front of a microfilm reader knows, after an hour or so, one’s eyes begin to fatigue and soon everything becomes a blur.
Over the years I would occasionally renew my quest; but I never located a newspaper account or advertisement. For a period of thirty-five years I searched for some reference to this diorama or its broadside. However, that quest is now behind me. With the addition of the Republican Herald newspaper now digitized and up and running on Chronicling America, I can happily report that I’ve uncovered a newspaper ad for the exhibition of the diorama. The newspaper advertisement appeared in the November 25, 1846, issue of the Republican Herald, (see image below). My quest is now over thanks to the Library of Congress, Chronicling America, and the efforts at the Providence Public Library’s and the Rhode Island Historical Society’s digital newspaper project.
- Russell J. DeSimone January 10, 2026
Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project 