Newspaper Search Secrets: Name Variants & Spelling Tricks for Genealogists

Historical newspapers are full of name inconsistencies—typesetters guessed, reporters abbreviated, and OCR often gets things spectacularly wrong. But with the right approach, you can still find the articles you’re looking for. This session teaches you how to search newspapers the way ancestors appeared in print, not the way you wish they did. Explore real-world techniques for finding elusive ancestors despite misspellings, illegible print, ink smears, regional accents, and old-fashioned editorial habits. Ideal for genealogists determined to break through brick walls.