To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, April 1861 through April 1865, we will be making available at this site, from now until April 2015, a collection of articles and letters relating to the service of New Bedford men and women in that war. These are the articles as the people of New Bedford read them at the time. Not all of them are accurate and rumors abound as is usually the case in wartime.
The material will come from the Republican Standard newspaper, which began publication February 21, 1850. The Republican Standard was a weekly version of the Daily Evening Standard, which began publication a week earlier on February 14th 1850. From time to time we will reproduce an article from the daily newspaper if there is a printing defect or a fold in the leaf of the weekly paper. We will also digitize some images from Harpers’ Weekly illustrating battles, places and people mentioned in the text.
The competing newspaper in New Bedford was the Daily Mercury, which is available on microfilm at the Free Public Library.
One reel of microfilm of the Republican Standard covers the whole period of the Civil War, from February 21, 1861 through December 27, 1865. The Republican Standard is available for sale for the period from February 21, 1850 through 1908 and 1911 through 1912. Reels one through three cover five years each, the later reels cover two years each.
Online Scrapbook of Letters and Articles
of
New Bedford Men and Women in the Civil War
Welcome to the Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library. For 40 years the Friends of the Library, a voluntary organization of community members, has dedicated itself to supporting and enriching the New Bedford Free Public Library. The Friends support library programs, contribute funds for special programs and special purposes, volunteer to do projects, promote community awareness and advocate for robust funding of our library.
We are book lovers, information seekers, readers, listeners, music and movie buffs. We are young and old, with varying interests and backgrounds. We all treasure ideas and value all of the public libraries as a vital community resource. We all believe that the New Bedford Free Public Library is an excellent library, ready to serve the whole community.
