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VPR's coverage of arts and culture in the region.

Surprising History From Vermont's Online Newspaper Archive: Bicycles, Women's Suffrage & 'Scorchers'

Cyclists outside the Island House in South Hero.
Luis Vivanco, courtesy
Cyclists outside the Island House in South Hero.

Vermonters can now access more than 200 years of newspapers online after the Vermont secretary of state's office worked with Newspapers.com to make millions of pages of old papers from the 1700s up to 1922 available for free.

The online archive gives readers a glimpse into almost any day in Vermont history. And one scholar at the University of Vermont is using the archive to trace the surprising role bicycles have played in social change in Vermont.

Click here for step-by-step instructions from the Vermont State Archives and Records on how to access old Vermont newspapers online.

UVM cultural anthropologist Luis Vivanco tells Vermont Edition how he's used the online newspaper archive to research the culture and politics of bicycles in Vermont, and how bikes have been part of conversations around everything from roads to health to women's suffrage.

Broadcast on Tuesday, July 3, 2018 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

Jane Lindholm is the host, executive producer and creator of But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids. In addition to her work on our international kids show, she produces special projects for Vermont Public. Until March 2021, she was host and editor of the award-winning Vermont Public program Vermont Edition.
Matt Smith worked for Vermont Public from 2017 to 2023 as managing editor and senior producer of Vermont Edition.
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