Rich Hathaway, the museum display director and former Southern Tuolumne County Historical Society vice president, has put this project together. It features original and reproduced newspapers from around the country, some dating back to 1789. The original papers came from his personal collection or were donated by Tuolumne County residents. However, many of the reproductions were purchased through online auctions on the eBay Web site.
The exhibit is separated into 13 categories including U.S. presidents, Civil War, World War I and II, disasters, Yosemite National Park and vintage advertising, among others.
There are newspapers from San Francisco, Chicago and Boston, and local papers, including copies of the now-defunct Tuolumne Prospector donated by longtime Groveland resident Leonard Cassaretto and every copy of Pine Mountain Lake News dating back to 1970.
The display case has 29 panels with 58 viewable sides that holds approximately four front pages each. The plan is to periodically rotate papers out, because of the amount of material from which to choose.
Hathaway's favorite parts of the exhibit are two original copies of the then San Francisco Call-Chronicle-Examiner–one from April 18, 1906, the day of the great earthquake. There is also an original copy of the same front cover republished in the paper on the disaster's 50th anniversary.
Hathaway says he is still looking for some newspapers, especially local ones from World War II and earlier. However, any papers he receives will be considered donations and not be returned to the owner. For more information, call 962-7595.