Witness digital archive now available

By Dan Russo

Witness Editor

DUBUQUE — Are you interested in what was going on in the “old days” at your parish or school or in learning about major events in Catholic history, both locally and worldwide? If so, there’s a new tool for looking up valuable information about our archdiocese.

The Witness, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, has recently completed a digital archive that allows people to view issues dating from 1921, the year The Witness was founded, to 2015. These editions are available on a website which is easily searchable. Individual articles or entire pages can be downloaded or printed. Dan Burns, archivist with the Office of Archives and Historical Records of the archdiocese, is excited about this new online resource.

“The digital archive of The Witness will serve as an extremely useful tool to both researchers and history buffs alike,” said Burns. “Archdiocesan history is more accessible today than at any time in the past, so as we peer down the road to the future we now have a better view of where we’ve been.”

The website has the ability to search by year or using keywords. To access the digital archive of The Witness, visit www.thewitnessonline.org and click on the graphic for the archive on the main page or go to www.thewitnessonline.org/archive.

Photo: Dan Burns, archivist with the Archdiocesan office of Archives and Historical Records, uses the archive website to view an old front page of The Witness. (Photo by Dan Russo/TheWitness)