Bristol Phoenix Newspaper Project

Phase 1: Indexing the Newspaper

The Bristol Phoenix Indexing Project was the result of a grant through the CETA Program in 1977.  Helene L. Tesser, then curator of the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, worked on and submitted the grant application.  Lombard J. Pozzi served as the Project's administrator.  Judy Gurling, who had recently left The Bristol Phoenix as its editor, was hired to index the Phoenix issues starting with the newspaper's inception as the The Bristol Gazette in 1834, and its re-inception in 1837 as The Bristol Phenix (the result of a fire in 1836) through 1873.  Concentrating only in local affairs and interests, Ms. Gurling was able to index an average of one year's worth of issues approximately every 7-10 days and typed the referenced material and citations on 3 x 5 index cards.  The Project took 9-10 months, coming to a standstill when the grant money had been exhausted.

Recognizing the importance of The Bristol Phoenix and its card index to researchers near and far, in 2012 Roger Williams University Archives partnered with the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society to make the index available searchable PDF files. Please contact the archivist for access to the files.

Phase 2: Digitizing the Newspaper

The goal of the next phase of the project was to take access one step further by creating a searchable, online archive of the newspaper. Through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Roger Williams University Archives and Rogers Free Library, in cooperation with the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society and the Rhode Island Historical Society, digitized the earliest issues The Bristol Phoenix (1833-1853).

The third phase of the project, covering the years 1854-1992, was funded by the Friends of Rogers Free Library and completed under the direction of Roger Williams University's Archivist, Heidi Benedict. Rogers Free Library then went on continue digitizing the newspaper through 2021.