An appeal has gone out to source old copies of the Irish Echo so that they can be digitized and made available on the web.
Andrew Martin of Irish Newspaper Archives, which has successfully placed online the vast majority of Irish newspapers, says efforts to date to find back copies of the Echo have proved largely fruitless.
The one exception is a run of papers form the 1930s. "Recently we came across a short run of the Irish Echo (1935-39) held in a private microfilm archive," explains Andrew. "I have had this digitised and the papers are now on our site. The film was in fantastic condition and the original filming was carried out with great precision. It has only whetted our appetite to find more past editions so that they can be made available to a global audience."
Since 2008, the Irish Echo has been available on this site in pdf version but for most researchers, scholars and local historians wanting to research Irish America, their only recourse is to seek out a print archive in person at major American libraries.
"We know the Irish Echo was launched in late 1928 but there are no copies of the original edition extant," says Irish Echo publisher Máirtín Ó Muilleoir. "We do know the New York Public Library has some editions from 1929 but the reality is that there are huge gaps — decades-long — in the online archive and filling those gaps is something we'd like to do as our centenary approaches."
He added: "Recently, the American Irish Historical Society came across some copies of the Irish Echo from the 1970s and is in contact with the Irish Newspaper Archives in relation to potential digitisation. However, I'm confident there are other Irish clubs or groups out there who have their own archive collections — not to mention some individual Irish Americans — and I know Andrew would treat their collections with respect and return them after they have been digitised."
Andrew Martin can be emailed direct.
