Use Keywords in Newspaper Research to Find Genealogy Gold

Are you struggling to find genealogy gold in newspapers? Try using keywords in your newspaper research. By searching for places, names, and topics rather than a specific person, you can find some amazing details to enhance your family history.

Where to Add Genealogy Keywords in Newspaper Research

When using Newspapers.com, you add your keywords, rather than a name, to the search box, as shown below.

Enter your keywords in the search box.

Look for a keyword field or ‘search for these words’ for other platforms. Press search and explore the results you receive.

Keywords to Use in Newspaper Research

Besides searching for a specific person, keywords can help you learn more details about their world. Search for specific facts about the individual you are researching occupations, addresses, and associations.

See this newspaper genealogy research strategy in action.

Video on How to Use Keywords in Newspaper Research

In this video, I show you step by step how I discovered stories about my family and client projects.

Keywords About Associations

Consider using specific names of churches, clubs, and organizations your ancestors belonged to. Try the following

• “Holy Cross” for a Catholic Church

• “Swan Club” for a male association

• “Eastern Star” for a female association

Keywords About Occupations and Businesses

When you know the occupation or business name of an ancestor, try a search like one of these:

• “Townley Police” to find articles about a relative who worked as a police officer.

• “Long Pharmacy” for information about a family-owned pharmacy

Keywords About Life Events

Events happened in our ancestor’s life. The Ancestor Hunt has some great tips for finding obituaries and birth announcements using phrases like “born to” or “beloved.”

There are other keywords for events in your ancestor’s life that you can employ:

• “Frohnauer divorce” found a divorce court filing for a Frohnauer male.

• “Anne Lange” “Anne Lange ship” picked up the ship that transported passengers from German and England to the United States of America.

• “Birth Kentucky” -- picked up an article about birth statistics in a local

• “Birth girl” -- picked up stories about births in a location

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Start Researching Newspapers with Keywords

Start researching searchable newspapers using keywords. If you find another keyword that others should use, share that in the comments section so we can add it to our list.

Here are three more examples of genealogy keywords to explore in newspapers.

• From Birth to Death - Use Newspapers to Conduct Genealogy Research 

• Explore the Social Life of Your Ancestors Using Old Newspapers 

• Traveling Relatives: Find Ancestors in Newspapers With This Trick 

More Newspaper Research Tips and Tricks

If you want to continue learning about how to use newspapers in your genealogy research, read or watch the following:

• How to Work Around OCR Errors in Newspaper Research for Genealogy 

• 5 Newspaper.com Search Tips All Researchers Need to Know

• 3 Advanced Newspaper Search Strategies for Genealogy Research

• Obituaries: Explore Ancestry Records Hints from Newspapers.com (Video)

• 10 Articles Professional Genealogists Search for in Newspapers

• Easily Find Marriage Notices in Newspapers.com Using Ancestry

• Best Tips for Finding Your Female Ancestor in the Newspaper 

• Adding Newspapers.com Clippings to Ancestry.com