1960’s Watchung Whispering Leaves – Archival Database on Watchung History.org

Task and Benefits:

Create an interactive webpage on Watchunghistory.org that showcases and preserves the Watchung Whispering Leaves, a popular newspaper that was published through the 1960’s showcasing interesting stories and events in Watchung. The webpage would include a copy of all newspapers, categorized by year and issues, with a search function for residents to more easily navigate the newspapers and search for interesting stories from Watchung’s Past. This would be a feature that would support interactive and fun activities for Watchung’s 100th Anniversary which will be celebrated in 2026. 

Project Details: 

• Scan all newspapers from the 1960s (1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969) utilizing scanner provided by the Historical Committee. Approximately 12 issues per year. The scan format would be required to be “searchable” and not just a photo of the newspaper. 

• Clickable links to each of the issues for each individual year. 

• Provide a summary for each issue that includes major headlines from the specific issue.

• Create a link with a search function that allows public to search for key words in all of the newspapers posted.