Newspaper and Obituary Indexes
Search local newspaper indexes for past news stories or obituaries and death notices using our librarian-compiled databases.
- The Skokie Newspaper Index contains references to over 35,000 news articles from at least one of the three major newspapers that have been published in and about Skokie from 1960 to the present.
- The Skokie Obituary Index contains newspaper citations for obituaries and death notices in local newspapers from 1946 to the present.
Once you locate the citation to the news article or obituary you are interested in, you can access them online in the library using the Historical Skokie Newspapers database or by contacting the library's information services staff.
Please note that, unfortunately, we do not have the newspaper, in any format, for issues from January to March 1998 and January to November 2011. Find current news articles online in the library Search current newspapers using the library's online resources.
About the indexes
When Skokie newspaper indexing began in 1960, Skokie had at least three weekly newspapers, The News, the Skokie Review, and The Life, but only The News was indexed until the end of 1976. Librarians indexed and wrote brief abstracts of news articles for the first two decades of indexing (details below). The Skokie Review has been indexed continuously from October 1984 to 2021, with abstracts through December 1994.
Obituaries and death notices have been indexed from 1946 to the present and can be searched by first and last name. We are currently indexing the local obituaries retrospectively.
Newspaper article indexing by decade:
1960s – 1 newspaper, all have abstracts
The News (aka Skokie News), 1/26/1960-6/23/1960 and 1/3/1963-12/18/1969
1970s – 2 newspapers, only one full run, all have abstracts
The News (aka Skokie News), 1/8/1970-12/27/1979
Life-Skokie Edition (aka Skokie Life) and
Weekend Edition, 1/2/1977-12/30/1979
1980s – 3 newspapers, only one full run, all have abstracts
The News (aka Skokie News), 1/3/1980-12/27/1984
Life-Skokie Edition (aka Skokie Life) and Weekend Edition, 1/3/1980-12/28/1989
Skokie Review, 10/4/1984-12/28/1989
1990s – 2 newspapers, both full runs, abstracts through December 1994
Life-Skokie Edition (aka Skokie Life), 1/4/1990-12/30/1999
Skokie Review, 1/4/1990-12/30/1999
2000s – 2 newspapers, only one full run, no abstracts
Life-Skokie Edition (aka Skokie Life), 1/6/2000-10/21/2004
Skokie Review, 1/6/2000-12/31/2009
2010s – 1 newspaper, no abstracts
Skokie Review, 1/7/2010-9/1/2016
Newspaper indexing by newspaper title:
The News (aka Skokie News)
January-June 1960 and January 1963-December 1984, all have abstracts
Life-Skokie Edition (aka Skokie Life)
January 1977-October 2004, abstracts through December 1994
Skokie Review
October 1984-present, abstracts through December 1994
Obituary indexing by newspaper title and date:
The Skokie Press (1946 to 1949)
The News (1950-April 1958; 1959 to 1984)
Niles Township Press (April 1958-December 1958)
Life - Skokie Edition (1980 to October 2004)
Skokie Review (1981 to the present)
Find other local-area obituaries on the Skokie Review website and the Skokie Patch site. The Skokie Newspaper Index may also include references to relevant news articles about deaths of prominent individuals.