Dziennik dla Wszystkich Digitization & Indexing Project
Digitization
Our most recent special project has been the digitization of the entire microfilmed collection of Buffalo’s former Polish-language newspaper, the Dziennik dla Wszystkich [Everybody’s Daily], which was published from 1911 to 1957. Most issues are currently available online at NYS Historic Newspapers, and can be searched for particular surnames or keywords through Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Newspaper research is important to genealogists because newspaper articles offer insight into the daily lives of our ancestors. Details about their civic contributions, social and professional lives, and community roles, can help add “flesh” to the “bare bones” of names and dates in our family trees.
Indexing
Newspapers can also provide evidence for vital events (births, marriages, and deaths) in our ancestors’ lives. It was a common practice within the Polish-American community to publish death notices in Polish-language newspapers, including the Dziennik.
We have created a nominal index of death notices published in the Dziennik dla Wszystkich, and our database currently includes over 30,000 death notices. Years completed in full are 1911–1941, with the exception of September–December 1913. If you find a relevant death notice in our database, you can obtain a copy at NYS Historic Newspapers, or contact us to request a copy. Copies of death notices are $3.00 per notice for PGSNYS members and $5.00 per notice for all others. Payment should be made by check or money order; include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you cannot accept image copies via e-mail.
For translation assistance with death notices published in the Dziennik, please see our Translation Guide.
While many volunteers have been associated with this project over the years, we must acknowledge our member Ed Kornowski for his continual dedication to creating this database.
Tips for Surname Searches in the Dziennik Death Notice Database
At minimum, a search must include the first few letters of the surname. Note that some Polish surnames exhibit gender; that is, surnames ending in -ski, -cki, -zki have feminine versions which end in -ski, -cka, -zka.
Example: Michał Kowalski (male) might have a wife named Jadwiga Kowalska (female). Their son Piotr would be Kowalski, and their daughter Anna would be Kowalska.
To search for these names in the database, enter “kowalsk” in the surname search field.