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Nesbitt Memorial Library

Eagle Lake Newspapers Discovered

When the back issues of the Eagle Lake Headlight, a newspaper which will celebrate its 100th year of operation in 2003, were microfilmed about 25 years ago, the issues from 1937 and 1947 were not included. Until recently, the issues from both years were thought to have been lost. Now, both have been found.
    Earlier this year, thanks to the persistence of Leslie Carey, the issues from 1947 were discovered in an unlikely place in the archival vault at the Nesbitt Memorial Library. This summer, those issues were turned over to a document imaging company, which provided the library with images of the old papers on microfilm and CD. 
    Now the 1937 issues have emerged. On November 18, William H. Harrison of Eagle Lake donated a number of old newspapers to the library. Among them was the bound volume of the Eagle Lake Headlight from 1937. Before the back issues were put on microfilm, Harrison had systematically borrowed them from the newspaper's office for his work on the book A History of Eagle Lake Texas. He believed he had returned them all, but, when cleaning out his office at his home, he discovered the 1937 newspapers.