About the Index
The majority of the Index covers the years 1856-1960; there are a small number of records from 1961 to the present. Most records come from the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Santa Cruz Evening News, but other newspapers have been indexed as well.
While the Index is primarily for people’s names, a significant number of subjects are also included. The Index was never intended to be an all-inclusive, every name and subject index, and for a more comprehensive search it is necessary to refer to the bound index volumes in the Genealogy library. For more information on the contents, see the Notes for Newspaper Subjects on the Genealogy Society’s website.
The disclaimers in the printed editions apply to this Index as well: “The dates and pages printed in the paper were occasionally incorrect. This Index records them as printed, not as they should have been. And, the same [holds true] for the spelling of names. Check all possible variants of a name.” Please contact the Genealogy Society directly to report any errors you may find.
Note: From 1942-1947 the Sentinel published both morning and evening editions. This Index does not indicate which edition was indexed.
Additional newspaper indexes are available on the Santa Cruz Public Library’s Local History website.
History
The project to index early newspapers published in Santa Cruz began in 1982 with a grant to the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries and was led by Sara Bunnett. In 2007 the project was turned over to the Genealogical Society of Santa Cruz County, and volunteers from that group continue the indexing today.
While the initial project was to index the Santa Cruz Sentinel, several other newspapers have also been included.
The Genealogical Society thanks the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Cabrillo College, and UCSC for providing support, and we thank all the volunteers listed below who, in many different capacities, contributed to this project over the past 35 years:
Marion Asche, Leslie Auerbach, Marilyn Beck, Terry Bohrman, Vicki Bolam, Joseph Bunnett, Sara Bunnett (Chair/Project Originator), Gail Burk, Phyllis Casey, Bernice Checola, Lynette Clark, Lois Cuneo, Ruth Cuzick, Allene Davis, Genevieve Davis, Dylan Dix, Sandy Eaton, Edna Egbert, Will Egbert, Mike Epperson, Decla Fuller, Marie Gieseke, Clare Grace, Shirley Greenwood, Grace Gregory, Lani Griffiths, Linda Hooper, Lizabeth Karo, Patricia Karo, Robert M. Kerr, Susan Kerr, Margaret Kotzi, Victor LeLeu, Howard Lowe, Helen Ludwig, Ann Maganosc, Maurice Mamon, Debbie Medina, Charlotte Melville, William Melville, Robert Nelson, Carol Nisson, Frank Nisson, Alverda Orlando, Dave Osterhoudt, Suzanne Paizis, Ivan Parker, Priscilla Partridge, Ayan Patel, Ruchi Patel, Jean Petersen, Pauline Pinkham, Norm Poiteven, Marion Pokriots, Silia Prevatali, Ann Ramage, Norma Raymond, Karen Reader, Zack Rentschler, Willa Dean Reynolds, Ray Rischpater, Josh Roberson, Tessa Rudy, Jim Russell, Micki Ryan, Verena Rybicki, Geraldine Shelley, Carrie Shook, Sue Smith, Virginia Smith, John Stenvall, Stanley Stevens, Mabel Terry, Jeanne Thompson, Frances Wilson, Corinne Wipke, Marilyn Wrigler, Debbie Wubben, and Spencer Wyant.
And with special thanks to Stanley D. Stevens for all his help, advice, and support.