Former owners of The Salem News donate archives to library

September 8, 2026

Salem Publishing Company

For decades the staff of The Salem News carefully filed photo negatives that appeared in its print editions. Those files – from the 1950s through the 2000s – chronicle the history of the community.

Salem Publishing Company has donated those files to the Salem Public Library, where they will be available to the general public for years to come. Also donated are bound editions of The Salem News and other local papers dating from the early 1900s through early 2025. “When we sold the newspaper to Carpenter Media Group in February of 2025, that group also agreed that the library would be a great place to house those archives,” said Donald Dodd, owner of the newspaper for 28 years. “You can’t put a dollar value on the history that is contained in those files. Birth notices, death notices, birthday parties, championship sports teams, key changes and events that impacted the community. . . they are all documented in those archives.”

Dodd, his wife Felicia and Dodd’s daughter, Catherine Wynn, made up the board of Salem Publishing when The Salem News was sold. They were all in agreement that the library is the perfect place to house the archives so they can be used for a variety of not-for-profit purposes, including genealogy by the general public and research by local historians and others needing to know more about events and history that shaped the community.

“It's an honor to be trusted with the care of this chronicle of our community's history. Especially exciting is the ability to assist the public with requests for information previously unavailable in other library resources like microfilm; for example, obituaries from the end of the twentieth century,” said Kate McBride, Director of Salem Public Library. “We’re very grateful.”

Previous owners and publishers of The Salem News were Bob and Margaret Vickery, Charles Stacey and Ray Vickery. Along with Dodd, they made sure the award-winning newspaper focused on covering every aspect of the community, which means the archives are thorough, accurate and a comprehensive history.

The Dodds and Wynn are also going to donate a photo negative scanner so not only the library, but those accessing the archives, can obtain digital versions of what is needed.

“We think Salem Public Library is the perfect place for these archives,” Dodd said. “It’s a natural fit, and we know they will be good stewards of this donation. The staff and board will do their best to see that these archives are available to community members and all of those interested in the history of this great community.”

The library has had possession of the archives for a couple months and will soon roll out information on how they can be viewed, its policies for use and availability.

“We do plan to have that information on the library’s website, salempubliclibrary.net, very soon,” according to McBride. “People making requests can help library staff locate articles and images expediently by providing as much detail about the dates as possible. Currently, library staff is able to take photos of articles or images from the newspapers and email them to patrons. If patrons prefer to have the information on paper, it can be printed in black and white for 25¢ per page. In the future, staff will be able to scan negatives in order to print photos. The charge for that service has yet to be determined.”

For more information contact the library at (573) 729-4331 or salemmopubliclibrary@gmail.com.