Yesterday, I planned to create a genealogy post for my social media feeds. I opened my phone and scrolled to an interesting newspaper headline I gathered about 10 years ago. It reads: Girl, 16, Slugged by Attacker Near Home [1]. I will drop a photo below.

The article centered on the night my dad’s aunt Eleanor was attacked near her Oakland, California home. Short, easy to read, and interesting, I decided to share the article with my friends and family.

But one thing held me back—I wanted a better image of the article for the post. Technology has improved in the decade since I originally found the article, so I hopped on Newspaper.com and searched for it again, knowing I should easily find a better image. Not only did I find it, but I found something better. I came across the same story in a different paper. While much of the text reads the same, the second article contained additional headlines and even a photo [2]!

These were new details for me. I greedily snatched the second article so I could post the one with the picture instead.

The entire scenario was that sweet genealogical serendipity that often happens when searching our ancestors. Plus it reminded me of that age old adage—check back later. Experienced researchers will often revisit their searches in various repositories. That’s because record collections are constantly changing, updated, and new materials are added, processed, and made available that weren’t available before. In this instance, I don't know why I didn't find the second article at the same time I found the first. The collections might not have contained that particular newspaper, I might have been searching a different name, who knows? However, I do know that going back again lead me to some important additional details previously unknown to me. 

Besides, in this case the new article was superior. The extra headlines, the photo with Aunt Eleanor looking chic, and even the story came across rather Hollywood to me. It gave the story an additional element of fun. (As far as a story of your family member being attacked by a stranger can be considered "fun.") Plus I loved the slight difference in detail here and there. Overall, I really loved stumbling across the new (to me) article and am happy I went out of my way to find a better image for the first one. It totally made my day.

So please, remember to check back later. You never know what you might find.

• 1.    "Girl, 16, Slugged by Attacker Near Home," The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), p. 3, col. 7. 1 June 1936. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/128119289/ : accessed 7 July 2025).  
• 2.    "Mystery Attacker Slugs Oakland Girl," The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), p. 15. 1 June 1936. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/457843386/ : accessed 7 July 2025).