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Daylight Saving: Topics in Chronicling America

The Standard Time Act is signed into law on March 19, 1918, giving Americans an extra hour of sun to enjoy! This guide provides access to materials related to "Daylight Saving” in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.

Introduction

"How the daylight-saving law affects you after March 31." March 16, 1918. The Washington Herald (Washington, DC), Image 1. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

“Daylight will last an hour longer, which can be used for tennis or other sports,” suggests the Washington Times. Following Europe’s example, the United States adopts Daylight Saving Time in order to save energy and take advantage of daylight hours. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.

Timeline

March 15, 1918The Standard Time Act is passed by Congress, creating Daylight Saving Time in the United States.
March 19, 1918The Standard Time Act is signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson.
March 31, 1918Daylight Saving Time goes into effect in the U.S. for the first time.