African and African American Studies Research Guide

Most cover early to mid-20th century, with strong coverage for 1940s-1960s. Newspapers currently included: Call & Post (Cleveland); Chicago Defender / Chicago Daily Defender; the Courier / New Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh); and Final Call (Chicago).

"The Iowa State Bystander was established in Des Moines in 1894 as a four-page weekly to serve as the voice of Iowa’s African American community. Ten prominent African Americans established the Bystander Publishing Company under the motto: “Fear God, Tell the Truth, and Make Money.” The Iowa State Bystander was the fifth black newspaper established in Iowa, following short-lived publications in Corning, Des Moines, and Oskaloosa. The first issue was published on June 15, 1894, with a press run of one thousand copies. Editor Charles S. Ruff named the paper after a syndicated newspaper column called “The Bystander’s Notes” written by civil rights advocate Albion W. Tourgee for the black Chicago newspaper, the Daily Inter Ocean."

By 1916, The Iowa State Bystander had changed its name to The Bystander "in an effort to appeal to a larger national audience." By 1919, the paper's editors and owners had changed several times and its name changed once again in 1922 to the Iowa Bystander. Digitized issues & partial issues of The Bystander are available on this site. From Library of Congress's Chronicling America.

The Buxton Eagle newspaper was published from 1903-1905. A limited number of microfilmed pages of The Buxton Eagle were included on a microfilm reel entitled "The Southern Iowa Educator;" the reel includes issues from a number of unrelated Iowa newspapers. Only the Saturday, Oct. 10, 1903 4-page issue of the Buxton Eagle is included on this mf reel. Access: This item is available in Parks Library Microforms, AN1 S68x microfilm. ASK at the library's Main Desk to access and view this item.

This newspaper from Des Moines began in 1897; its end date is not known. Only one 4-page issue of this rare newspaper is available at the Chronicling America site.

ISU Thesis by Elaine Patterson, 1987; from ISU Digital Repository. While the focus is on the history and editors of The Bystander, some information is included related to dates of additional early Black newspapers in Iowa.

This newspaper was variously titled The Defender and The Waterloo Defender. It began as a weekly paper in 1963; end date is currently unknown. Selected issues from 1966-1979 were microfilmed, including: 1966 (Feb. 11, June 17, Nov. 18); 1967 (June 2, July 21, Aug. 4, Sept. 15); 1968 (March 22); 1969 (April 4, Oct. 10); 1970 (Sept. 5); 1971 (Dec. 31); 1972 (Jan. 28, Feb. 25, Apr. 21, May 19, June 2, June 16, June 30 July 28, Aug. 25, Sept. 8, Sept 22, Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Dec. 15); 1973 (Jan. 26, March 9, March 23, Apr. 20, May 4 July 13, Oct. 5); 1974 (Oct. 5, Oct. 18); 1975 (March 21, May 2, Oct. 18, Oct. 31), and 1979 (sept. 20).
Access: This item is available in Parks Library Microforms, E185.5 W37x microfilm. ASK at the library's Main Desk to access and view this item.

Published in Des Moines, this newspaper began in 1891; its end date is currently unknown. Only one 5-page issue from Jan. 20, 1893 of this rare newspaper is available from the Chronicling America site.

From Newspapers.com