Library Guides: HIST 4950: Historiography and Research Writing: Historical Newspapers

Historical Newspapers

Newspapers are a primary source for historical research because they provide a "snapshot" of a moment in time. One this page, I've compiled some of the more popular historical newspaper databases available to you!

Chronicling America
This is a long-term effort to develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
An archive of 14 major historical U.S. newspapers that can be searched collectively or individually. Every issue of each title includes the complete paper, cover to cover.
Proquest Historical Newspapers: U.S.North Central Collection
Provides access to newspapers including the Des Moines Register, Iowa Press Citizen, and papers from Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, and South Dakota.
HarpWeek
Provides a continuous record of what happened on a weekly basis from 1857 through 1912 from the pages of Harpers Weekly, one of the important American newspapers in the 19th century.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers
Provides access to primary source newspapers from the 19th century, featuring full-text content and images from numerous newspapers throughout the U.S. The collection encompasses the entire 19th century.

American Prison Newspapers - 1800-2020
Contains "nearly 100,000 pages of a planned 250,000 pages representing at least one prison in 30 states. With the help of JSTOR Daily, many users are finding this material who might not otherwise know it exists"

Diverse Perspectives

African American Newspapers
This is a collection of some 19th Century African American newspapers. Contains information about cultural life and history including early biographies, vital statistics, essays, editorials, advertisements, poetry, and prose all of which embody the African American experience.
Black Studies Center
African American publications that can be found under the "Historical Newspapers" tab include: Chicago Defender, Cleveland Call and Post, and The Pittsburgh Courier.
Ethnic NewsWatch
This unique database provides historic and current full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals covering often overlooked perspectives, 1959-present. Strong coverage of African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Latino newspapers.

Not what you're looking for?

A more comprehensive list of historical newspapers is available on our Finding Newspapers Guide:

Finding Newspapers
by Charles Yier Last Updated May 7, 2025 2963 views this year

Becca Yowler

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Subjects: Anthropology, History, World Languages & Cultures