Historical Newspapers - US - News and Newspapers Library Guide

U.S. Newspaper Directory

From the Library of Congress, a searchable and browsable directory of newspapers published in the United States from 1690-present. Great for finding out which titles existed in a given place and time.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
Search America's historic newspapers from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.

About Historical Newspapers

Want to learn more about U.S. newspapers and newspaper publishing before the Civil War. Check out these great tutorial videos and bibliography put together by the librarians at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

American Newspapers, 1800-1860
A guide to understanding and using antebellum American newspapers.

Select U.S. Historical Newspapers by Title

Popular and important historical newspapers titles published in the United States.

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Includes: African American Newspapers parts I-XII, Charleston South Carolina Gazette, Pennsylvania Gazette, The Liberator Folio I – VII, Civil War: A Newspaper perspective and the Virginia Gazette.

Atlanta Constitution (1868-1939)
Full page and article images with searchable full text
The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

Detroit Free Press Historical This link opens in a new window
Access from 1831-1922.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849 - 1998) This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune (1849-1998) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

Los Angeles Times (1881-1989)
Full page and article images with searchable full text
The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
See ProQuest Digital Microfilm for digitized microfilm from 2008 to about three months from the present.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times This link opens in a new window
Access full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue in 1851. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue from 1851-2017.

Richmond Daily Dispatch (1860-1865)
useful to a broad audience encompassing scholars, students, genealogists, Civil War buffs, re-enactors, and more

Times-Picayune & Daily Picayune: 1837-2017 (New Orleans, La.) - Readex/Newsbank This link opens in a new window
Access full text and full image of articles from The Picayune, the Daily Picayune, and the Times-Picayune (New Orleans) from 1837 through 2017.
Wall Street Journal (1889 - 2000) This link opens in a new window
Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. Digital access to every page from every available issue.
Washington Post (1877-1996) This link opens in a new window
The Washington Post (1877-1996) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. Includes digital reproductions of every page from every available issue.

Database Collections of US Historical Newspapers

The following databases contain collections of historical newspapers. Try searching across several newspapers from the same region, or multiple newspapers from a specific time period.

Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Includes: African American Newspapers parts I-XII, Charleston South Carolina Gazette, Pennsylvania Gazette, The Liberator Folio I – VII, Civil War: A Newspaper perspective and the Virginia Gazette.
African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
A subset of the America's Historical Newspapers Collection from Readex, which includes African American newspapers from around the United States, including the New Orleans Daily Creole, New Orleans Tribune, Weekly Louisianian and the Weekly Pelican.
Metro Atlanta (Georgia Historic Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Access select full-text, historic newspapers from Metro Atlanta, Georgia spanning years 1842-2018.
Includes: Atlanta Daily Examiner, 1857; Atlanta Daily Herald, 1873-1876; Atlanta Georgian, 1906-1911; Atlanta Intelligencer, 1851, 1854-1871; Atlantian, 1911-1922; Daily/Georgia Weekly Opinion, 1867-1868; Gate-City Guardian, 1861; Georgia Literary and Temperance Crusader, 1860-1861; New Era, 1869-1872; Southern Confederacy, 1861-1864; Southern Miscellany, and Upper Georgia Whig, 1847; Southern World, 1882-1885; Sunny South, 1875-1907; and Weekly Constitution, 1869-1882.
America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Contains early American newspapers published between 1690 and 1980, including titles from all 50 present states and the Hispanic American Newspapers collection.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Black Studies Center consists of scholarly journals, commissioned overview essays by top scholars in Black Studies, historic indexes, and The Chicago Defender newspaper from 1910-1975, as well as other historical African-American newspapers. At the heart of Black Studies Center is Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, consisting of essays that provide an introduction to major topics in Black Studies.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress)
Search America's historic newspapers from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.

Civil War Era: Newspapers and Pamphlets This link opens in a new window
Includes the earliest editions of the Daily Picayune (later Times-Picayune) from 1840 to 1865 and many other important American newspapers and pamhlets from the antebellum and Civil War period.
Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection (1799 - 1971) This link opens in a new window
Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971.

Google News Archive Search
Search for events, people or ideas and see how they have been described over time. Also see a historical overview of the results by browsing a timeline.Includes content from a number of sources. Results may include content that is freely accessible as well as content that requires a fee.

Harper's Weekly This link opens in a new window
Full text of this American political magazine from 1857 to 1912. Features foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays, humor, and illustrations. Extensive coverage of the American Civil War, including illustrations. Includes artwork of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.
Historical Black Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Access full text articles in New York Amsterdam News 1922-1993, Pittsburgh Courier 1911-2002, Atlanta Daily World 1931-2003, Los Angeles Sentinel 1946-2005, Baltimore Afro-American 1893-1988, Norfolk Journal and Guide 1921-2003, Philadelphia Tribune 1912-2001, Cleveland Call and Post 1934-1991. Individual titles may also be searched separately.
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Includes full text access to over 26 U.S., UK, Irish, and Indian English-language newspapers, which may also be searched individually.
Titles include: The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger (1857 - 1922); The American Israelite‎ (1854 - 2000); The Atlanta Constitution (1868 - 1945); Atlanta Daily World‎ (1931 - 2003); The Baltimore Afro-American‎ (1893 - 1988); The Boston Globe‎ (1872 - 1986); Chicago Defender‎ (1909 - 1975); Chicago Tribune‎ (1849 - 1994); The Christian Science Monitor‎ (1908 - 2004); Cleveland Call & Post‎ (1934 – 1991); Detroit Free Press‎ (1831 - 1922); The Guardian & The Observer‎ (1791 – 2003); The Irish Times & The Weekly Irish Times‎ (1859 - 2016); The Jewish Advocate‎ (1905 - 1990); The Jewish Exponent‎ (1887 - 1990); Los Angeles Sentinel‎ (1934 - 2005); Los Angeles Times‎ (1881 - 1994); New York Amsterdam News‎ (1922 - 1993); The New York Times‎ (1851 - 2014); New York Tribune‎ (1841 - 1922); Norfolk Journal & Guide‎ (1916 - 2003); Philadelphia Tribune‎ (1912 - 2001); Pittsburgh Courier‎ (1911 - 2002); The Scotsman‎ (1817 - 1950); The Times of India‎ (1838 - 2008); The Wall Street Journal‎ (1889 - 2000) and The Washington Post‎ (1877 - 2001)
Illustrated Civil War: Newspapers and Magazines This link opens in a new window
Contains Newspapers and magazines from the nineteenth-century.

Louisiana Newspapers (LSU Libraries Special Collections)
Extensive guide to researching and accessing Louisiana newspapers in print, microform, and digital formats at LSU and other libraries. Includes microfilm indexes and family trees for Louisiana Newspapers.

Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Access 500+ U.S. newspapers published between 1800 and 1900, many published in what were, at the time, territories. Covers a broad spectrum with a comprehensive geographical and chronological range.

Portal to Newspapers and Periodicals, 1685-1815
Includes rare journals printed between 1685 and 1815, illuminating all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Many are ephemeral, lasting only for a handful of issues, others run for several years. Topics covered include: colonial life; provincial and rural affairs; the French and American revolutions; reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe; political debates; and London coffee house gossip and discussion.

ProQuest Digital Microfilm This link opens in a new window
Digitized microfilm from 2008 to three months from the present. Includes: Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times Library Edition, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
For indexes to these papers, please use Lexis-Nexis Academic (database) or visit Microforms and Newspapers in Howard-Tilton Memorial Library.
World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new window
A fully searchable collection of historical newspapers from around the globe. Created in partnership with the Center for Research Libraries, contains the America's Historical Newspapers and Latin American Newspapers collections.