Historical Newspapers
In addition to historical digitized newspapers to which we have access, we have a large collection of newspapers on microfilm. In order to find out if we have a particular newspaper, or to find out if we have a newspaper for a particular city, you can search our database of newspapers held at the University of Illinois Library.
- Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 This link opens in a new windowMostly scattered issues of over 300 Hispanic-American newspapers. Purports to be largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. Based on the "Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project" collection at the the University of Houston. Part of America's Historical Newspapers and the Archive of Americana.
- Papers Past (New Zealand)Dozens of New Zealand newspapers, published between 1839 and 1948. Includes almost 20 Maori newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowDozens of major metropolitan newspapers, like the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, major African American newspapers like the Chicago Defender, and more. Especially strong coverage of the 20th century.
- 19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new windowLibrary has Part I: 1800-1900 (47 newspapers, including the Illustrated Police News, the Morning Chronicle, and the Graphic, as well as radical papers like the Northern Star, and the Examiner); Part II: 1800-1900 (22 newspapers, including the London London Standard and the Morning Post); Part III: 1741-1950 (35 newspapers, including the Leeds Intelligencer, the Hull Daily Mail, the Northampton Mercury, the Poor Law Unions’ Gazette, and the Westmoreland Gazette); and Part IV: 1732-1950 (23 newspapers including Stamford Mercury to what is possibly the oldest magazine in the world still in publication, the Scots Magazine, the 23 newspapers including the Aberdeen Journal and Dundee Courier). Part of Gale News Vault.
- Times Digital Archive, The This link opens in a new windowThe Times of London. The Sunday Times available on a separate platform. Part of Gale News Vault.
- Latin American Newspapers (World Newspaper Archive)335 newspapers from twenty-two countries in nineteenth century and early twentieth century Latin America. The nineteenth century runs tend to be spotty, while twentieth century runs are nearer complete (and the collection contains no issues past 1923). Click here to view a complete title list for Latin American Newspapers (World Newspaper Archive). Part of World Newspaper Archive.
- Trove: Digitized Australian Historical NewspapersOver one thousand Australian Newspapers from 1803 to 1954. Ongoing project of the National Library of Australia.
Current Newspapers
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
1959-present. Newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from ethnic, minority and native presses. - Access World News This link opens in a new windowNews from over 3000 sources world-wide (most starting in the 1990s or after 2000, but with some dating back to the 1980s.). Includes newspapers, magazines, wire-services, blogs, television transcripts, and more.
- Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new windowArticles from U.S. and international news sources, including newspapers, newswires, television transcripts, radio transcripts, and more.
- World News Connection Database This link opens in a new windowMonitors non-U.S. media sources, produced by the "Open Source Center" of the CIA.
- Alt-PressWatch This link opens in a new window1970-present; mostly United States. Over 670,000 articles from 200 alternative press titles, predominantly news weeklies.
- Latin American Newsstream This link opens in a new windowLatin American Newsstream provides full-text information in Spanish and Portuguese from 41 newspapers from Puerto Rico and 11 Latin American countries, starting in 2005.
- Russian Regional Newspapers This link opens in a new windowNewspapers from all all seven Federal Districts of the Russian Federation. Titles selected for inclusion based on reported circulation. Coverage for most titles begins around 2000.
- Russian Central Newspapers This link opens in a new windowNational newspapers (both official and independent), as opposed to those with more regional focus found in the Russian Regional Newspapers file.
Searching Historical Newspapers
Like any other primary source, historical newspapers embody the values, perspectives, and purposes of their producers. They are subject to economic, social, and political influences, some of which can be identified, while others remain obscure. Always ask yourself these key questions:
1. Who was involved in the production of this newspaper?
2. Does this newspaper have an identifiable political or socio-economic orientation or affiliation?
3. Who was the target audience?
When you find specific articles in a newspaper that address your topic, ask yourself:
1. What is the context for this article? Was it written to convey information about an event or to contribute to a discussion of a controversial issue?
2. What aspects of the story are emphasized in the article?
3. What doesn't the article tell you about the story?
4. How is the article placed in the issue and on the page?
5. Is there related material in the same issue?
6. What language was used to describe the topic?
For purposes of conducting research, there is one key difference between using a digitized historical newspaper and using a newspaper in hard copy or on microfilm. The sole access point for non-digital newspapers is date. For digitized newspapers, you can search by keyword and/or date. In other words, for original print newspapers or newspapers on microfilm, there is no subject access: no index, no keyword search, no means of searching directly by subject.
When using digitized historical newspapers, remember that searching on keywords means using the exact language that was used by the author(s) of the article at the time the newspaper was published. You must be careful to use the terminology of the historical period. This may include language that we would consider objectionable today.
As you find some articles on your topic, note what other terms were used and try searching again with those terms.