LibGuides: History Proseminar: Newspapers

Overview

The UIUC Library has a very extensive collection of newspapers, both current and retrospective, in a variety of formats, including hard copy, microfilm, and digital reproductions. Not all of them are included in the online catalog.

When searching for a particular newspaper title, try searching it first in the:

University of Illinois Library Newspaper Database
A catalog of newspapers at the University of Illinois Library. Lists newspapers in all formats--print, microfilm, and digitized. You can search for newspapers by title, or identify newspapers by place of publication, date of publication, or by the newspaper's subject or intended audience. Only includes newspapers that are either the original print publication, or else facsimile reproductions of the original print publication.

Many newspapers are embedded in larger collections of online resources or in microfilm collections. Examples of "aggregated" online databases include African American Newspapers of the Nineteenth Century (see below), America's Historical Newspapers (part of the Archive of Americana), Ethnic NewsWatch (1960- ), the EastView collection of Russian/CIS newspapers and periodicals (1990s- ), and the American Periodical Series Online (see below). They may also be included in microfilm collections, such as the Underground Press Collection (1963-1985, FILM 071.3 Un3 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library), Periodicals by and about American Indians, 1923-1981 (FILM 973.049705 P418 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library), or Newspapers from the Russian Revolutionary Era (FILM 057.1 NE History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library).

We have guides to finding articles in African American Newspapers, and Alternative Newspapers (sometimes called "underground newspapers).

How to Find Specific Newspapers

Search the UIUC Newspaper Database to find original print newspapers, newspapers on microfilm, and digitized newspapers. This is the best starting point. Type the title of the newspaper in the search box, or browse by place of publication.

Search Online Journals and Database Catalog. Type the title of the newspaper in the search box.

Search the Online Catalog (title or keyword search).

Search the Center for Research Libraries Newspaper Catalog.Type the title of the newspaper in the search box, or browse by place of publications. If you locate a newspaper at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), request it through Inter-Library Loan. CRL is one of the few libraries that will lend its print newspapers (as well as its newspapers on microfilm).
Search WorldCat. If you locate a newspaper through WorldCat, request it through Inter-Library Loan. Few libraries will lend print newspapers (some won't even lend microfilm).

Digital Newspaper Collections

Digital newspaper collections enable you to perform keyword searches across long runs of specific newspaper titles, as well as large corpuses of digitized newspapers.

To locate digital newspaper collections, consult our:

Guide to Digitized Historical Newspapers
The most up-to-date listing of digitized newspapers, including over 20 different collections from across the U.S.

Below is an incomplete list of digital newspaper collections:

ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Dozens 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.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers is the definitive newspaper digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 18th century. Every issue of each title includes the complete paper, cover-to-cover, with full-page and article images in easily downloadable PDF format. The full collection of ProQuest Historical Newspapers contains over 30 million digitized pages.
America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Hundreds of titles, with especially strong coverage of the earliest American newspapers, but also strong coverage of the early 20th century. Includes the following sub-collections: Early American Newspapers, Series I through VII (1690-1922); 20th Century American Newspapers (1923-1993); Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980); African American Newspapers, Series I-II (1827-1998); Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection (1799-1977); and Caribbean Newspapers (1718-1876). Part of the Archive of Americana.
African American Newspapers: The 19th Century This link opens in a new window
9 major African American newspapers of the 19th Century, including Freedom's Journal (the first African American newspaper ever published), the Christian Recorder, the Colored American, Douglass' Monthly, Frederick Douglass' Paper, the National Era, the North Star, the Provincial Freeman, and the Weekly Advocate.
African American Newspapers Series 1 and 2 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
A wide ranging collection that complements our largest collection of digitized African American newspapers, ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers. While ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers covers the major, metropolitan black newspapers of the 20th century, African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 provides access to a broader range of publications, especially the black press of America's smaller cities, and the few extant issues of the earliest black newspapers, most of which were previously available only on microfilm or in smaller digital collections scattered around the Internet
Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 This link opens in a new window
Mostly 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.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Hundreds of titles.
17th and 18th Century Burney Collection This link opens in a new window
Digitized from the largest collection of English language, 17th and 18th century newspapers in the world. Newspapers mostly from British Isles, but includes titles from mainland Europe, India, North, and Caribbean. Part of Gale News Vault.
19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Library 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.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953) This link opens in a new window
12 English language, Chinese newspapers and periodicals: the Canton Times (1919-1920); the China Critic (1939-1940, 1946); the China Press (1925-1938); the Chinese Repository (1832-1851); Millard's Review of the Far East (1917-1953); the Missionary Recorder (1868-1940); the North-China Herald (1850-1941); the Peking Daily News (1914-1917); the Peking Gazette (1915-1917); the Peking Leader (1918-1919); the Shanghai Gazette (1919-1920); and the Shanghai Times (1914-1921).

South Asian Newspapers (World Newspaper Archive)
Currently includes nine newspapers from south Asia, covering late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Click here to view a complete title list for South Asian Newspapers (World Newspaper Archive). Part of the World Newspaper Archive.
African Newspapers (World Newspaper Archive)
Currently includes about 65 newspapers from Africa, covering late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Click here to view a complete title list for African Newspapers (World Newspaper Archive). Part of the World Newspaper Archive.
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.
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Be aware that much of the OCR in this collection is very low quality, and keyword searches are therefore not reliable.

Caribbean Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Series I features 81 newspapers from 22 countries: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadaloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Bartholomew, St. Christopher, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tobago, Trinidad, the Virgin Islands, and also Bermuda. All newspapers are in Western European languages: English, Spanish, French, and Danish. Digitized from the collections of the American Antiquarian Society. Part of the World Newspaper Archive.
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