Having trouble accessing government information? See the Libraries’ guide to Alternative Sources for Federal Information and Data.
MEJO 342: Black Press and U.S. History: Primary Sources
Black Press (Civil Rights)
-
Black Studies Center - Newspaper Coverage
Full-text of five African American newspapers: - The Baltimore Afro-American (1893-2010)
- The Chicago Defender (1921-1967)
- The Daily Defender (1956-1960)
- The New York Amsterdam News (1943-1961)
- The Pittsburgh Courier (1911-1950)
Other date ranges for these newspapers may be available via ProQuest.
-
Ethnic NewsWatchIncludes several late 20th century African American newspapers, such as
- The Tri-State Defender (1959-1989),
- The New Pittsburgh Courier (1959-present),
- The Washington Informer (1979-present).
-
North Carolina NewspapersTwo African American newspapers: The Carolina times. (Durham, N.C.) 1919-2020 and The tribunal aid. (High Point, N.C.) 1973-1976
-
African American Periodicals 1825-1995
170 periodicals by and about African Americans. Political, academic, and popular titles.
-
Gale Primary Sources: Associated Press Collections OnlineMaterials from the Associated Press archives consisting of wire copy (original news reports) and internal AP publications and documents (newsletters, correspondence, journals, reporter's notebooks, photographs etc.). Includes 6 modules: News Features & Internal Communications, 1848-2000; U.S. Cities Bureaus Collection, 1931-2004 (Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco; Washington D.C. Bureau Collection, 1915-1930 and 1938-2009; Middle East Bureaus Collection, 1967-2008 (Ankara, Beirut, Jerusalem); European Bureaus Collection, 1937-2003 (Berlin, Bern, Geneva, Prague, Vienna, and Warsaw).
170 periodicals by and about African Americans. Political, academic, and popular titles.
Black Press (Reconstruction)
-
Accessible Archives - African American NewspapersIncludes four newspapers not in African-American Newspapers (above):
- The Christian Recorder, 1861–1902
- Colored American (NY, NY) , 1837-1841
- National era (Washington, DC), 1847-1860
- Provincial Freeman (Toronto, Canada), 1854-1857
-
African American Periodicals 1825-1995 170 periodicals by and about African Americans. Political, academic, and popular titles.
-
The Liberator
Full images of issues of Los Angeles' The Liberator. 1900-1914. Available through the Edmonds Family Liberator Collection at The Los Angeles Public Library.
Finding African American Newspapers by State
Find African American newspapers by state:
- Select state from drop-down list
- Select "African American" from More Search Options > Ethnicity Press drop-down list
- Search!
- Browse this list of 2400+ African American newspapers.
Notes:
- This directory lists known newspapers and publication info. It does not include full-text or digitized content.
- From the Library of Congress' Chronicling America's U.S. Newspaper Directory
- Click on the title of a newspaper to see more info: publication specs, alternate titles, and libraries that have it.
New York Times Historical Newspaper
-
New York Times Historical NewspaperAvailable through the ProQuest Historical Newspapers database, offers over 3 million pages of full-text and full-image newspaper articles covering the entire publishing history of the newspaper, from 1851 to 2 or 3 years ago. Researchers can use the images to find not only news, editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements, but also historical photos, stock photos, and advertisements.
Wall Street Journal Historical Newspaper
-
Wall Street Journal Historical NewspaperThe Wall Street Journal: Eastern Edition is the financial newspaper of record. It provides business, financial, and world news coverage, personal and company profiles, feature reporting, special reports, and regular columns. Is it published 6 days a week.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
-
Chronicling AmericaAllows you to identify newspapers of all kinds published in America from 1690 to the present, see details about them, and find libraries that hold the papers either in paper or microform. Chronicling America provides free access to historic U.S. newspapers published from 1836 through 1922. North Carolina newspapers number among the titles available from more than 30 states and the District of Columbia.
ProQuest Historic Newspapers
Search multiple mainstream U.S. newspapers, including
- Atlanta Constitution (1868 - 1984)
- Baltimore Sun (1837 - 1996)
- Boston Globe (1872 - 1990)
- Chicago Tribune (1849 - present)
- Los Angeles Times (1881 - present)
- Louisville Courier Journal (1830-present)
- Nashville Tennessean (1812-1922)
- New York Times (1851 - present)
- San Francisco Chronicle (1865 - 1922)
- Wall Street Journal (1889 - 2004)
- Washington Post (1877 - present)
Search 11 African American newspapers, including:
- Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003)*
- Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988)*
- Chicago Defender (1909-1975)*
- Cleveland Call & Post (1934-1991)*
- Los Angeles Sentinel (1934 - 2005)*
- Michigan Chronicle (1939 - 2010)*
- New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993)*
- Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916 - 2003)*
- Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002)*
African American Newspapers: Microfilm
Browse these lists of
- African American newspapers in North Carolina. Many are available on microfilm at Wilson Library's North Carolina Collection. Some available online.
- African American newspapers around the country available on microfilm at Davis Library. [link from the Wayback Machine, September 2015]
Online Magazines - Mainstream & African American
Magazines include text and graphics. Get layout ideas, and see how things were done 100 years ago through today!
-
The AssemblyThe Assembly is a digital magazine about the people, institutions, and ideas that shape North Carolina. Founded in 2021, it features interesting, deeply reported, nuanced stories about the state.
-
Ebony
Full-text and full-images of Ebony magazine, Nov. 1959 through Dec. 2008 available through Google Magazines. Not all issues are available.
-
Financial Times Historical ArchiveComplete run of the London edition of the Financial Times, from 1888 through 2021. Every individual article, advertisement and market listing is included. Special supplements and the FT Magazine are also included.
-
Harper's Bazaar Archive: US and UK
Full-text and images from America's first fashion magazine. U.K. edition: 1929-2015; U.S. edition: 1867 to the present.
-
Jet
Full-text and full-images of Jet magazine, Nov 1951 through 2008 available online through Google Magazines. Not all issues are available.
Full-text and full-images of Jet magazine, Nov 1951 through 2008 available online through Google Magazines. Not all issues are available.
-
LGBT Magazine ArchiveLGBT Magazine Archive delves into LGBTQ+ history and culture through full-text scanned color cover-to-cover reproductions of 40+ influential magazines dating back to the 1950s, covering newsworthy and social justice topics like health, politics, social attitudes, law, activism, LGBTQ+ rights, arts, and literature.
Full-text and full-images of LIFE Magazine, 1936-1972 through Google Magazines.
-
Nation Magazine ArchiveDigital archive (1865-June 2020) of American biweekly magazine, offering progressive coverage and analysis of political and cultural news.
-
National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1888-1994Provides unlimited access to the official journal of the National Geographic Society. Every article, photograph and map from every issue is available and searchable through an intuitive interface. (Source: vendor website)
-
New Republic Magazine ArchiveDigital archive (1914-June 2020) of American political and cultural commentary magazine.
-
The New Yorker - ArticlesFull images of all issues, including articles & cartoons & web-only content. 1925-present.
-
New Yorker - Full issuesFull issues of the New Yorker. Browse page by page of each issue from 1925-present.
-
Rolling Stone ArchiveThe backfile of Rolling Stone covers the magazine from its launch in 1967 to the present. It soon became a leading vehicle for rock and popular music journalism, shaping and chronicling new trends and movements. From the 1980s, coverage expanded to encompass more entertainment topics, such as film and television, making it a leading resource for contemporary reporting and reviews pertaining to wider popular culture.
-
Vibe ArchiveThis archive consists of the full run of VIBE magazine, the U.S. magazine of record for hip-hop culture from 1993–2014. Founded by Quincy Jones, VIBE offered influential reporting and news about rap, hip-hop, and R&B music.
-
Vogue
Full-text and images of Vogue magazine, including articles and advertisements. 1892-present.
-
Women's Magazine Archive
Full-text and full image of Redbook, Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, Parents, and Essence. Includes text and images. 1883-2005.
1898 Election in North Carolina
-
The 1898 Election in North CarolinaArticles from Republican, Democrat, and Populist sources; editorials; and some statistics. Also includes a timeline, biographies, and a glossary. From University Libraries.
North Carolina Periodicals Index
-
North Carolina Periodicals IndexIndexes a selection of recent North Carolina magazines and journals across many disciplines. Covers subjects in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and physical and natural sciences. Compiled and produced by the Langford North Carolina Collection of Joyner Library at East Carolina University primarily for students there, it will be useful to anyone studying topics related to North Carolina.
Newspapers in North Carolina
Newspapers.com
Specific newspapers (alphabetical)
- The (Daily) Tar Heel 1893-1992
- The Durham Sun 1889 – 1919
- News & Observer 1880-1922
Search Hints
- Click on <advanced search>
- Enter location in the <Place> field
- Enter year (or date) in the <Date> field
- Enter search term(s) in the search box (i.e., Wilmington, riot, Manly)
Older N.C. Newspapers
- News & Observer available on microfilm at
- UNC's North Carolina Collection: 1894 to present (C071 N55).
- UNC's Davis Library: 1980-2011 (Serial 1-857).
Organization Papers
-
NAACP PapersNearly two million pages of internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the U.S. 1909 to 1972.
-
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) PapersMeeting minutes, statements, financial reports, and more from 1960-1968.
Gale Primary Sources
-
Gale Primary SourcesGale Primary Sources is a search engine for Gale's historical digital collections of primary materials. You can search all at once or choose selectively. Consult the database to see the full-text collections available.
Using Microfilm
@ Wilson Library (North Carolina newspapers)
Microfilm reader/copiers are available in the second floor reading room. One microfilm reader is available in the fourth floor reading room. Read more about using Wilson Library.
@ Davis Library (national newspapers)
The Davis Library microforms collection is on the Lower Level of Davis Library. They have helpful staff to get microfilm reels for you & show you how to use them. Check their hours before going over to Davis.