Guides: American Studies: Historical Newspapers and Magazines

Newspaper Articles: Historical

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Search the archives of several United States newspapers. Earliest is 1851.

America's Historical Newspapers: Early American Newspapers
Part of Archive of Americana. Includes Early American Newspapers, Series 1-3, 1690-1922.

Chronicling America: Historical American Newspapers
Provided by the Library of Congress. Provides access to major city newspapers dating 1789-1943

African American Newspapers - The 19th Century
Full-text newspapers articles from: Freedom's Journal; Colored American; The North Star; The National Era; Frederick Douglass Paper; Provincial Freeman; and The Christian Recorder.

Pennsylvania Gazette, 1728 - 1800
Published in Philadelphia, it is considered the New York Times of the 18th Century. Provides a firsthand view of colonial America, the American Revolution and the New Republic

Newspaper Research Guide
Detailed assistance finding current and historical newspaper resources.

Periodicals & Magazines: Historical

Accessible Archives
The Accessible Archives was founded in 1990 with the goal of utilizing computer technology to make available vast quantities of archived historical information, previously furnished only on microfilm. In pursuit of this vision, primary source material has been selected to reflect a broad view of the times, and has been assembled into databases with a strict attention to detail allowing access to specific information with pinpoint accuracy. Full text search capability and digital imaging permits the user to search and manipulate information in ways never before possible.

American Periodicals Series Online - 1740-1940 This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals between 1740 and 1940. Includes publications such as Vanity Fair, Life, and Ladies Home Journal.

Esquire (Archival Print Issues)
Make an appointment with Special Collections to see archival copies of Esquire.
Coverage: 1948-1969
Frank Leslie's
Popular American illustrated periodical, 1855-1922. Library coverage varies.
Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly
Online via American Periodicals

Leslie's Monthly Magazine
Online via American Periodicals

Frank Leslie's Weekly
Online via Accessible Archives

Leslie's Illustrated Weekly
Print, microfilm

Godey's Lady's Book: All Parts This link opens in a new window
Searchable full-text of the famous 19th century womens' magazine, which today is considered among the most important resources of 19th century American life and culture.

Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine online archive, 1850-current.

Harper's Weekly 1857-1912 This link opens in a new window
Full content images of Harper's Weekly from 1857 - 1912. Browse by date or search using the index or within full-text. See printing instructions before proceeding.

Ladies' Home Journal (Archival Print Issues)
Make an appointment with Special Collections to see archival copies of Ladies' Home Journal.
Coverage: 1893-1965
New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books has articles on literature, culture and current affairs. It takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity. Read articles from its inception in 1963.
New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. See every page going back to 1925.

Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles in approx. 375 leading general magazines (mainly popular literature). Available in print as Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Includes book, film, and television reviews.
Print volumes: Davis Family Library Reference AI3 .S6 (1900 - present)

Primary Sources on the Web

Life Magazine Digital Archive
Browse or search the free archive from Google Books for text and images of all issues from 1935 - 1972. There is also a separate photo archive on Google image.
Media History Digital Library
A collection of digitized, classic media periodicals published before 1923 such as Photoplay (1917-1940), Radio Broadcast (1922-1930), Moving Picture World (1912-1918), The Film Daily (1918-1936), and many others. A full-text collection covering the histories of early cinema, broadcasting, and recorded sound.