A guide to news digital archives and historical news sources, including newspapers and magazines.
Start with:
- News Sources (Libraries Search) This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles in newspapers, magazines, broadcast transcripts, and newswire feeds across a variety of library databases. This interface includes many historical news archives, and allows you to combine many (but not all) of the sources below into a single search.
- America's Historical NewspapersIncludes Early American Newspapers Series 1 (1690-1876), 3 (1783-1922), 6 (1741-1922), 7 (1773-1922), and 18 (1825-1879). Spanning two centuries and 40 states, these archives of selective content from historical newspapers are primary sources for researching crucial conflicts from the Civil War to World War I, movements ranging from early states rights to women's suffrage, noteworthy citizens, local events, natural disasters; political campaigns; and the evolution of American culture.
- ProQuest Historical NewspapersSearch old editions major U.S. newspapers and the Times of India. Papers include the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Other titles include the Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Christian Science Monitor, Jewish Advocate, the Jewish Exponent, Los Angeles Sentinel, the New York Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
- World Newspaper ArchiveWorld Newspaper Archive is a collection of historical newspapers published in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. It provides excellent coverage of the people, cultures, issues and events that have shaped world history. Additional collections covering other regions will be added over time.
- Text mining historical news sourcesSee this guide for tools you can use to engage in digital text analysis methods on our historical newspaper and magazine collections.
Newspaper archives
- Accessible ArchivesUse this database to find primary source materials in American history. The information is from historical periodicals and books, eyewitness accounts of historical events, descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical records.
- African American Newspapers (1800s)Search a collection of African-American newspapers dating from the 1800s. It contains large numbers of early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements, which illustrate the African-American experiences.
- African American Newspapers (1827-1998)Use this database to find newspapers published by or for African Americans exploring such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history, ethnic studies, political science, ethnic studies, diaspora studies, and womens studies.
- African American Newspapers in the South, 1870-1926 This link opens in a new windowSearch a collection of African-American press in the South from Reconstruction through the Jim Crow period. Written by African Americans for African Americans. Includes first-hand reporting, editorials, and features on current domestic and international events, often focusing on racial issues. Also poetry, lessons on manners and prayer, instruction for raising children, and lifestyle advice for young men and women, and news about churches, particularly the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion church.
- African Newspapers : The British Library CollectionMore than 60 African historical newspapers from the nineteenth century originally archived by the British Library.
- African Newspapers: World Newspaper ArchiveMore than 40 nineteenth- and twentieth-century African newspapers. Featuring titles from Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
- American Indian NewspapersFrom historic pressings to contemporary periodicals, explore nearly 200 years of Indigenous print journalism from the US and Canada. With newspapers representing a huge variety in publisher, audience and era, discover how events were reported by and for Indigenous communities.
- American Prison Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSearchable open access online collection of newspapers produced by people who have been incarcerated in U.S. prisons. Contains full-page images of several newspapers from across the United States.
- Apartheid: Global Perspectives, 1946-1996Apartheid: Global Perspectives, includes translated news broadcasts, newspaper articles and other publications showing the international reaction to apartheid throughout the African Continent and around the world.
- AP News ArchivesA historical archive of video and sound recordings from the Associated Press and their partners that include newsreels from the 20th century.
- Archives & Special Collections (UMN)ASC collect and preserve an amazing array of physical and digital materials, including many unique collections of newspapers and other periodicals.
- British Library Newspapers, Part I-VDigital archive of British newspapers from 1732 to 1950 including national and regional newspapers from both established country or university towns and the new industrial powerhouses of the manufacturing Midlands, as well as Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also included in the collection. Contains collections 1-5.
- California Digital Newspaper CollectionSignificant historical California newspapers published from 1846-1922.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersThis site allows you to search and view US newspaper pages from 1880-1923 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
- East African Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFull page views of key English language newspapers from East Africa from the 1940s to the early 2000s.
- El Caribe Digital Archive This link opens in a new windowFull page images and text from this key Spanish-language daily newspaper published in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
- Foreign Newspaper Collections (Center for Research Libraries)Find print copies of historical foreign newspapers via the Center for Research Libraries catalog, and request to borrow them through interlibrary loan.
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports This link opens in a new windowFBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government. Translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world from 1941 to 1996.
- Global Perspectives: Propaganda and the Chinese Press (FBIS)Articles published by major communist Chinese newspapers from 1946-1996, collected and translated into English by the CIA.
- Google News ArchivesAllows for browsing newspapers by title or searching the entire archives. Includes many U.S historical newspapers such as the Milwaukee Journal.
- Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980Hundreds of searchable Spanish newspapers printed in the U.S. during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
- ICON: International Coalition on NewspapersLinks to past, present, and prospective digitization projects of historic newspapers.
- Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996 (FBIS)Translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents and books providing global insight on immigration in the mid-to-late 20th century.
- Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers This link opens in a new windowThis growing collection of digitized newspapers will eventually include approximately 1,000 titles from the pre-independence, independence and revolutionary periods (1807-1929). The newspapers in this collection trace the evolution of Mexico during the 19th century and the first three decades of the 20th century, providing documentation of dramatic events of this era, including partisan politics, economic development, the French intervention and Mexican Empire of 1861-1867, and Mexican foreign relations.
- Independent VoicesOpen access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals drawn from special collections and individual donors. Covers periodicals of feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines from 1950 to the present.
- Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Reports This link opens in a new windowCovering high-interest issues from 1957 to 1995, the JPRS Reports are English translations of foreign-language monographs, reports, serials, journal and newspaper articles, and radio and television broadcasts from regions throughout the world. The emphasis is on the communist and third-world countries of this period. The JPRS Reports also contain a wealth of hard-to-find scientific, technical, and social science materials, translated from many languages.
- Moscow News Digital ArchiveContains all obtainable published issues (1930-2014) of Moscow News, the oldest English-language newspaper in the USSR/Russia as well as Moscow Daily News (1932-1938). Features full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and searchable text.
- Newspaper Archive (Midwest)A partial collection covering historical newspapers from Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma. Includes digital reproductions of newspapers from counties and cities from the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Nineteenth Century U.S. NewspapersSearch U.S. newspapers from the 19th century (1800-1899) including access to every article, advertisement and illustration.
- Pennsylvania Digital NewspapersDigital newspaper collections made available by the University of Penn State.
- Service Newspapers of World War TwoCollection of newspapers produced by and/or for service members during and immediately after World War II (1939-1948), featuring titles from the major theaters, for both Allied and Axis forces. Includes newspapers in English, German, Czech, Hindi, Russian, French, Italian, Afrikaans, Swahili, and other African languages.
- Socialism on Film: The Cold War and International PropagandaThis collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
- South Asian Newspapers This link opens in a new windowNine English, Bengali, and Marathi language newspapers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal from 1850 to 1983.
- Southeast Asian Newspapers This link opens in a new windowFull page images and text from over 100 newspapers in various languages and countries of the region, including Myanmar (formerly Burma), Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Time period is the late 19th and 20th centuries.
- Woman's Tribune This link opens in a new windowSearch this long-running and influential US woman suffrage newspaper (1883-1909) to gain a mid-Western perspective on the women’s rights movement in the 19th century. Content covers a broad spectrum, noting progress in education for women, their rise in various professions, international and domestic news, book reviews, editorials, poetry and much more.
- RetroNewsFrom the National Library of France (Bibliothèque nationale de France), gives access to more than 2000 French-language newspaper titles published between 1631 and 1951. Also includes audio and video.
Magazine archives
The databases below include a variety of historical magazines and popular periodicals. Here's a list of specific magazine archives by title.
- African American Periodicals, 1825-1995Features more than 170 wide-ranging magazines by and about African Americans.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical PeriodicalsThe American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collections include digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals from the American Antiquarian Society, the premier library documenting the life of America's people from the Colonial Era through the Civil War and Reconstruction. There are a series of five databases: Series 1 through 5: 1684-1912 (specifically Series 1: 1684-1820, Series 2: 1821-1837, Series 3: 1838-1852, Series 4: 1853-1865, Series 5: 1866-1912)
- Computer Magazines Archive (Internet Archive)Search a collection of early magazines devoted to computing and computers, including BYTE, MacWorld, Linux Journal, Hacker Journal, and many more.
- Independent VoicesOpen access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals drawn from special collections and individual donors. Covers periodicals of feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines from 1950 to the present.
- LGBT Magazine ArchiveSearch the full contents of 26 leading LGBT magazines. Covers the history and evolution of myriad aspects of LGBT history and culture, including legal contexts, health, lifestyle, politics, social attitudes, activism, gay rights, and arts/literature.
- Music Magazine Archive (Rock, Folk, and Hip-Hop & Rap)Search historic magazines focused on Rock, Folk, and Hip-Hop & Rap of a diverse and influential group of magazines. These publications uniquely capture the social and historical context including race, class, gender, American studies, youth culture, and more.
- News, Policy & Politics Magazine ArchiveSearch the full runs of 15 important 20th-century News, Policy and Politics Magazines to identify issues and responses. Titles include Newsweek and New Internationalist.
- OpinionArchivesSearch across leading "opinion" magazines such as Harper's, Commonweal, and the New Yorker.
- Women's Magazine ArchiveAn archival research resource comprised of leading womens interest consumer magazines. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period. Among the research fields served by this material are gender studies, social history, economics/marketing, media, fashion, politics, and popular culture.
- Ebony Magazine Archive, 1945-2014This fully searchable full-text archive covers civil rights, education, entrepreneurship and other social topics with an African-American focus. It includes more than 800 issues providing a broad view of African-American culture from its first issue in 1945 through 2014.
- JET Magazine Archive, 1951-2014This full-text archive covers art, news, politics and other social topics with an African-American focus. It includes over 3,100 issues providing a broad view of culture, fashion and entertainment from its first issue in 1951 through 2014.
Archives & Special Collections
The UMN Archives and Special Collections (ASC) department collects and preserves an amazing array of materials that support interdisciplinary research, including many unique collections of newspapers and other periodicals.
Digitized Newspaper Collections
- UMN News SourcesFind news publications (digital and print) from the University Archives.
- UMedia Archives (Newspapers)Digital copies of archival newspapers from Archives & Special Collections and other UMN Library collections.
- Greek American Newspapers and Italian American Newspapers - Digitized selections from the Immigration History Research Center Archives periodicals. Browse more of the IHRCA digital collections here.
- The Illustrated Police News
- Trench and Camp Newspaper (Camp Cody) and Camp Upton - Newspapers published by the National War Work Council of the YMCA, in partnership with various city newspapers, for soldiers during WWI
- Immigration History Research Center Archives (IHRCA) PeriodicalsNewspapers and serials largely published by immigrants after arriving in North America, and dating from the 20th century. These collections are not yet fully digitized or cataloged but titles are available to browse by ethnic group (e.g., Greek American Collection, Italian American Collection...).
See also:
The Manzanar Free Press, a newspaper published by Americans of Japanese descent who were interned at the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California (1942-45). Via the East Asian Library.
The National News Council papers are held in the Social Welfare History Archives. The Council was created in 1973 in New York City upon the recommendation of an independent task force of the Twentieth Century Fund, a research foundation. Conceived as a private, nonprofit organization, the council began operation with two basic objectives: to consider complaints brought against the media, whether by individual citizens or organizations, concerning alleged misstatements, inaccuracies, or unfairness; and to study possible infringements on the freedom of the press. A Guide to the Archives of the National News Council is available from the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Minnesota, 1986.
Last Updated: Jan 7, 2025 3:19 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/historical-news