African-American Studies: Articles from the 17th through 20th Centuries
The Contents of this Page
Cross-Searchable Platforms
Selected Noteworthy Full-Text Databases
Indexes
Bibliographies and Histories
Using CLIO to Identify Additional Resources
Comments on the Contents of this Page
Various online resources provide access to full text and/or full-page image of a wide range of periodicals and newspapers from the 17th, 18th, 19th, and/or 20th century. You may find it helpful to start out your research broadly in one of the Cross-Searchable Platforms.
Selected Noteworthy Full-Text Databases provides more specificity in describing individual resources.
Indexes have been designed as guides to help you identify articles by their subject matter. Even in an environment in which many periodicals and newspapers are accessible full text, you may find that indexes will refresh your understanding of how specific subjects have been approached and understood. They might also enhance your ability to identify relevant articles.
Bibliographies and Histories can provide you with useful context about the periodicals and newspapers you are discovering in your research.
Finally, you will find advice on Using CLIO to identify Additional Resources.
CROSS-SEARCHABLE PLATFORMS
The following platforms provide access to databases that focus primarily on older materials. Although these older materials are in a variety of formats (books, newspapers, periodicals, etc.), each platform provides options that will allow you to limit your search to newspapers and/or periodicals.
- Gale. Primary sources
An integrated research environment that allows users to search across all of their Gale primary source collections. To limit your search, select Product Categories, then select Newspapers and Periodicals. Databases cross searchable in that category include: American Historical Periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society; and Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers. Many resources that are British in focus are also included, such as: Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals.
- Accessible archives This link opens in a new window
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Contains a wide range of primary-source collections drawn mainly from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Offers the option, in opening screen, of limiting search by “Publication Type: Newspapers and Magazines.” Collections include: African-American Newspapers (key titles 1827-1909); American Military Camp Newspapers (World War I); Civil War newspapers; South Carolina Newspapers; and key newspapers and periodicals advocating for Women’s Suffrage. A few of the noteworthy titles included here are: Frank Leslie’s Weekly; Frederick Douglass' Paper; Godey’s Lady’s Book, and The Pennsylvania Gazette. - Readex AllSearch. This link opens in a new windowAllows you to search across over 50 databases containing full text and page image of publications from the 17th through the late 20th century. Includes periodicals, newspapers, books, pamphlets, ephemera, and government documents. The pull down menu in the opening search screen allows you to select from among a variety of American newspaper and periodical databases: African American Periodicals; America's Historical Newspapers (which includes Ethnic American Newspapers and Hispanic American Newspapers); and American Underworld: The Flash Press.
Selected Noteworthy Full-Text Databases
- 19th century U.S. newspapers . This link opens in a new window
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Searchable database containing digital facsimile images of newspapers, presented as full page layout as well as single articles. Advertisements and illustrations are included. This collection includes numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S.; and it encompasses the entire 19th century.
►May be cross-searched with other databases covering similar time periods in Gale. Primary sources. - African American historical serials collection. This link opens in a new window
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"The African American Historical Serials Collection includes African American periodicals, annuals and reports published from 1829-1922 including materials from African American religious organizations and social service agencies."--Publisher's information. - African-American newspapers, 1827-1998 . This link opens in a new window
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"Provides online access to more than 350 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African-American experience. This unique collection, which includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states, features many rare 19th-century titles." Based upon James P. Danky's African-American Newspapers and Periodicals. - African American periodicals, 1825-1995 . This link opens in a new window
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"Allows users to search more than 170 African American Periodicals published between 1825 and 1995. Created by Readex through a partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society, African American Periodicals enables researchers to explore African American culture, thought and opinion ranging over more than 150 years of African American life." (from publisher's description)
►May be cross-searched with other databases covering similar time periods in Readex AllSearch. - American historical periodicals from the American Antiquarian Society This link opens in a new windowProvides digital access to an extensive collection of American periodicals published between 1681 and 1940. Topics encompass a broad spectrum including agriculture, anthropology, art, archaeology, education, family life, fashion, industrialization, literature, medicine, music, photography, politics, religion, science, sport, and temperance. Over six million pages are presented in searchable digital facsimile.
- American periodicals This link opens in a new window
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"Includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal; regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking journals like The Dial, Puck, and McClure's." Also includes "labor, trade, literary, scientific, and photographic periodicals, as well as other historically significant titles." - American underworld : the flash press. This link opens in a new window"Crime, scandal, and blackmail papers of the nineteenth century." Newspapers focusing on illicit activities in urban America from the 1820s to the 1870s.
- America's historical newspapers This link opens in a new window
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(Readex) Newly added September 2022: Series 18, 1825-1879, Racial Awakening in the Northeast
The bulk of the newspapers accessible here fall within the time span of 1690-1922. Selected collections include titles with issues going up as far as late 20th century. Includes: Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922, Series 1 through 19; African American Newspapers, 1827-1998, Series 1 & 2; Caribbean Newspapers, 1718-1876; Ethnic American Newspapers, 1799-1971; and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.
►May be cross-searched with other databases covering similar time periods in Readex AllSearch. - Ethnic American newspapers from the Balch collection, 1799-1971 : selected from America's historical newspapers. This link opens in a new window"Enables users to search more than 130 Ethnic American newspapers published in the 18th, 19th and 20th Centuries. Created in partnership with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. . . ." (from publisher's description)
►May be cross-searched with other databases covering similar time periods in Readex AllSearch. - Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new window
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Full-text collection of books and periodicals relating to the history of women, women's rights, and women's suffrage. The bulk of materials fall within 1880-1920. - HarpWeek . This link opens in a new windowSearchable full text and page images of Harper's Weekly, the popular illustrated 19th and early 20th-century American periodical (1857-1912). Includes a rich collection of indexing and finding aids for textual contents and illustrations.
- Hispanic American newspapers, 1808-1980 . This link opens in a new window
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Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980 represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinctive collection features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century. Based on the "Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project," a national research effort directed by Professor Nicolás Kanellos, this digital resource is the first in a new American Ethnic Newspapers series, available within America's Historical Newspapers. - Historical black newspapers . This link opens in a new window
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A subset of Proquest Historical Newspapers (see listing below). Full-text and full-image access to eleven newspapers, including: Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003); Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988); Chicago Defender (1909-1975); Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005); and New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993). As a default, all Historical Black Newspapers are included in any search of Proquest Historical Newspapers. - Independent voices : an open access collection of an Alternative Press. This link opens in a new windowAn "open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by 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 during the latter half of the 20th century."
- JSTOR. This link opens in a new window
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"JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. JSTOR helps people discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching platform, and preserves this content for future generations." Journals in JSTOR are covered back to their first issues. Recency of coverage varies by title. Some titles are covered up through latest issue; others only up through five years ago, etc. - Newspapers.com. World collection. This link opens in a new windowProvides online access to historical newspapers, dating from the early 1700s into the early 2000s. Contains full runs and portions of runs of well-known regional and state titles to small local newspapers in the United States and other countries, including Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Panama.
- PAIS Index . This link opens in a new window
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Indexes articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories in the area of public affairs. Topics include business, government, international relations, banking, environment, health, social sciences, demographics, law and legislation, political science, public administration, finance, agriculture, education, and statistics. - Periodicals archive online . This link opens in a new window
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"A major archive that makes the backfiles of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences available electronically." Many general interest periodicals are also included. PAO "is international in scope with the inclusion of more than 150 foreign-language titles." Each periodical included is covered back to its first issues. Many periodicals are covered up through 2001. - ProQuest historical newspapers . This link opens in a new window
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Full-text and full-image, dating back to their first issues, for more than thirty five newspapers. Some of the key U.S. titles are: Atlanta Constitution (1868-1945); Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003); Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988); Boston Globe (1872-1927); Chicago Tribune (1849-1987), Hartford Courant (1764-1985); Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005); Los Angeles Times (1881-1987); New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993); New York Times (1851-2006); The New York Tribune (1841-1962); The Wall Street Journal (1889-1992), and The Washington Post (1877-1993). Also includes some newspapers published in Britain--such as The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003).
NOTE: To limit your search to one or more of the newspapers: Click on "Select Multiple Databases" in the main search screen; click twice on "Select All" to clear selections; then scroll down to "Proquest Historical Newspapers:" and select titles as desired.
- Chronicling America : Historic American Newspapers (Library of Congress) {Open Access}
Search America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Magazine Archives (Ebsco)
Each archive provides indexing, abstracting, full text, and page images for the magazine listed. Coverage begins with the first issue and extends up at least as far as 2000. Some of the key titles are:
Architectural Digest Magazine Archive (1922 to 2011)
Bloomberg Businessweek Archive (1929 to 2000)
Ebony Magazine Archive (1945-2014)
Esquire Magazine Archive (1933-2014)
Forbes Magazine Archive (1917 to 2000)
Fortune Magazine Archive (1930 to 2000)
Jet Magazine Archive (1951-2014)
Life Magazine Archive (1936 to 2000)
The New Republic Archive (1914-2020)
Sports Illustrated Magazine Archive (1954 to 2000)
Time Magazine Archive (1923 to 2000)
NOTE: In order to search any of these magazines in combination with one or more of the others: go to EbscoHost Research Databases; select "Choose Databases"; deselect all; then choose the desired Archive titles. - Making of America (University of Michigan and Cornell University) [Open Access]
A collaborative effort between the University of Michigan and Cornell University, Making of America (MOA) draws on the depth of primary materials at those universities' libraries. MOA is a thematically-related digital library documenting American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction, focusing on items printed from 1850 to 1877.
Indexes
Indexes are designed to help researchers identify where articles meeting certain criteira (subject, author, title, etc.) have been published in periodicals and/or newspapers. With so many full-text resources available (as listed in box above), why would you want to use an index? Sometimes indexes can help you find things that you were overlooking in a full-text resource. Or sometimes they might cover titles that are not included in a full-text resource. They are one more tool that an inventive researcher will want to explore. It is also the case that many databases that have traditionally been understood as indexes have increasingly been providing access to full text of articles through the e-Link feature.
Online Indexes
- Black Studies Center
Includes: The International Index to Black Periodicals, which covers scholarly and popular Black Studies journals, including full text for many titles; The Marshall Index, a guide to black periodicals, 1940-1946; Black Literature Index, which provides listings for fiction, poetry and literary reviews published in 110 black periodicals and newspapers between 1827-1940; Historical Black Newspapers; Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience; and other resources.
- Nineteenth-Century Masterfile
Integrates a number of indexes to nineteenth-century printed material into one database. Includes: Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906), and other general periodical indexes; New York Daily Tribune Index (1875-1906), New York Times Index (1863-1905), and other indexes devoted to specific newspaper or periodical titles; as well as specialized indexes for law, religion, and government documents.
- Historical Newspapers Online
Electronic form of the indexes to the London Times and the New York Times. Currently covers the London Times beginning 1790 and the New York Times beginning 1851.
- Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective : 1908-1981
"A retrospective database that indexes over 750 legal periodicals published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Content is also drawn from 38 printed compendia, which provides access to approximately 540,000 records. Coverage also includes: annual surveys of laws by jurisdiction; annual surveys of federal court cases; yearbooks and annual institutes."
- Readers Guide Retrospective
Coverage: 1890-1982. Provides citations to articles in popular and general-interest periodicals.
Print Indexes
- Kaiser Index to Black Resources 1948-1986 from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library. (5 vols.)
Coverage: 1948-1986
Location: BUTLER REFERENCE
Call Number: R016.3268 K123
- Writings on American History, 1902-1989/90.
Location: BUTLER STACKS
Call Number: Z1236 .L331
Lists books and articles on American history. Useful for its coverage of the years 1902 - 1954, before America: History and Life begins its coverage.
Bibliographies and Histories
Bibliographies and histories can provide you with varying degrees of information about specific periodicals or newspapers and/or about the periodical press as a whole in a given time period. The following work is of major importance:
- African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography / James P. Danky, editor ; Maureen E. Hady, associate editor.
Digital Humanities Center Reference, 305 Butler
Call Number: R016.071 Af83
Using CLIO to Identify Additional Resources
Books and other information resources about periodicals and newspapers published by or for African Americans can be searched in CLIO under the appropriate subject headings.
Select "Subject" from the pull-down "Search" box menu in the Basic Searching screen of CLIO.
Below are examples of some relevant searches that you could enter in a Subject search:
African American newspapers
African American newspapers > Bibliography.
African American newspapers > History
African American periodicals
African American periodicals > History and criticism.
African American periodicals > Indexes.
African American periodicals > Bibliography.
African American periodicals > Directories.