Yale University Library Research Guide to African American Studies

How and When to Look For News and Newspapers

First determine the title and date of publication of the newspaper by using one of these guides. Titles within these guides are arranged geographically.

Guides to Finding Newspapers

History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820. Brigham, Clarence Saunders. Worchester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1947.
SML, Reference Z6951 +B75
Many of the newspapers listed and discussed in this work are available on microfilm in the Early American Newspapers collection shelved in the Microform Reading Room.

African American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography. Ed. James P. Dansky. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1998.
SML, Reference Z6944;N39 +A37X

American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada. Ed. Winifred Gregory. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1967.
SML, Card Catalogue Reference Shelf Z6945 A48 1967
Also in SML, Andrews Study

Newspapers on Microform: United States, 1948-1983. Washington, DC: Library or Congress, 1984.
SML, Catalog Reference Desk Z6951 +U469.
Also in SML, Reference, Microform Reading Room.

American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada. Ed. Winifred Gregory. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1967.
SML, Card Catalog Reference Shelf Z6945 A48 1967. Also in SML, Andrews Study

Brigham, Clarence Saunders. History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820. Worcester, MA: American Antiquarian Society, 1947.
SML, Reference Z6951 +B75

Newspapers on Microform: United States, 1948-1983. Washington, DC: Library or Congress, 1984.
SML, Catalog Reference Desk Z6951 +U469. Also in SML, Reference, Microform Reading Room.

Newspaper Holdings of the Yale University Library is a record of Yale Library holdings of newspapers in microform and paper. This list does not include all of the newspapers to be found in the original, in reprints, or in facsimile in the SML stacks, in the Mudd Library, or in the Beinecke, though it does contain some of this material. Neither does it include all of the Underground Newspaper Collection (Film S618). It does include bound newspapers with a delta classification.

Underground Newspaper Collection (Newspapers on Film S614)
Titles included in the collection are listed in Orbis under Underground Press Collection Listing of Contents
SML, Microform, Reference Z6951 +U53 1963-1985

To determine if Yale University Libraries own a particular newspaper, first check Orbis, the online catalog. Then check this database:

Newspaper Holdings of the Yale University Library is a record of Yale Library holdings of newspapers in microform. This list does not include all of the newspapers to be found in the original, in reprints, or in facsimile in the SML stacks, in the Mudd Library, or in the Beinecke, though it does contain some of this material. Neither does it include all of the Underground Newspaper Collection (Film S618). It does include bound newspapers with a delta classification.

If we do not have a particular newspaper, you may be able able borrow it from another library via interlibrary loan. Check the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), Eureka, WorldCat, and/or Borrow Direct.

Few newspapers have published indexes. Here are a few print and online newspaper indexes and fulltext databases. Academic Universe a full-text news and information service that provides access to newspapers, magazines, transcripts, business and legal information and much more.

Accessible Archives provides a searchable collection of American newspapers from the 18th &19th Centuries. Titles include the Pennsylvania Gazette andOctober 3, 2006

Alternative Press Index and Alternative Press Index Archive guide to the alternative press in North America.

Early American Newspapers features cover-to-cover reproductions of hundreds of historic newspapers, providing more than one million pages as fully text-searchable facsimile images. This collection is based largely on Clarence Brigham's History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820.

Ethnic NewsWatch contains newspapers and periodicals published by ethnic and minority presses of the Americas.

Factiva contains nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries and 22 languages, as well as 120 continuously updated newswires.

HarpWeek: The Civil War Era and Reconstruction (1857-1877) Harper's Weekly during the Civil War Era, Reconstruction I and Reconstruction II with scanned images, together with a series of indexes.

Historical Newspapers Online
Contains the New York Times Index
*Print version of NYTI is located in SML, Reference, Index Case AI21 +N43 (1851-1945) and SML Microtext Center, AI21 +N43 (1946-present).

New York Daily Tribune Index. New York: The Tribune Association, 1875-1906.
SML, Reference, Index Case AI21 N442.

Left Index is a guide to the literature on the left, with a primary emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. A secondary emphasis is on significant but little known sources of news and ideas. Topics covered include the labor movement, ecology & environment, race & ethnicity, social & cultural theory, sociology, art & aesthetics, philosophy, history, education, law, and globalization.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers:

Antislavery Newspapers and Periodicals. Ed. John W. Blassingame, Mae G. Henderson. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1980-1984.
SML, Reference, Index Case AI3 A58 (LC)
Volume I. Annotated index of letters in The Philanthropist, (Mt. Pleasant, OH); Emancipator, (Jonesborough, TN); Genius of Universal Emancipation; Abolition Intelligencer, (Shelbyville, KY); African Observer, (Philadelphia) and The Liberator, (Boston) 1831-1845.
Volume II. Annotated index of letters in The Liberator, (Boston) 1846-1865; Anti-Slavery Record, (New York); Human Rights, (New York); and The Observer, (St. Louis).
Volume III. Annotated index of letters in The Friend of Man, (Utica, NY) Pennsylvania Freeman; Advocate of Freedom, (Hallowell, ME); and American & Foreign Anti-slavery Reporter (New York).
Volume IV. Annotated index of letters in The National Anti-Slavery Standard, 1840-1860.
Volume V. Annotated index of letters in The National Anti-Slavery Standard, 1861-1871.

Black Newspapers Index. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1987 -.
SML, Reference, Index Case A13 +I45 (LC)
*Continues Index to Black Newspapers, 1977-1986.
Indexes citations for and includes brief abstracts for book motion picture, and musical recordings reviews; editorials; obituaries and other abstracts for book motion picture, and musical recordings reviews; editorials; obituaries and other general interest articles published in the Afro-American (Baltimore and Washington, DC); New York Amsterdam News; Chicago Defender; Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA); Los Angeles Sentinel; Michigan Chronicle and Musline Journal (Chicago).

Nineteenth Century African American Newspapers
Part of Accessible Archives : a searchable collection of American newspapers from the 18th & 19th Centuries. Eras covered include the Colonial Period, the French & Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, African-American History, Industrial Revolution, and Genealogy

New York Times Index
Print version is located in SML, Reference, Index Case AI21 +N43 (1851-1945) and
SML Microtext Center, AI21 +N43 (1946-present).

A few newspapers and newsletters are available online. Below are a few databases that offer full-text online editions of these publications:

Academic Universe
A full-text news and information service that provides access to newspapers, magazines, transcripts, business and legal information and much more.

Factiva contains full-text of the Wall Street Journal and other business news.

Ethnic NewsWatch indexes newspapers and periodicals published by ethnic and minority presses of the Americas.

Keesing's Records of World Events provides international news reports and resources to communicate with leaders around the world since 1931. Keesing's Record of World Events Online Archive consists of 40 years and 30,000 pages of contemporary world history with original international news reports. Since 1758, The Annual Register has provided the authoritative history of each year's events worldwide by experts on every country and subject. Keesing's Directories cover over 32,000 world leaders, including contact information, detailed profiles and state structures.

Below are a few journals and websites with current African-American news:

African American Male Research
Afro-Amerc@: Afro-American Newspapers Home Page
Afronet
Black Enterprise Magazine
TheGriot
Other Journals (Through the Smithsonian)

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Send comments to Bonnie Turner,
Research Services and Collections, Sterling Memorial Library.
October 3, 2006