History Research Guide
Historical Newspapers and Magazines
Newspapers and magazines can serve as useful primary sources for historical research. They reflect the time period in which they were created, and provide a glimpe into society at the time. Often, however, older periodicals are less readily available in libraries, and less thoroughly indexed than contemporary newspapers and magazines. This section is designed to highlight resources that are available locally, and suggest search strageties for locating this type of publication.
Newspapers
Newspapers typically come out of local communities. They may
be used to find information about people from a particular place
and time. They might also be used for information about events
that may not have received wide attention elsewhere. The following
sources are helpful for identifying the names of historical newspapers
from different places:
Union List of Newspapers
D. H. Hill Ref. Folio Z6945 .A53
Harvard Guide to American History (vol. 1, p. 131-144)
D. H. Hill Ref. Z1236.F7 1974
History and Bibliography of American Newspapers (Clarence
Brigham)
D. H. Hill Lib. Z6951 .B86 1962
Chronological Tables of American Newspapers 1690 - 1820
(American Antiquarian Society)
D. H. Hill Lib Z6951 .L3
Concise History of the British Newspaper Since 1620
Produced by The British Library
The British Library Newspapers Catalogue
The British Library Newspapers catalogue includes
entries for over 52,000 newspaper and periodical titles, including:
all UK national daily and Sunday newspapers from 1801 to the
present.
Union List of Selected West European Newspapers and
News Magazines in New York Metropolitan Libraries
Browse list by Country or by Title.
Often, however, old newspapers are only available at libraries in their own local regions. Major national newspapers are more readily available in many libraries. Due to their size and their tendency to deteriorate, old newspapers are usually not archived in their original print form. Traditionally, they have been preserved on microfilm. More recently, there have been projects to preserve some of this information digitally.
New York Times
Proquest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2003)
Provides fully searchable electronic access to the New York Times from 1851-2003. Includes full image of the actual newspaper articles. Illustrations and advertisements
are included.
New York Times via Proquest (1980-present)
Use for electronic access to post-2003 articles the New York Times.
New York Times (1857-present on microfilm)
D. H. Hill Microforms AN2 .N49
In most cases, one of the two databases above will be easier to use than the microfilm. Microfilm may be necessary if the full page image is needed, and the date is later than 2003.
Indexing:
New York Times Index
D. H. Hill Ref. AI21 .N44 (3rd floor bookstacks)
This is the standard print index to the New York Times. However, the above databases will be easier to use in most cases.
The Times (London)
The Times (London) (1788-present on microfilm)
D. H. Hill Microforms AN3 .T56
Indexing:
The Times Index
D. H. Hill Ref. AI21 .T5
The News and Observer (Raleigh)
News and Observer (Raleigh) (1876-present on microfilm)
D. H. Hill Microforms AN2 .N494
News and Observer - Online Access (1991-present)
Provides online access to most articles in the News and Observer back to 1991.
Indexing:
News and Observer Index: Part I, November 1926-July 1953 (D.H.
Hill Microforms Mfm 496)
News and Observer Index: Part II, August 1953-December 1974 (D.H.
Hill Microforms Mfm 497)
1967-1973 (D. H. Hill Ref. Z6953 .N48 - print)
1974 (D. H. Hill Microforms Room AN2 .N495 - Microfiche)
1975-1976 (D. H. Hill Ref. Z6953 .N48 - print)
1977-1981 (D. H. Hill Microforms Room AN2 .N495 - Microfiche)
1988 (D. H. Hill Microforms Room AN2 .N495 - Microfiche)
1991-present (searchable online access to News and
Observer)
Newspapers in Microforms at NCSU Libraries
D. H. Hill Libraries has many older newspaper runs in the Microforms
Room, located on the 2nd floor of the East Wing of D. H. Hill Library.
Most of these are not indexed, but you can browse issue for your
time period. The following newspapers are available in the Microforms
Room.
- Newspapers - Arranged Alphabetically
by Title
- Newspapers - Arranged by Start
Date
- Newspapers - Arranged by Region
To locate other North Carolina newspapers on microfilm, see the project from
the State Library of North Carolina:
North Carolina
Newspapers
Magazines
Readers
Guide Retrospective
Indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United
States and reflects the history of 20th century America. Current coverage includes
the years 1890 through 1982.
19th
Century Masterfile
Combinationation of several indexes to printed materials primarily
from the 19th century. Includes Poole's Index to Periodical Literature.
Digital Archives
Accessible
Archives
Provides indexing and digital access to the following:
Godey's Ladys book, 1830-1880
The Pennsylvania gazette, 1728-1800
The Civil War, a newspaper perspective
African American newspapers, the 19th century
Harpweek
Contains all the pages of Harper's weekly, the Civil War Era (1857-1865), Reconstruction
I, II (1866-1877), and Gilded Age I, II, III, IV, V, & VI (1878-1912) as
scanned images, together with a series of four indexes: subject, illustrations,
literature & publishing, and advertising. Boolean operators may be used
in searching the indexes. Full Text Search available from 1857 through 1912.
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