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Spark 001 - Life & Death in the Old West (Torres-Rouff)

Resources & strategies for newspaper assignment

About Historical Newspapers

  • Multiple newspapers are often available via one database platform.
  • Some newspapers are freely available; others are accessible through library subscriptions.
  • Be aware of content coverage; some is very sparse e.g. a handful of issues.
  • Be aware of scan quality; some are difficult to read and may or may not be transcribed.

Historical Newspapers - Readex Platform

Historical Newspapers - Gale Platform

Historical Newspapers - Chronicling America (Library of Congress)

I recommending visiting the complete list of digitized papers.

You can visit Advanced Search and narrow to a specific time frame e.g. 1840 to 1900 and to specific states. However search results are by newspaper pages NOT just by a specific newspaper title.  You can search in the U.S. Newspaper Directory 1690-present for a specific newspaper title though this may dead-end.

Example of a Digitized Papers from Chronicling America

Note: Papers from the California Digital Newspaper Collection (CDNC) also appear in Chronicling of America.

Historical Newspapers - ProQuest platform

Map of California, 1892

Rand, McNally & Co.’s New Business Atlas Map of California, 1892

Rand, McNally & Co's New Business Atlas Map of California, 1892; hosted at Calisphere, contributed by the Coronado Public Library

Notes on Downloads

Readex Platform - able to download PDFs of an issue

Gale Platform - able to download PDFs of an issue

Library of Congress, Chronicling of America - able to download single pages of an issue

ProQuest Platform - able to download single pages of an issue