Library Research Guides

If you want to dig deeper, there are two indispensible (and comprehensive) research guides maintained by Fred Burchsted:

Guide to Newspapers and Newspaper Indexes

Guide to Periodicals [i.e. magazines and other non-newspaper periodicals]

Library Resources for Historical Newspapers

Major Databases

  • Access Newspaper Archive  
    This database of historical newspapers includes many titles from small town newspapers in the United States as well as some titles from other countries.
  • America's Historical Newspapers  
    Full-text database of newspapers published in the United States. Includes titles from all 50 states, in separately searchable series: Early American Newspapers Series 1-9, 1690-1922; 20th-Century American Newspapers Series 1-3, 1690-1993; African American Newspapers, 1827-1998; Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971 and Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980.
  • Associated Press Online Archive  
    A vast archive of primarily 20th-Century news materials that provide original perspectives on historical events around the world from a distinguished news reporting organization.
    US Cities Bureau collection includes access to records from the AP's Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh bureaus, dating from 1931 to 2004.
  • Chronicling America
    Search and view newspapers from 1880-1922 and find information about newspapers published from 1690-present.
  • NewspaperCat - The Catalog of Digital Historical Newspapers
    Provides access to historical newspapers through a searchable database.
  • Proquest Historical Newspapers Online  
    Digital archives of major newspapers. Search specific newspapers or search them all at once. Coverage varies by newspaper beginning in the 1840's.
  • World Newspaper Archive  
    Archive of newspapers dating from the 19th to the early 20th century. Coverage currently includes publications from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States.

Beyond the Basics

Search databases.hollis.harvard.edu for the terms newspapers AND historical to see a full list of multi-title searchable newspaper collections you can access with your Harvard Key.

There are also many free online portals for historical newspapers. Find the top ones listed on Fred Burchsted's Guide to Newspapers and Newspaper Indexes.

Newspaper Holdings at Harvard

Note: the library catalog uses "journals" to mean any kind of periodical publication---newspapers, magazines, academic journals, and even monograph series are all categorized as "journals."

Journals Search

Searches the HOLLIS catalog of the Harvard Library for periodicals (journals, newspapers, and magazines). This is the best and quickest way to find out if the library owns a particular newspaper and whether access is online, in print, or both.
 
Pro tip: it can sometimes be difficult to determine which is the "main" record for a newspaper title. Look for a record that has no end date (e.g. for the New York Times, 1857- ), and/or a cluster with a link to "Check for ONLINE access and other options."
 

HOLLIS Advanced Search

 
If you'd like to search for newspapers by subject, place of publication, etc., use the Advanced Search page, and set "Resource Type" to "Journals." There are many very precise advanced search parameters available: see the "Advanced Search" page of the HOLLIS User Guide for ideas.
 

Newspapers on Microfilm

Many of our rarer newspaper holdings are on microfilm. Search for "microform" in the form/genre field to limit your results to items on microfilm and microfiche. Limit the location to Widener in order to search specifically within the collection of Widener's Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room.