InfoGuides: US History Sources 1820s-1880s: Find Primary Source Periodical Publications

Major Periodical Collections

African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 This link opens in a new window
Resource features more than 170 wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans published in 26 states. Include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations' bulletins, annual reports and other genres.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 2 This link opens in a new window
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Collects American magazines and journals published from 1821 through 1837, representing the Jacksonian Democracy era. Covers subjects related to agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 3 This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to periodicals published from 1838 through 1852. Themes include a rapidly growing nation, industrialization, the railroads, regional political differences, and life on the western frontier.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 4 This link opens in a new window
Note: Access to content in this database is temporarily unavailable through ESBCO’s new user interface. Workaround access is available through EBSCO's Classic UI. Users may need to login or register with their GMU email to prove university affiliation.
Consists of American periodicals published from 1853 through 1865, with a focus on the Civil War. Subject matter includes science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women's fashion, family life, and religion.
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 5 This link opens in a new window
Note: Access to content in this database is temporarily unavailable through ESBCO’s new user interface. Workaround access is available through EBSCO's Classic UI. Users may need to login or register with their GMU email to prove university affiliation.
Encompasses titles dating from 1866 through 1877. Includes post-Civil War themes such as the incorporation of the recently-freed African Americans and the rapid expansion into Western territories. Covers all aspects of American society during this time period.
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
American Underworld: The Flash Press This link opens in a new window
From crime and scandal to brothels and blackmail, the Flash Press covered the seamier aspects of urban life in the mid-19th century. The publication dates of the papers run from 1826 to 1876.
History Commons This link opens in a new window
Formerly Accessible Archives. Full text, searchable collections of American 18th and 19th century primary sources with bibliographic citations. Access eyewitness accounts of historical events, descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements and genealogical records.

Making of America
1820-1880. A digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction.

HarpWeek This link opens in a new window
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Harper’s Weekly was America’s leading 19th century illustrated newspaper. This resource provides digital access to all content published from 1857-1912 and is a primary source for information about nineteenth-century events, people, and culture of the US. May be searched by keyword, or browsed by date or literary genre.
Eight Centuries This link opens in a new window
Includes Poole’s index to Periodical Literature, covering titles in the sciences, humanities, law, medicine, and the arts and literature; as well as indexes to books, newspapers, the visual arts, and government documents. Spans data from the 11th century through 1930.

Major Newspaper Collections

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Database provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This collection features papers from more than 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles.
Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama This link opens in a new window
Collects a mixture of issues and papers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama ranging from 1861-1865. These newspapers "recorded the real and true history of public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the only really correct and indicative 'map of busy life, its fluctuations and its vast concerns? in the South, during her days of darkness and of trial."
Early American Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1690-1900 This link opens in a new window
Includes fully searchable issues from almost 1000 historical American newspapers. Focusing largely on the 18th and early 19th centuries, this online collection is based on Clarence S. Brigham's ?History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820? and other authoritative bibliographies.
Early American Newspapers: Virginia This link opens in a new window
Access the early newspapers, often printed by small-town printers, which documented daily life in Virginia communities, supported different political parties and recorded both majority and minority views for nearly three centuries (1736-1920); as well as the Richmond-Times Dispatch (1903-1986).
Nineteenth Century US Newspapers This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to primary source content, both full text and images, in numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
A selection of digitized newspaper pages, produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program. The scope is from 1789-1963 but the bulk of the content is between 1820s-1920s.

HarpWeek This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Harper’s Weekly was America’s leading 19th century illustrated newspaper. This resource provides digital access to all content published from 1857-1912 and is a primary source for information about nineteenth-century events, people, and culture of the US. May be searched by keyword, or browsed by date or literary genre.
Confederate Newspapers: A Collection from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and Alabama This link opens in a new window
Collects a mixture of issues and papers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and Alabama ranging from 1861-1865. These newspapers "recorded the real and true history of public opinion during the war. In their columns is to be found the only really correct and indicative 'map of busy life, its fluctuations and its vast concerns? in the South, during her days of darkness and of trial."
ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Provides genealogists, researchers, and scholars with first-hand accounts and coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Full-text access to 25 Historical Newspaper Titles.

Washington Evening Star
1852-1981 Until its demise in 1981, The Evening Star was universally regarded as the “paper of record” for the nation’s capital. Published under such titles as Washington Star-News and The Washington Star, this long-running daily afternoon paper was one of the highest profile publications in the nation. Founded in 1852, by the 1930s its coverage of national politics--including the daily activities of every branch of government--made it the nation’s number one paper in advertising revenue.
Virginia Chronicle
Virginia Chronicle is a historical archive of Virginia newspapers, providing free access to full text searching and digitized images of over a million newspaper pages.
This collection contains 150,076 issues comprising 1,106,770 pages and 183,885 articles. Virginia Chronicle expands on the Library's participation in the National Digital Newspaper Program's Chronicling American collection with the inclusion of Virginia imprint titles out of scope to the NDNP. The collection is full text searchable, as well as browseable by both title and date.

Caribbean Newspapers 1718-1876 This link opens in a new window
Access more than 150 years of Caribbean and Atlantic history, cultures and daily life. Features more than 140 newspapers from 22 islands, chronicling the region's evolution across two centuries through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative information, letters, poetry, advertisements, obituaries and other news items.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Atlanta Constitution This link opens in a new window
The only major daily newspaper in the Atlanta area, The Atlanta Constitution provides a fascinating glimpse into the political, economic, cultural, and social life of the southeastern United States from Reconstruction through the late 20th century. Coverage from 1868-1945.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Baltimore Afro-American This link opens in a new window
One of the most widely circulated Black newspapers on the Atlantic coast. Provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with first-hand accounts and coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. Coverage: 1893-2010.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Baltimore Sun This link opens in a new window
Founded by Arunnah Shepherdson Abell as a paper devoted to the news that most directly affected the lives of its readers, The Baltimore Sun’s history is among the most distinguished in American journalism. Coverage from 1837-1994.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Boston Globe This link opens in a new window
Whether you're interested in genealogy, “Yankee” perspectives on local and national events, politics, culture, urban development, business, religion, or other topics, The Boston Globe provides a window through which to study firsthand this fascinating time and place in American history. Coverage from 1872-1988.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Tribune This link opens in a new window
Best known for its prize-winning investigative and public service journalism providing historical coverage of people and events critical to the evolution of the Midwest and the United States. Coverage from 1849-2010.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press This link opens in a new window
Founded six years before Michigan statehood, the Detroit Free Press is recognized as the leading newspaper in the region. From advocating statehood, to walking the beat along the waterfront, to producing the first newspaper supplement for women, the newspaper chronicles the history of Detroit. Coverage: 1831-1999.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Guardian and The Observer This link opens in a new window
The Guardian (1821-2003) and its sister paper, The Observer (1791-2003), provide readers online access to facts, firsthand accounts, and opinions of the day about the most significant and fascinating political, business, sports, literary, and entertainment events from the past two centuries.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Louisville Courier Journal This link opens in a new window
Main newspaper for the city of Louisville, Kentucky. The paper has become a progressive voice in southern politics, championing causes such as public education, equal rights for blacks and advocating for the poor of Appalachia. Coverage: 1830-2000.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Minneapolis Star Tribune This link opens in a new window
Researchers will find primary source insights on American culture in the city’s long-time newspaper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Regional topics reflect national and international trends of the times - such as Prohibition, civil rights, and the American Indian Movement. Coverage: 1867-2001.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Tribune / Herald Tribune This link opens in a new window
Founded by Horace Greely, the newspaper includes coverage of key events of the 19th and 20th centuries, from pre-Civil War tensions and U.S. internationalism to the fight for women’s rights and the completion of the Panama Canal. In addition to politics and reform, it also reports on the arts, New York society, sports, business and finance, and more. Coverage: 1841-1962.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index This link opens in a new window
The world news and personal stories captured by this Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper for nearly 170 years are available online from ProQuest so researchers anywhere can browse and search the digitized pages of this definitive record of the day. The digitized Index allows users to search on and view terms exactly as they appeared in the New York Times print index and newspaper articles. Coverage 1851-2016.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: San Francisco Chronicle This link opens in a new window
Digital archive for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1865-1922. This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: St. Louis Post Dispatch This link opens in a new window
Founded by Joseph Pulitzer as his first newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides valuable coverage of regional events such as the 1904 World's Fair and the completion of the Gateway Arch, as well as a uniquely Midwestern perspective of local, national, and international news. Coverage: 1874-2003.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Washington Post This link opens in a new window
An unparalleled resource for today’s budding journalists, political historians, and students of government. The Washington Post was the first newspaper in Washington to publish seven days a week. To uncover even more Washington intrigue and drama, start here. Coverage from 1877-2003.