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Colored Conventions Project

Newspaper & Journal Databases

Accessible Archives
Full text historical collections including period newspapers and magazines from the 18th century to the early 20th century in the United States (one collection being the African American Newspapers). 

African American Newspapers: the 19th Century
This collection of African American newspapers contains a wealth of information about cultural life and history during the 1800s. Newspaper titles include: The Christian Recorder; The Colored American; Freedom's Journal; The National Era; The North Star; the Provincial Freeman; and the Weekly Advocate.

African American Newspapers (1827-1998)

African American Periodicals (1825-1995)

American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection
The Collection contains more than 6,500 historical periodical titles documenting the life of America's people from the Colonial Era through to the early 20th century.

Harper's Weekly
Full text of this American political magazine from 1857-1876.

Proquest Historical Newspapers
Includes The Globe and MailThe New York Times, The Atlanta Constitution, the Boston Globe and more.

Historical News

For historical coverage of newspapers published in Canada and the U.S., check the Newspapers guide.

Newspapers at the Centre for Research Libraries

Many libraries are members of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). Materials can be borrowed from CRL through the library's interlibrary loan office, even if they are print newspapers. Check for microfilm copies, such as the microfilm reels for the Christian Recorder. The CRL catalog lists items that are available for loan.

The CRL also offers selected digitized issues of historical newspapers. Click here to search the CRL catalog for the Weekly Anglo-African and other digitized newspapers.

Free Newspapers

Black Abolitionist Archive (Access via University of Detroit Mercy)
"The Black Abolitionist Digital Archive is a collection of over 800 speeches by antebellum blacks and approximately 1,000 editorials from the period."

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (1836-1922) | Library of Congress
Identify African American titles by selecting the "All Digitized Newspapers" tab and choosing "African American" under Ethnicity.

California Digital Newspaper Collection (1846 to present)
The California Digital Newspaper Collection is a project of the Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research (CBSR) at the University of California, Riverside.

African American Newspapers

  • Christian Recorder (1861-1902)
  • Colored American (1837-1841)
  • Freedom's Journal (1827-1829)
  • The Liberator (1831-1865)
  • The National Era (1847-1860)
  • The North Star (1847-1851)
  • Provincial Freeman (1854-1857)
  • Weekly Advocate (1837-1837)

How to Search for Newspapers in the Library

To find out what newspapers the Library has, search Omni by newspaper title or search by subject heading, for example:

toronto ont newspapers
montreal quebec newspapers