August 18, 2021, by bhznb

Discover our collections: Read all about it!

Did you know that there are more than 30 newspaper archives from around the world dating back to the 17^th century amongst our collections? This blog post introduces you to some of the archives available while a complete list is available in NUsearch.

Why would you use newspaper archives?

• Explore history through digitized primary sources documents
• Compare how events were reported at the time in newspapers with different political or social perspectives
• Capture a snapshot in time, through adverts, editorials, comic strips, to give context to social history
• Follow the historical development of subjects over the years

Newspaper archives

Gale Primary Sources

Gale primary sources allows you to search across several newspaper collections simultaneously to obtain an historical overview. We have access to the following Historical Archives:

• British Library Newspapers
• Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection
• Punch, 1841-1992
• Picture Post, 1938-1957
• Illustrated London News, 1842-2003
• Daily Mail, 1896-2016
• Mirror, 1903-2000
• Telegraph, 1855-2016
• Independent, 1986-2016
• Times, 1785-2019
• Sunday Times, 1822-2016
• Times Literary Supplement, 1902-2019
• Financial Times, 1888-2021
• Economist, 1843-2015
• International Herald Tribune, 1887-2013
• Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers

Beginning with the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection, it’s possible to chart the development of the newspaper as we know it today, to the more recent Picture Post Historical Archive, which provides a fascinating snapshot of British life between the 1930s – 1950s.

For a wide range collection of British newspapers spanning more than 300 years, search British Library Newspapers, parts I – V, which include a selection of the newspapers contained within The British Newspaper Archive. This resource includes national, regional and local titles enabling researchers to compare attitudes and vernaculars across the UK.

Use the Topic Wheel from The British Library Newspapers to visualise and filter your search results. From the Archive, click on a section to display news items.

Reports of anti-vax campaigns have appeared regularly in the news during the Covid-19 pandemic. A search for “vaccination” reveals scepticism around the subject is longstanding. As the case of this local man shows people were willing to face fines rather than comply with mandatory vaccination. In this instance, fines were paid by the Anti-Vaccination Society, the type of organisation presumed responsible for spreading propaganda via postcards.

Proquest Historical Newspapers

You can search across multiple archives from Proquest Historical Newspapers simultaneously using the Advanced Search. It is also possible to exclusively search features such as editorials, advertisements, comics, and frontpage articles.

One hundred years ago, the New York Times reported that Macy’s purchased its current premises for $600,000, The Los Angeles Times revealed what looks to be early discussions about what would subsequently become the Hoover Dam and The Manchester Guardian announced the assumed deaths of missing arctic explorers.

Image from The Times of India, 30 Jul 1910

Readex America’s Historical newspapers

Explore series 1 and 2 of African American Newspapers which includes over 350 titles published in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The archive features titles such as the Freedom’s Journal, the first African-American newspaper to be published in the US, the Colored Citizen and New International Era. You can research African- American views on the Antebellum South; the spread of abolitionism; growth of the Black church; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Jim Crow Era; the Great Migration; rise of the NAACP; the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement, as well as inspiring stories of pioneers like Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to become a fully-fledged aviatrix.

Image from The New York Age, 22 Aug 1922

Updated August 2022.

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