Guides: Course Guide ~ HIST 204 / African American History from 1877: Home

Newspapers

African American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Complete contents and original layout of more than more than 270 newspapers from 35 states. Coverage: Series 1 & 2; 1827-1998.
Historical Black Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Complete contents and original layout of five important African American newspapers.
Includes:
Baltimore Afro-American, 1893-1988
Chicago Defender, 1910-1975
Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2005
New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1993
Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002

Search Tips

Historical Black Newspapers is the easier of the two interfaces to use. I would start with that database. Tips on getting the most out Historical Black Newspapers are below.

From the advanced search page, enter a one-to-three-word search. Do not bother with any of the search options on this screen now (although you may wish to limit your search to "Document title--TI" after some initial searches).
Narrow your search by publication date, either by entering a date range or choosing a decade using the bar graph on the left side of the screen.
Browse through the list of entries.
Narrow your search further by choosing a document type from the list on the left side of the screen. "Front page articles" and "Editorials" are good starting points.
When you do choose an article to examine, you can see how it relates to other content in that issue by selecting the "Browse this issue" link immediately below the article title, author, and newspaper title at the top of the screen.
Buttons for downloading printable PDFs of the article are on the right side of the screen.

Take some time to experiment with your search term and immerse yourself in the articles. The word "migration" will get you to more than enough articles, but terms like "exodus" or "from the south," etc., may lead you down more interesting paths.

NEED MORE HELP?
I should be in or near my office from 10:00 to 5:00 on Wednesday. Stop by.