United States Newspapers

Portal:United States of America

Newspaper publication usually began soon after the initial settlement of a locality. Newspapers report family information in notices of births, marriages, obituaries, and local news. To find this information, you will need to know the place and an approximate date of the event.

You may also find it helpful to place a notice in a local newspaper in order to contact others who may have information about your family.


 * Geo. P. Rowell &amp; Co’s. American Newspaper Directory (New York, New York: Geo. P. Rowell &amp; Co., 1869-1877); N. W. Ayer and Son’s American Newspaper Annual (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: N.W. Ayer and Son's, 1880 – 1920): Images of these annual lists of newspapers and periodicals for all the towns and cities in the US and Canada are available online at the Library of Congress. These books also include information on population, location in relation to a larger city, railroad line, local industries and more.
 * The Library of Congress also has a newspaper site called Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.  This site contains a database about America's newspapers from 1690 to today and an archive of some available scanned newspapers that you can search. This site is in beta testing and will be added to and improved over time. The National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) is a partnership between the NEH and the Library of Congress to provide enhanced access to United States newspapers. . Ultimately, over a period of approximately 20 years, NDNP will create a national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers from all the states and U.S. territories published between 1836 and 1922. This searchable database will be permanently maintained at the Library of Congress (LC) and be freely accessible via the Internet. An accompanying national newspaper directory of bibliographic and holdings information on the website will direct users to newspaper titles available in all types of formats.

To find the names and locations of newspapers in the United States, use the following sources available at most libraries:


 * Newspapers in Microform: United States, 1948-1983. Two Volumes. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1984. (FHL book 011.35 N479 1984; film 1145942.) This is a geographically-arranged list of newspapers on microform and the repositories where the microforms are available. Most of these can be borrowed through interlibrary loan.
 * United States Newspaper Program National Union List, Fourth Edition. Dublin, Ohio: Online Computer Library Center, 1993. (FHL fiche 6332710-14 [set of 70].) Many states are collecting and microfilming the newspapers published in their state. This list is an inventory of newspapers that had been collected by the Library of Congress and 20 states as of 1985.

An accompanying booklet by the same title contains instructions and the key to repository codes. (FHL book 973 B32u 1989.)

The microfilms are often available at the state archives, state historical society, or major libraries within the state. They can usually be borrowed through interlibrary loan at your local library.


 * Brigham, Clarence Saunders. History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820. Two Volumes. Worcester, Massachusetts: American Antiquarian Society, 1975. (FHL book 973 A3bc.) This lists the locations of collections of newspapers published from 1690 to 1820. Most of these newspapers are available at the American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609-1634.
 * Gregory, Winifred. American Newspapers, 1821-1936. 1937 Reprint, New York, New York: H. W. Wilson, 1967. (FHL Ref Q book 970 B33a 1967; film 483713.) This lists newspapers published from 1821 to 1936, including those that are no longer published. It identifies where copies of the newspapers were located in 1936.
 * Gale Directory of Publications: An Annual Guide to Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, and Related Publications. (formerly Ayer Directory of Publications). Annual. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1969-. (FHL book 970 B34a 1987.) This lists currently published newspapers. Most newspaper publishers will not search their files for you but some will make a copy of an article if you can provide a specific date and event.

Also contact local libraries in the area where your ancestor lived in order to locate existing newspapers.

The library no longer collects newspapers but does acquire published indexes and abstracts of obituaries, marriages, and other vital information found in newspapers. Newspapers, indexes, and abstracts of newspapers are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

[STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - NEWSPAPERS. Abstracts may also be listed under [STATE], [COUNTY], [TOWN] - VITAL RECORDS

You can find further information about libraries with significant newspaper collections in research outlines for states.

Web Sites
United States Newspaper Program lists newspapers in each state that have been digitized through support from endowments from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

http://www.usnpl.com/

http://www.50states.com/news/

http://www.abyznewslinks.com/unite.htm

http://www.genealogybuff.com/np/