United States Newspaper Holdings by State Alabama to Louisiana - International Institute

Alabama through Louisiana
The United States Newspaper Program is a cooperative national effort among the states and federal government to locate, catalog, and preserve on microfilm newspapers published in the United States from the 18th century to the present. Listed below by state with date of statehood in parentheses are links to various repositories with newspaper collections. ILL — indicates microfilm copies available via interlibrary loan from the particular institution.

Alabama (1819)


 * This state has a law requiring that all county newspapers which carry legal notices be maintained by that county’s probate judge. However, few of the county collections are complete. ADAH Newspapers on microfilm, by county: The Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington St., Montgomery, AL 36130 has the state’s most inclusive collection of this state’s newspapers—IL

Alaska (1959)


 * Several indexes to various Alaska newspapers are available. See Red Book for details. Consult The Alaskan Newspaper Tree by William R. Galbraith (Fairbanks: Elmer Rasmuson Library, 1975) which is a bibliography listing newspapers concerning Alaska available at the Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska at Fairbanks (and elsewhere). Alaska Newspaper Project . Some newspapers published by Alaskan natives are on file at Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Ore. Alaska Historical Library, PO Box110571, Juneau, AK 9981 has some 20th century newspapers—ILL. Alaska Newspaper Index

Arizona (1912)


 * Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, State Capitol, 1901 W. Madison, Phoenix, AZ 85009—ILL. Arizona Newspaper Project. Also Arizona Historical Society, 949 E. Second St., Tucson, AZ 85719; Phoenix Public Library and University of Arizona Library have collections.

Arkansas (1836)


 * Arkansas State Archives, 1100 North Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, has approximately 700 Arkansas newspapers published in about 200 different localities from 1819 to present. It also has an index to the Arkansas Gazette 1819-1881 and 1964-83. Also newspaper collections at University of Arkansas, Available in print: Arkansas Newspaper Abstracts, 1819-1845, by James Logan Morgan, published by Arkansas Research.

California (1850)


 * California State Library, PO Box 942837, Sacramento, CA 94237-0001 has California newspapers from 1846 to the present, including long runs of at least one title from each county. A large portion of the collection is available on microfilm and may be borrowed through ILL. Its California Newspaper Index contains references to items in various San Francisco newspapers from 1904 to 1980, plus a printed index for the San Francisco Call extends this coverage back to 1894. Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley also has extensive collection of statewide newspapers. California Digital Newspaper Collection.

Colorado (1876)


 * Newspaper collection is at Colorado Historical Society, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203 and Denver Public Library, 10 W. Fourteenth Ave. Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204. Microfilm copies may be purchased. There is an unpublished card index to The Rocky Mountain News, 1865-85 at Western History Collection of Denver Public Library. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.

Connecticut (1788)


 * Connecticut Newspaper Project. The Connecticut Historical Society, 1 Elizabeth St., Hartford, CT 06105, has on microfilm (with index, 1764-1820), Connecticut Courant—an early newspaper dating from 1764, and an excellent source for marriages and deaths in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New York. Also check Hale Index—a source of more than 90 newspapers (1750 to ca 1870) on microfilm for marriages and deaths. The Hartford Times ran a genealogical query column from 1910 to 1967. It has been indexed and filmed by Godfrey Memorial Library in Middletown and is available in many major research libraries.

Delaware (1787)


 * The Historical Society of Delaware 505 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE 19801 has a large collection of early northern Delaware newspapers. Southern Delaware newspapers are at Delaware State Archives, 121 Duke of York St,, Dover, DE 19901. University of Delaware Library has union list of Delaware newspapers. Also check neighboring states, such as Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

District of Columbia 


 * Most of its newspapers are on microfilm at District of Columbia Public Library, 901 G St., N.W., Washington, DC 20001. This includes Daily National Intelligencer, which began publishing in 1800.

Florida (1845)


 * Florida State Library Florida Collection, R. A. Gray Building, 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250, has an extensive collection with some papers dating back to 1829. Florida Digital Newspaper Library.

Georgia (1788)


 * The Georgia Department of Archives and History, 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260, and University of Georgia Library, Athens, GA 30602 are major sources for microfilmed newspapers. Currently it is difficult to obtain these outside of Georgia. Also check newspaper collections for Georgia and its various counties in the FamilySearch Library’s catalog. Digital Library of Georgia: Newspapers.

Hawaii (1959)


 * The FamilySearch Library has the newspaper, Nupeka Kuokoa, 1861 to 1927, which includes genealogies. -729. Some Chinese newspapers have been microfilmed by the University of Hawaii. Native Hawaiian genealogies were published in Hawaiian-language newspapers from 1834 to 1900 and are published in Hawaiian Genealogies: Extracted from Hawaiian Language Newspapers (Laie, Hawaii: BYU, 1983-present) by Edith Kowelohea McKinzie with Ishmael W. Stagner II, editor. Hawaiian Language Newspapers and Hawaii Historical Society.

Idaho (1890)


 * The Idaho Historical Society, 2205 Old Penitentiary Road Boise, ID 83712, has all available newspapers published in the state on microfilm and this collection, except for Idaho Statesman, is available through interlibrary—ILL. The Idaho Statesman, from 1864, is available at Boise State University.

Illinois (1818)


 * Contact historical and/or genealogical societies in the localities in which your ancestors lived to determine what indexes have been compiled of genealogically important data from local and county newspapers. The Illinois State Historical Library, 112 North Sixth Street, Springfield, IL 62701, has an extensive microfilmed collection (about 4,900 titles, covering all 102 counties) of Illinois newspapers. Many date from the early and mid-19th century, with the earliest dated 1814. The database of cataloged and inventoried Illinois newspaper titles can be searched online. ILL. The Chicago History Museum, 1601 North Clark Street , Chicago, IL 60614, has an important collection of Chicago newspapers. Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection.

Indiana (1816)


 * Indiana State Library Genealogy Division, 140 North Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204 has a large newspaper collection — ILL. or The Indiana Collection Vertical File at Allen County Public Library 900Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, IN 46802 includes newspaper clippings. Indiana requires its county recorders to maintain for public use, bound volumes of all newspapers published in their jurisdiction. Some of these start as early as 1852. Another source is Abstracts of Obituaries in the Western Christian Advocate, 1834-1850, (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1988) which includes genealogical data found in more than 8,000 obituaries in this Methodist church newspaper, which is not limited to Methodists, and covered Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois as well as Indiana.

Iowa (1846)


 * State Library of Iowa. State Historical Society, 600 East Locust, Des Moines, IA 50319, has A Bibliography of Iowa Newspapers, 1836-1976.

Kansas (1861)


 * The Kansas Historical Society, 120 W. 10th Ave., Topeka, KS 66612, has an excellent collection of Kansas newspapers. Contact the society regarding purchase of newspapers and in re ILL

Kentucky (1792)


 * For ancestors who resided in early Kentucky counties, consult The Kentucky Gazette, which was published in Lexington. It and other Kentucky newspapers are available on microfilm from: Kentucky Historical Society, Old Capitol Annex, 100 W. Broadway St., Frankfort, KY 40601; University of Kentucky, Margaret King Library, Lexington, KY 40506; and The Filson Historical Society, 1310 South Third Street, Louisville, KY 40208. Kentucky Digital Library Historic Newspapers.

Louisiana (1812)


 * Louisiana Newspaper Project. Consult Louisiana Newspapers, 1794-1961, by Theodore N. McMullan, published in 1965 by Louisiana State University Library, Baton, Rouge, LA 70803. The State Library of Louisiana, PO Box 131, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 offers some newspapers via ILL. Louisiana Newspaper Access Program.

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course US: Newspaper Records offered by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

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