Online access to newspapers, books, magazines, scholarly journals, archival documents, vintage images … and more
Historic Newspapers (free sites)
Chronicling America– This Library of Congress database offers access to US newspapers published from 1756 to 1963. More than 21 million PDF pages, searchable by keyword, date range and state.
Google Newspapers– Hundreds of US and Canadian papers dating back more than two centuries. User notes: keyword searches can be unreliable, but you can search issues day-by-day; some titles are indexed by newspaper name and not city; a few papers are mislabeled; issues labelled “missing” may be appended to the previous day’s edition.
Trove – Australian newspapers from 1803 to 1954. A great resource for finding coverage of British, American, Canadian and other foreign events supplied through wire services.
NYS Historical Newspapers – A collection of newspapers published in New York State since the 1700s – including major New York City dailies – with access to more than 14 million pages.
Historic Newspapers (subscription sites)
Newpapers.com–Simply the best fee-for-use newspaper database. Full-text searches of more than 26,000 international newspapers from the 1700s to today – almost 822 million pages and counting. A monthly fee buys unlimited access (and is reduced if you also subscribe to Ancestry.ca – see below). Reliable keyword searches and it’s easy to clip. print and email articles.
New York Times Archive– A great resource for newspaper coverage of historical as well as current events. Searchable from 1851 to date. PDFs of many articles can be accessed for free, and a modest subscription provides full access.
NewspaperArchive – This database of more than 15,000 titles and 280 million pages includes many papers not found in Newspapers.com.
Note: Many vintage newspapers have not been digitized. Check libraries for titles available only on microfilm.
Books and Scholarly Journals
Books in the Public Domain – Collections of older books and magazines in the public domain (and no longer protected by copyright), including centuries-old titles. All publications can be keyword searched and most can be read online or downloaded:
Google Books – Access to the full text of older books and partial access (as copyright allows) to new titles. The site allows keyword searches within most books, a time-saver for tracking down references in books that have no index.
WorldCat – As in “world catalogue.” Use this database of two billion books, articles, DVDs and CDs to find the nearest library with a copy. There’s all the information you need to submit an inter-library loan request as well.
AbebooksandBiblio – Besides books and magazines, these sites sell postcards, newspapers and other vintage printed material. Use them to identify books to borrow from libraries, or when you want a copy of your own. You can submit a “want” request that will notify you when hard-to-find books are listed for sale.
J-STOR – More than 12 million journal articles, book chapters and other scholarly materials dating to the 1800s. Free searches but a university or library account is needed to access and download.
Archival and Genealogical Resources
Ancestry.comandFindmypast – These collection of records from archives around the world are not just for genealogists. The offer birth, marriage and death records, court filings, wills, census returns, city directories, and ships’ passenger lists. (Subscription required)
Find-a-Grave – Use the “world’s largest gravesite collection” to find burial locations, birth and death dates, inscriptions and photographs of more than 180 million gravestones, as well as biographical details of many subjects.
Links to Archival Collections: These portals allow searches of the collections of hundreds of archive, museum and library collections for court, police and other crime-related records:
eBay – Auctions and fixed-price postings of vintage news photographs and postcards, hard-to-find books, magazines, and newspapers, plus ephemera ranging from menus to theatre programs. Create email alerts to receive updates of new listings.
Historic Images – Offers the largest selection of original images (people, places, things, events) culled from newspaper photo “morgues.” Images also listed on eBay.
Monetary Values
MeasuringWorth – Created by economic historians, this website features a calculator that estimates the current value of a monetary figure – a salary, price, payment, or property value – from the past. The conversion works for the US dollar, the British pound and a few other currencies.
