Library Guides: Primary Sources in African-American History: Black News Sources

Black Newspapers & Periodicals Online and For Borrowing

Black Studies Center
Contains full text of available issues of: Atlanta Daily World, 1931-2003; Baltimore Afro-American, 1893-1986; Chicago Defender, 1912-1975; Cleveland Call and post, 1934-1991; Daily Defender, 1956-1975; Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-2005; New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1994; Norfolk New Journal and Guide, 1916-2003; Philadelphia Tribune, 1912-2001; Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-2002, along with lots of non-newspaper content.
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African American Periodicals 1825-1995
Features wide-ranging periodicals by and about African Americans. Publications include academic and political journals, commercial magazines, institutional newsletters, organizations’ bulletins, annual reports and other genres.
Coverage Dates: 1825-1995
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ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chicago Defender
Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue. Coverage includes 1909-2010. For post-2010 issues, see the links in the MU Libraries' journal finder.
African American Communities
Along with many other primary source documents, this database contains a complete run of The Messenger, characterized by the Justice Department in 1919 as "the most able and most dangerous of all the Negro publications."
Coverage Dates: Early 19th to early 21st century
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Center for Research Libraries - African American Newspaper Holdings
African American newspapers are a strength of the Center for Research Libraries. For any given newspaper, some years/dates will already be digitized, and others can be digitized on demand or sent to you via ILL@MU.

Independent Voices
Independent Voices is a digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals.
These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Free account can be created for personalization.
Date coverage: 1950-2015
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