African American Newspapers
Lisa Louise Cooke
The largest "set" of African American newspapers is "Negro Newspapers on Microfilm"
produced by the Library of Congress. The set contains about 400 historic newspapers from
around the country-most not digitized. These are available at many academic libraries on
microfilm. Check Worldcat.org for their location nearest you.
The four largest African American newspapers:
• “Chicago Defender”
• “Pittsburgh Courier”
(These were national papers, covering African Americans all over the country.)
• "Baltimore Afro-American"
• "Amsterdam News" (New York)
All four newspapers are available from Proquest in addition to other African American
newspapers. Proquest digitized the "national edition" of the "Chicago Defender." Be aware that
Proquest did not digitize the "city edition" and researchers will miss many items if they do not
search the microfilm edition of the Chicago Defender.
ONLINE DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
Chronicling America Website - African American Newspapers
Several African American newspapers are featured on this free website. Some are digitized and
some listings in your search results will lead you to offline locations.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/titles/results/?state=&county=&city=&year1=1690&ye
ar2=2010&terms=african+american&frequency=&language=&ethnicity=&labor=&lccn=&mater
ialType=
GenealogyBank – African American Newspapers
http://www.genealogybank.com/static/african-american-heritage.html
This fully searchable and expanding collection of newspapers provides details about the daily
lives of millions of African Americans from 1827-1999.
No other online source provides such a detailed snapshot of the African American experience.
Find family history records across the U.S. including obituaries, military records, advertisements,
editorials, illustrations and much more.
The Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Indianapolis Recorder Digital Collection
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/digitalscholarship/collections/Irecorder
The Indianapolis Recorder was established in 1897 and focused not only on events in
Indianapolis but also across the nation. It began as a two-page bulletin by co-founders George
Pheldon Stewart and William H. Porter, and is now one of the top African-American
publications in the country.
How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers
www.LisaLouiseCooke.com
The website provides access to more than 5,000 digitized searchable issues ranging from 1899 to
2005. Search by keyword, browse the collection by year, or use the advanced search feature.
Note.
State Historical Society of Missouri, African-American Genealogy – Newspapers
http://shs.umsystem.edu/research/guides/africanamerican.shtml#NEWSPAPERS
According to their website “The Society’s newspaper collection, dating from 1808 to the present,
is the largest repository of state newspapers in the nation.”
Wisconsin Historical Society, African-American Newspapers and Periodicals
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/libraryarchives/aanp/freedom/
Freedom's Journal was the first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in
the United States. The Journal was published weekly in New York City from 1827 to 1829.
Samuel Cornish served as co-editor with John B. Russwurm between March 16, 1827 and
September 14, 1827. More historical in nature than genealogical.
Learn more about the Freedom’s Journal at the PBS website at
http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/news_bios/newbios/nwsppr/freedom/freedom.html
EXTRA!
Timeline of the Black Press
http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/film/index.html
The timeline features some of the most significant events that occurred during the history of the
black press from the founding of Freedom's Journal to the dates for historic events such as the
March on Washington or the Red Summer Riots of 1919. You can choose to read through the
dates in text form or you can view them in an enhanced interactive format. The interactive
version is linked directly from the dates in history to websites for further information and
research.
RECOMMENDED READING
•
Bibliographic Checklist of African-American Newspapers by Barbara K. Henritze, 1995.
Includes a comprehensive list of all publications.
•
African-American Newspapers and Periodicals by James Danky, 1998. Lists locations of
all extant copies.
•
Finding and Using African American Newspapers, by Timothy Pinnick, 2008
http://www.blackcoalminerheritage.net/index.html
PODCAST: Family Tree Magazine Podcast – February 2011 Episode
My interview with Author and lecturer Timothy Pinnick
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/episode33
How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers
www.LisaLouiseCooke.com
•
The Afro-American Press and Its Editors by I. Garland Penn published in 1891.
Available free on Google Books. Search the book’s contents using the “Search in this
Book” search box on the left, or download the entire free eBook to your computer, or
mobile device.
Go to Google Books at http://books.google.com/books
Search “The Afro-American Press and Its Editors”
Direct Link: http://tinyurl.com/l8e5y8v
RUNAWAY SLAVE AD WEBSITES
Runaway Slave Ads, Baltimore County, Maryland 1842-1863
By Julie DeMatteis and Louis S. Diggs, Sr.
http://www.afrigeneas.com/library/runaway_ads/balt-intro.html
Runaway Slave Advertisements from 18th-century Virginia Newspapers
Compiled by Professor Thomas Costa, Professor of History, University of Virginia's College at
Wise
http://etext.virginia.edu/subjects/runaways/
Runaway Slave Advertisements from a variety of Colonial Newspapers
Transcriptions
http://www.radford.edu/~shepburn/web/Runaway%20Slave%20Advertisements.htm
Virginia Runaways
A VCDH Project, part of Virtual Jamestown
http://people.uvawise.edu/runaways/index.html
Browse or search the collection for free.
How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers
www.LisaLouiseCooke.com