Guides: African-American Newspapers: Overview

African American Newspapers

Chicago Defender (1905 - 1975), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
At its height in the 1940s the Pittsburgh Courier was one of the most important african american newspapers in the country, had a national circulation of over 350,000 and was as widely read as the Chicago Defender and Baltimore Afro-American. It is famous for its coverage of racial stereotypes in popular media, segregation in the military, Jim Crow in the South and african american figures in sports, and is a vital source of information about the Great Migration.

Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2003), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Cleveland Call and Post (1934-1991), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Indianapolis Recorder (1899-2005)
African American newspaper that "focused on local people and events in Indianapolis but also reported national events." Missing 1917-1925.
Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Michigan Chronicle (Detroit, 1939-2010), ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Black Panther (1967-1980), Black Thought & Culture (ProQuest)
Muhammad Speaks (1961-1975), Reveal Digital
The official newspaper of the Nation of Islam. Digitized in Black American, an Independent Voices collection.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Combined searching for all "ProQuest Historical Newspapers" listed above and also for other newspapers, e.g., The New York Times.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Fulltext only - no page images - for 70 current African American newspapers. Most titles have fulltext starting c.1991, with some titles starting as early as the 1950s.
Library of Congress, Digitized Black Newspapers
More than 110 newspapers from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Black American.
Black Power newspapers from the latter half of the 20th century. Part of the Independent Voices digital collection produced by Reveal Digital.
Accessible Archives: 19th century African American newspapers
Nine African-American newspapers published between 1827 and 1902, including The Christian Recorder (1861–1902) The National Era (1847–1860) Provincial Freeman (1854–1857) .
Historic newspapers on the Web
Listing of freely available digitized African American Newspapers.

National Black Press Circulation, 1920-1945
This just covers The Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier and Baltimore Afro-American. See the next entry for circulation data about other newspapers.
Ayer's American Press Directory
Online to 1920; in print for later years. Includes circulation data for individual newspapers.
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (Video)
Oxford African American Studies Center
Find entries on particular newspapers, editors and reporters as well as on black journalism in themes in general.

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Subjects: Africana Studies, Asian-American Studies, History, Philosophy, U.S. History