Try finding a newspaper article!
Using the chronology linked above, pick an event that happened after 1851.
Search the New York Times to see if you can find an article that reports on the event within about a month of it happening. You may need to try different keywords and/or use the date limiters, and there's no guarantee that the NYT covered every event.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about national and international news and events.
Contains: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1851-2021.
If you have time, see if you can find a second article using one of the collections below.
Good for: Accounts of life, culture and historical events reported in newspapers from every U.S. state.
Contains: Historical newspapers.
Dates covered: 1690-1923.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about news and events in Chicago and the world.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1849-2015.
Good for: Reading newspaper reports of major events of the U.S. Civil War.
Contains: Clippings from Union and Confederate sources.
Dates covered: 1860-1865.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about historical events before 1922.
Contains: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1841-1922.
Good for: Finding articles from American newspapers of the 19th century.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1800-1900.
Good for: Searching for articles in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: Page images for 1865-1984; article text only for 1985-present.
All states:
Western states:
Use the date range limit to narrow your search to a relevant time period. To see if a specific newspaper is included in any of these collections, search for the title in the A-Z List of Journal Titles.
Good for: Searching 19th-century African American newspapers.
Contains: African-American newspapers.
Dates covered: 1827-1902.
Good for: Accounts of life, culture and historical events reported in newspapers from every U.S. state.
Contains: Historical newspapers.
Dates covered: 1690-1923.
Good for: Finding national periodicals, local community news and student publications from an Indigenous perspective.
Contains: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1828-2016.
Good for: Discovering sensational news coverage of crime, gambling, scandal, blackmail and social issues in 19th-century America.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1828-1876.
Good for: Researching historical events through American newspapers, including Nevada newspapers.
Contains: Historical newspapers.
Dates covered: 1789-1963.
Good for: Reading newspaper reports of major events of the U.S. Civil War.
Contains: Clippings from Union and Confederate sources.
Dates covered: 1860-1865.
Good for: Searching newspapers from ethnic, minority, and native communities in the United States.
Contains: Newspaper articles, editorials, and reviews.
Dates covered: 1959-present.
Good for: News and commentary by and for Hispanic American communities in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas and New York.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1808-1980.
Good for: Searching newspaper articles by and for the African American communities in Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Norfolk VA., Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1893-2010.
Good for: News and commentary by and for the African-American community in Georgia.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1931-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles from African American reporters reporting from Baltimore and around the world.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1893-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about African American life and culture in Chicago.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1909-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about news and events in Chicago and the world.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1849-2015.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about news and events from a newspaper known for covering world events.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1908-2007.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles from a newspaper that championed African American political participation. self-reliance and solidarity.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1934-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles from the oldest and largest African American newspaper in the West.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1934-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about news and events in California, particularly the entertainment industry.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1881-2016.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about African American culture, history, politics, and the arts in Detroit.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1939-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles from the largest black community weekly in the United States.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: 1922-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about national and international news and events.
Contains: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1851-2021.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about historical events before 1922.
Contains: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1841-1922.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles with in-depth coverage of news and events by and for African Americans in Virginia.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1916-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles from the oldest continuously published Black newspaper in the US.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1912-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles from a prominent Black newspaper with a large circulation.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1911-2010.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles about news and events in Washington, D.C. and beyond.
Contents: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1877-2007.
Good for: Finding newspaper articles in Reno Gazette-Journal (1876-2008), San Francisco Examiner (1889-2007), and Spokane Statesman-Review (1894-2009); also includes selected 20th century newspapers from St. George, UT, and Tulare County and Salinas, CA.
Contains: Newspaper pages.
Dates covered: 1876-2010.
Good for: Researching historical news in Las Vegas.
Contains: Page images of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Dates covered: 1929-1996.
Good for: Finding articles from American newspapers of the 19th century.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1800-1900.
Good for: Searching for articles in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
Contains: Newspaper articles.
Dates covered: Page images for 1865-1984; article text only for 1985-present.
These links allow you to search across multiple databases at the same time.
Good for: Searching across all primary source collections from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Contains: Archival collections.
Good for: Searching all ProQuest U.S. historical newspaper collections simultaneously.
Contains: Newspapers.
Dates covered: 1841-2014.
Good for: Searching historical periodicals.
Contains: Magazine and journal articles.
Dates covered: 1740-1940 with some more recent.
Good for: Searching across historical newspapers and books for primary sources about American life and culture.
Contains: American historical newspapers, printed books, pamphlets, and ephemera.
Dates covered: 1639-1922.
