LibGuides: News and Newspaper Guide: U.S. Ethnic Newspaper Collections

General Ethnic Newspaper Databases

Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
Ethnic NewsWatch is an interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish) and comprehensive full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. Designed to provide the "other side of the story," ENW titles offer additional viewpoints from those proffered by the mainstream press. The database now also contains Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.
Alt-PressWatch This link opens in a new window
Full-text database of selected newspapers, magazines and journals of the alternative and independent press. Coverage complements the reporting in the mainstream press. Includes biographical or personal profiles. 1970-present
Access World News, Research Collection This link opens in a new window
Click on the Ethnic Sources tab to view publications.
Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection This link opens in a new window
This online collection provides extensive coverage of many of the most influential ethnic groups in U.S. history, with an emphasis on Americans of Czech, French, German, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Lithuanian, Polish, Slovak and Welsh descent. It features more than 130 fully searchable newspapers in 10 languages from 25 states—including many rare 19th-century titles. 1799-1971.

African-American Newspaper Databases

African American Newspapers: The 19th Century This link opens in a new window
This collection contains a wealth of information about 1800s cultural life and history, and is rich with first-hand reports of major events and issues, including the Mexican War, Presidential and congressional addresses, Congressional abstracts, business and commodity markets, the humanities, world travel and religion. They also contain large numbers of early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements.
African American Newspapers 1827-1998 This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to approximately 270 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection features papers from more than 35 states—including many rare and historically significant 19th century titles.
Newly digitized, these newspapers published by African Americans can now be browsed and searched as never before. Part of the Readex America's Historical Newspapers collection, African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 was created from the most extensive African American newspaper archives in the United States—those of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Kansas State Historical Society and the Library of Congress. Selections were guided by James Danky, editor of "African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography." Beginning with Freedom's Journal (NY)—the first African American newspaper published in the United States—the titles in this resource include The Colored Citizen (KS), Arkansas State Press, Rights of All (NY), Wisconsin Afro-American, New York Age, L'Union (LA), Northern Star and Freeman's Advocate (NY), Richmond Planet, Cleveland Gazette, The Appeal (MN) and hundreds of others from every region of the U.S. A richly detailed record of the African American past African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 offers researchers valuable primary sources for such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more. Users can compare and contrast African American views on practically every major theme of the American past. Coverage spans life in the Antebellum South; the spread of abolitionism; growth of the Black church; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Jim Crow Era; the Great Migration to northern cities, the West and Midwest in search of greater opportunity; rise of the N.A.A.C.P.; the Harlem Renaissance; the Civil Rights movement; political and economic empowerment and more. Teachers and students will find firsthand perspectives on notable Americans from Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington to W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as obituaries, advertisements, editorials and illustrations.
Black Life in America This link opens in a new window
The content in this database is sourced from more than 19,000 American and global news sources, including over 400 current and historical Black publications. It covers the time period from the early 18th century to the early 21st – from pre-Revolution America to the modern era.
Includes Series 1, 2, and 3.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Provides the full text backfile of the following influential black newspapers:
Atlanta Daily World 1931-1932 through 2002-2003; Baltimore Afro-American, 1893-1894 through 1985-1986; Chicago Defender, roughly 1910-1911 through 1974-1975; Chicago's Daily Defender, 1956-1957 through 1974-1975; Los Angeles Sentinel, 1934-1935 through 2004-2005; New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1923 through 1993-1994;
Norfolk New Journal and Guide, 1916-1917 through 2002-2003; Philadelphia Tribune, 1912-1913 through 2000-2001; Pittsburgh Courier, 1911-1912 through 2001-2002

AFRO-American Newspapers Black History Archives
. In cooperation with Google, the AFRO-American newspapers are making available over 100 years of Black history from the late nineteenth century on available from the pages of the Afro-American, the Afro-American Ledger, Baltimore Afro-American, and the Washington Afro-American newspapers. The site includes original page views of complete editions of the newspaper dating back to the early 1900s and in-depth coverage of important stories such as the events of the arrests and national spectacle surrounding Scottsboro Boys trials, the entertainment coverage of Black movies stars such as Dorothy Dandridge, the Army's use of the Tuskegee Airmen (Fighting 99th) in World War II, coverage of the Little Rock 9 Integration in 1954 and many other events that helped to shape the black community.
Freedom's Journal
Wisconsin Historical Society. The first African-American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States, published weekly. Freedom's Journal provided international, national, and regional information on current events and contained editorials declaiming slavery, lynching, and other injustices. The Journal also published biographies of prominent African-Americans and listings of births, deaths, and marriages in the African-American New York community. Freedom's Journal circulated in 11 states, the District of Columbia, Haiti, Europe, and Canada.
Signal of Liberty (1841-1848)
Theodore Foster and Rev. Guy Beckley of Ann Arbor, Michigan, launched the Signal of Liberty in April 1841 and managed to go to press nearly every week. Foster and Beckley were strong abolitionists who wrote in the Signal of Liberty of helping people escaping from slavery. The editors interviewed self-emancipated men and women, hoping to arouse sympathy for abolitionism. The events and movements described in the Signal of Liberty help us understand the issues that led people to resist slavery, change their churches and political parties, and fight for freedom. Digitized by the Ann Arbor District Library.
Michigan Chronicle
Michigan Chronicle - a long running African American newspaper published in Detroit, available 1939-2010. (newer issues available on other platforms)

Detroit & Michigan Newspapers

The Detroit Tribune (1935-1963), a historic Black newspaper available online via the Library of Congress's Chronicling America, was published weekly from 1935 to 1966. Occasionally subtitled "Unswerving Dedication to the Truth" or "The Newsjournal of the Metropolitan Community".

Detroit Plain Dealer (1883-1894): The MSU Community has access to 160 issues dating from September 20, 1889 through May 19, 1893 via Readex's African American Newspapers, 1827 - 1998. The Library of Michigan has issues of the Detroit Plaindealer available on microfilm.

Dziennik Polski - 1936 online only

Focus (later Focus News): A Kalamazoo newspaper published 1965 to 1982

Michigan Chronicle - a long running African American newspaper published in Detroit, available 1939-2010. (newer issues available on other platforms)

La Voce del Popolo - Dec. 1917 through 1921, plus some 1924.

Individual Titles

Asian-American Newspapers

Hoji Shinbun This link opens in a new window
The Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection is currently the world’s largest online archive of open-access, full image Japanese American and other overseas Japanese newspapers in Asia and South America. The Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection is open to the public and does not require registration for viewing most of the titles. Some content is currently restricted to Stanford University users due to copyright agreement with the publishers.

Japanese-American Relocation Camp Newspapers: Perspectives on Day-to-Day Life
This Archives Unbound collection consisting of 25 individual titles documents life in the internment camps. Although histories exist about this chapter in American history, this digital collection of Japanese relocation camp newspapers record the concerns and the day-to-day life of the interned Japanese-Americans. Although articles in these files frequently appear in Japanese, most of the papers are in English or in dual text. Many of the 25 titles constituting this collection are complete or substantially complete.

Pacific Citizen Digital Archives: content up to 1996. 2011-current

Rafu Shimpo This link opens in a new window
The Rafu Shimpo Digital Archive contains all obtainable Rafu Shimpo published issues from 1914 through 2018. Included is an institutional subscription to rafu.com that allows for full access to the present day. The archive will grow with additional year’s worth of content added annually.

Rafu Shimpo is the longest running Japanese American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1903 supporting the small but growing Japanese community in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, California. By the 1940s it was the most widely circulated paper in the region and included a weekly English section for second generation Japanese Americans. The paper was forced to cease publication and its publisher was imprisoned by the government during World War II.

Chicanx/Latinx Newspapers

Hispanic American Newspapers 1808-1980 This link opens in a new window
Represents the single largest compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinctive collection features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century.
These Hispanic American newspapers reflect a long tradition of Spanish-language press in the western hemisphere. In the United States, the Hispanic press has played a vital role in the lives of immigrants, exiles and native Hispanic peoples alike. Often illustrated with photographic documentation, Hispanic American newspapers reveal the rich history of a people who have long resided in and contributed to the American public sphere. For more than two centuries, they have united Spanish speakers and preserved their cultural heritage through news, editorials and literature as well as by providing leadership, solidifying communities and spearheading social movements. They have covered every major theme in American history and culture and reported on events in Spanish-speaking countries not always available in traditional U.S. newspapers.

Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press
University of Arizona. The Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press collection documents and showcases historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s.

Proquest US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Includes Hispanic Newsstream, the largest collection of leading Hispanic newspapers, news wires, websites and blogs in full text from US publishers in both Spanish and English including El Diario/La Prensa (New York City), La Opinión (Los Angeles), La Prensa (San Antonio) and Extra (Chicago).

Native American Newspapers

American Indian Newspapers This link opens in a new window
A diverse and robust collection of print journalism from Indigenous peoples of the US and Canada from 1828-2016. The newspapers include national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications. The 45 unique titles also include bi-lingual and Indigenous-language editions, such as Hawaiian, Cherokee and Navajo languages.

Ethnic Microfilm Newspapers Available from the Center for Research Libraries

Scholars and researchers from CRL member institutions (such as Michigan State University) have free and unlimited use of the CRL collections through interlibrary loan via their libraries. The loan period is unlimited, but is subject to possible recall notice. To identify what is available try searching the Center for Research Libraries online catalog. Browse by country, state, U.S. and Canadian ethnic newspapers, or by Civilian Conservation Corps. Here is a brief list of some of the featured collections:

The African-American Press Collection. From the Christian recorder, published in Philadelphia in the 1850s, to the Chicago Defender, still very much alive, the African-American press has provided first person coverage of the concerns, interests and achievements of African-Americans throughout the United States. The Center has a “critical mass” of over two hundred titles.

Black newspapers. In 1965, the Center began subscribing to about 20 papers intended primarily for Black communities in major U.S. cities. The Center has retrospective holdings of some Black newspapers and maintains current subscriptions to either newsprint or microfilm editions of the following titles (listed under their current titles):

State	City	Publication
Alabama	Birmingham	Birmingham world (#2258369)
California	Los Angeles	Los Angeles sentinel (#9505770)
Florida	Jacksonville	Florida star (#2261130)
Illinois	Chicago	Muslim journal (#12063707)
Indiana	Indianapolis	Indianapolis recorder (#8797400)
Louisiana	Shreveport	Shreveport sun (#20606995)
Maryland	Baltimore	Afro-American (#7642696)
Massachusetts	Roxbury	Bay state banner (#6749070)
Michigan	Detroit	Michigan chronicle (#2264134)
Missouri	Kansas City	Call (#16736831)
New York	New York	New York Amsterdam news (#13416782)
North Carolina	Durham	Carolina times (#2259007)
Ohio	Cleveland	Call and post (#9964681)
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Philadelphia tribune (#2266077)
Tennessee	Memphis	Tri-state defender (#9578018)
Virginia	Norfolk	Journal and guide (#6836057)

Ethnic Press Database. Thousands of volumes of newspapers were produced in the U.S. by ethnic communities from the Civil War to the late 20th century. The papers mirror the lives, values and everyday concerns of America’s various immigrant communities, from the Chinese- and Polish-Americans of 19th Century Chicago to more recently established communities of immigrants from Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The Center has retrospective holdings of hundreds of ethnic titles and maintains current subscriptions to either newsprint or microfilm editions of the following newspapers (listed under their current titles):

Ethnicity	Publication
Armenian	Hayrenik (Boston) (#8761016)
Carpatho-Russian	Truth (Philadelphia) (#27328014)
Chinese	Mei-chou Hua mei jih pao (New York) (#8925180)
	Hua chiao jih pao (New York) ) (#13925369)
	Lien ho jih pao (New York) (#9926281)
Czech	Hlas naroda (Chicago) (#9578031)
	Nedelni hlasatel (Chicago) (#39392562)
	Novy svet (Cleveland) (#9522838)
Danish	Danske pioneer (Elmwood Park, IL) (#9665848)
Finnish	New Yorkin uutiset (#9335208)
Flemish	Gazette van Detroit (#9353749)
French	France-Amerique (New York) (#3927122)
German	Abendpost und Milwaukee deutsche Zeitung (Chicago) (#9642195)
	Amerika Woche (Skokie, IL) (#9328374)
	Aufbau (New York) (#2251108)
	New Yorker Staats-Zeitung (#25450500)
Greek	Hellenikos typos (Chicago) (#9425497)
Greek	Ethnikos kerux (New York) (#6836811)
Hungarian	Amerikai Magyar nepszava (Cleveland) (#2257472)
Hungarian	Szabadsag (Cleveland) (#2268340)
Italian	Italian tribune (Warren, MI) (#9836411)
Italian	Post gazette (Boston) (#9529221)
Japanese	Nichibei jiji (San Francisco) (#9335122) Nichi Bei Times (#4601742) Pacific Citizen (#1774036) Rafu Shimpo (Los Angeles) (#12939028)
Lithuanian	Draugas (Chicago) (#9426502)
	Naujienos (Chicago) (#9273424)
	Sandara (Chicago) (#9493846)
Norwegian	Norway times (Brooklyn) (#10802915)
Norwegian	Western Viking (Seattle) (#9665786)
Polish	Dziennik zwiazkowy (Chicago) (#9357895)
Portuguese	Jornal Portugues (Alameda) (#5686672)
Russian	Novoe russkoe slovo (New York) (#2265277)
Serbo-Croatian	Hrvatski Tjednik Danica (Chicago)
Slovak	Bratstvo (Wilkes-Barre, PA) (#10443362)
	Jednota (Cleveland) (#1695479)
	Narodne Noviny (Pittsburgh) (#2264538)
Slovenian	Ameriska domovina (Cleveland) (#4409084)
Slovenian	Prosveta (Chicago) (#9509957)
Swedish	California Veckoblad (Los Angeles) (#9304061)
	Norden (Brooklyn) (#9473030)
	Nordstjernan (New York) (#24728237)
	Svenska Amerikaneren tribunen (Chicago) (#9642253)
	New Vestkusten (San Francisco) (#29513598)
Ukrainian	Ameryka (Philadelphia) (#7120828)
	Svoboda (Jersey City, NJ) (#1766932)
	Narodna volia (Scranton) (#2264535)
Welsh	Drych a'r Columbia (De Pere, WI) (#14404267)
Yiddish	Forverts (New York) (#9836450)

Current Ethnic Newspapers (Print)

The following titles are collected and retained for anywhere from two weeks to 3 months
-- next to the Current Periodicals on 2 West.

Afro-American (Baltimore)

Chicago Defender (Also receive Weekend Chicago Defender)

Forward (New York, Jewish)

Michigan Chronicle

New York Amsterdam News

MSU Student Newspapers

Special Collections holds four newspapers produced by the African American students at MSU as part of the Ethnic Studies Collection:

MSU Libraries

Research Guides

News and Newspaper Guide