Theatre Design: Newspapers

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.

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.