African-American Online Historical Newspapers Summary - Updated 2015

The Freedom's Journal, pictured here, is reported to be the first African American newspaper published in the United States. Since then, hundreds of newspapers have been published, some lasting but a few years, and many for a lot longer.

Just like newspapers of all types and sources, many of these newspapers have been digitized and are available for research - some for free, some only available at a library or archive, and some via subscription. And of course, most are still in paper form or microfilm, and have not been digitized, so must be searched offline. See below to find out where non-digitized publications may be found.

The largest free online resource for African-American Newspapers can be found at the Library of Congress Chronicling America site. At the time of this publication there were 47 newspapers available that were identified as African-American. There are other larger sites that require library access or a paid subscription.

I wish to acknowledge the help and counsel of Tim Pinnick of the Afrigeneas website, a site dedicated to African-American genealogy.

The sites below include newspaper publications from a variety of sources.  Some are available via the Google News Archive. The others are available via state-based newspaper collections; and the remainder via individual sites, including those of historically African-American colleges and universities. They are sorted by state. 

Please note that I have not always entered the dates that are included in the collections, as I suspect they will change as more items are digitized. Also I suspect that some of these links may change over time - so if there is a dead link - please use your favorite search engine to find their new location.

(Updated July, 2015)

Collections:

Chronicling America - African American Newspapers

• District of Columbia The bee. Washington, D.C., 1882-1884 
  
• District of Columbia The colored American. Washington, D.C., 1893-19?? 
  
• District of Columbia The national forum. Washington, D.C., 1910-19?? 
  
• District of Columbia The Washington bee. volume Washington, D.C., 1884-1922 
  
• Illinois The Appeal. Saint Paul, Minn. ;, 1889-19?? 
  
• Illinois The broad ax. Salt Lake City, Utah, 1895-19?? 
  
• Illinois Western appeal. Saint Paul, Minn., 1885-18?? 
  
• Indiana The Indianapolis leader. Indianapolis, Ind., 1879-1890 
  
• Iowa The bystander. Des Moines, Iowa, 1916-1922 
  
• Iowa Iowa state bystander. Des Moines, Iowa, 1894-1916 
  
• Kentucky The Lexington standard. Lexington, Ky., 1892-1912 
  
• Louisiana The Concordia eagle. Vidalia, La., 1873-1890 
  
• Louisiana The Louisianian. New Orleans, La., 1870-1871 
  
• Louisiana Semi-weekly Louisianian. New Orleans, La., 1871-1872 
  
• Louisiana The Weekly Louisianian. New Orleans, La., 1872-1882 
  
• Minnesota The Appeal. Saint Paul, Minn. ;, 1889-19?? 
  
• Minnesota Western appeal. Saint Paul, Minn., 1885-18?? 
  
• Missouri The Kansas City sun. Kansas City, Mo., 1908-1924 
  
• Missouri The professional world. Columbia, Mo., 1901-192? 
  
• Missouri The Rising son. Kansas City, Mo., 1896-19?? 
  
• Missouri Sedalia weekly conservator. Sedalia, Mo., 1903-1909 
  
• Montana The Colored citizen. Helena, Mont., 1894-1894 
  
• Montana The new age. Butte, Mont., 1902-190? 
  
• Oklahoma The Langston City herald. Langston City, O.T. [Okla.], 1891-1902 
  
• Oklahoma The Muskogee cimeter. Muskogee, Indian Territory, Okla., 1901-19?? 
  
• Oklahoma The Tulsa star. Tulsa, Okla., 1913-1921 
  
• South Carolina The Afro-American citizen. Charleston, S.C., 1899-1902 
  
• South Carolina The Charleston advocate. Charleston, S.C., 1867-1868 
  
• South Carolina The free citizen. Orangeburg, S.C., 1874-1876 
  
• South Carolina The free press. Charleston, S.C., 1868-186? 
  
• South Carolina The Georgetown planet. Georgetown, S.C., 1873-1875 
  
• South Carolina Missionary record. Charleston, S.C., 1868-1879 
  
• South Carolina The people's recorder. Columbia, S.C., 1893-1925 
  
• South Carolina The Rock Hill messenger. Rock Hill, S.C., 1896-1921 
  
• South Carolina South Carolina leader. Charleston, S.C., 1865-18?? 
  
• South Carolina The Southern indicator. Columbia, S.C., 1903-1925 
  
• Tennessee Maryville Republican. Maryville, Tenn., 187?-1877 
  
• Tennessee Maryville Republican. Maryville, Tenn., 1867-187? 
  
• Tennessee The Nashville globe. Nashville, Tenn., 1906-193? 
  
• Tennessee The Republican. Maryville, Tenn., 187?-187? 
  
• Texas The Dallas express. Dallas, Tex., 1???-???? 
  
• Utah The broad ax. Salt Lake City, Utah, 1895-19?? 
  
• Virginia Richmond planet. Richmond, Va., 1883-1938 
  
• Washington Cayton's monthly. Seattle, Wash., 1921-1921 
  
• Washington Cayton's weekly. Seattle, Wash., 1916-1921 
  
• Washington The Republican. Seattle, Wash., 1894-1??? 
  
• Washington The Seattle Republican. Seattle, Wash., 1???-1915 
  

HBCU Newspaper History Project

• Bennett College (Greensboro, Guilford County, North Carolina)
• Fisk University – (Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee) 
• Mary Holmes Seminary – (West Point, Clay County, Mississippi)
• Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama)

Black Abolitionist Newspapers

Free Sites:

• Arkansas BAD Times 
  
• California California Eagle 
  
• California Pacific Appeal 
  
• California Elevator 
  
• District of Columbia Black News Digest 
  
• District of Columbia Washington Afro-American 
  
• District of Columbia National Era 
  
• Florida Miami Times 
  
• Florida Florida Star 
  
• Florida Florida Sentinel-Bulletin 
  
• Florida Jacksonville Free Press 
  
• Georgia The Colored Tribune 
  
• Georgia Tiger's Roar 
  
• Illinois  Illinois Star 
  
• Indiana Indianapolis Recorder 
  
• Indiana The Freeman 
  
• Indiana Evansville Argus 
  
• Kentucky  Louisville Leader 
  
• Kentucky  Lincoln Institute Leader 
  
• Maryland The Afro-American Ledger 
  
• Maryland Baltimore Afro-American 
  
• Maryland Afro-American 
  
• Maryland Slaves and Free African Americans, Reports from newspapers 
  
• Massachusetts The Sacred Heart Review 
  
• Massachusetts Colored American Magazine 
  
• Missouri Lincoln University Clarion 
  
• Missouri St. Louis Palladium 
  
• Missouri St. Louis Argus 
  
• Missouri Southeast Missourian
  
• New York Buffalo Criterion 
  
• New York Colored American Magazine 
  
• New York Freedom's Journal 
  
• New York Buffalo Criterion 
  
• New York New York Age 
  
• New York New York Age 
  
• New York Black Panther Party Newspaper 
  
• New York Friend of Man 
  
• North Carolina Carolina Times 
  
• North Carolina Elizabeth City State University Student Newspaper 
  
• North Carolina The News Argus, Winston-Salem State University Student Newspaper  
  
• North Carolina North Carolina Central University Student Newspaper 
  
• North Carolina Fayetteville University Student Newspaper 
  
• North Carolina The Pen, Saint Augustine College Student Newspaper  
  
• North Carolina Bennett College Student Newspaper 
  
• North Carolina Black Ink 
  
• Ohio The Advocate 
  
• Ohio The Afro-American 
  
• Ohio The Colored Citizen 
  
• Ohio The Forum 
  
• Ohio The Gazette 
  
• Ohio The Informer 
  
• Ohio The Journal 
  
• Ohio The Ohio State Monitor 
  
• Ohio The Palladium of Liberty 
  
• Ohio The Tattler 
  
• Ohio The Union 
  
• Oklahoma Oklahoma Guide 
  
• Oklahoma Black Dispatch 
  
• Oklahoma People's Elevator 
  
• Oregon Portland New Age 
  
• Pennsylvania Lincoln News/Lincolnian  
  
• Tennessee Southern Worker 
  
• Tennessee Fisk Herald 
  
• Texas The Freeman's Press 
  
• Texas San Antonio Register 
  
• Texas The Community Bulletin 
  
• Virginia The Reflector 
  
• Virginia The True Southerner 
  
• Virginia The Southern Workman 
  
• Virginia Richmond Afro American 
  
• Wisconsin Wisconsin Labor Advocate 
  

Subscription and Library Sites:

If you have access to a library that has a ProQuest or ReadEx (or any other online newspaper site) subscription, then there may be additional historic newspapers available to you for free. Below is a list of some of those, as well as a summary from newspaper collection websites that require a paid subscription.

Accessible Archives - There are 7 publications in the collection (per their website): The Christian Recorder, The Colored American/Weekly Advocate, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Freedom’s Journal, The National Era, The North Star, and Provincial Freeman.

ProQuest - There are 9 publications in the collection (per their website): Atlanta Daily World, Baltimore Afro-American, Chicago Defender, Cleveland Call and Post, Los Angeles Sentinel, New York Amsterdam News, Norfolk Journal and Guide, Philadelphia Tribune, and Pittsburgh Courier.

Readex - Their website states that they have 270 publications covering over 35 states. Readex is owned by NewsBank - the same company that owns Genealogy Bank, which has approximately the same size and coverage of collection for African-American newspapers. Please see the entry for GenealogyBank.

Ancestry.com - According to their website there are over 200 African-American newspapers in their collection.

Newspapers,com - there is no breakdown on their website (that I could find) that divides their collection by topic as opposed to location. But I did check and some of the titles of African-American newspapers are indeed in their collection.

Genealogy Bank - About 270 newspapers from over 35 states are available through this subscription site. Here is a link to the GenealogyBank African-American Newspaper Collection.

Newspaper Archive - There is no breakdown (that I could find) of their 6,000 titles that provides information as to what number of African-American newspapers exist in their collection.

Paper and Microfilm Collections:

If you want to know where non-digitized collections of African-American newspapers may be held, either in paper or in microfilm, follow these instructions:

1. Go to the Chronicling America Newspaper Directory.
2. Under "Ethnicity" in the lower left hand corner of "More Search Options" select "African American"; then press "Search" in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Up will come the list of over 2,000 titles.
3. To find where the titles are held -  select a title; the next screen will display information about the publication; then select the "View complete holdings information" link at the very bottom and the locations of all the institutions that have that publication will be displayed for you.

If you wish more information about newspaper research for genealogy, including access to over 50 tutorials and recorded webinars about becoming a proficient researcher and navigating some of the state-based and other sites, please visit the Newspapers! page on this website.

Good luck and Happy Hunting!

---

___________________________________

Please Share!