LibGuides: Humanities and Social Sciences: Newspapers

Searching Historical Newspapers

These historical newspaper databases are a major primary source for many kinds of research. The two main companies/vendors that provide these databases are Gale and Proquest.

Gale Historical Newspaper Databases:

Associated Press Collections Online (a journalism archival source, not full newspapers)
Daily Mail Historical Archive, 1896-2004
The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2011
The Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010
The Sunday Times Digital Archive, 1822-2006
The Times Digital Archive, 1785-2006

ProQuest Historical Newspaper Databases:

The Guardian (1821-2003) & The Observer (1791-2003)
The New York Times (1851-2013) with Index (1851-1993)
The Times of India, 1838-2002
The Wall Street Journal, 1889-1994

If you know a specific event in history that you are researching, then you can search across these newspapers, but do so by searching across Gale (using the Artemis Primary Sources or the NewsVault interface), and/or across ProQuest (using the XXXXXXXXXX interface). Be sure to limit your search by dates for best results.

Hint: Spellings change quite a bit over time. For example, English spellings of Arabic words and names can vary widely. Be sure to use the Boolean Operator “OR” in your searches.

Arabic/English Keyword Spellings:
Sheikh, Sheik, Shayk, Shaikh, Shekh, Shaykh
Ras al Khaimah, Ras-el-Khaima, Ras-el-Khiemah, Ras-ool-Khiemah, Ras-el-Khaimah, Ras al Rakhaimah
Umm al Quwain, Umm-el-Kawain, Umm-ool-Keiweyn, Umulkawain
Ajman, Ejman
Shargah, Shāriqah, Sharga, Sharja
Debaye, Dubayy, Debay, Dibai, Dihabi, Debai
Abu-Dhabi, Abu Zaby, Aboothabi, Abu-Dhabbi, Abu Thabi, Aboothabee, Abu Dthabi
Fujairah
Al Ayn
Koweyt
Qatar, Katar
Strait of Ormuz
Zayed, Zaid, Zeid
Shakbut, Shakhbut, Shak-but,
Makhtum
Khalifah
Buraimi, Baraimi

Historical Newspaper Databases

Artemis Primary Sources (Gale Cengage search portal) This link opens in a new window
Searches across the following Gale databases: Archives Unbound; Associated Press Collections Online; Daily Mail Historical Archive, 1896-2004; The Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2011; The Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010; The Sunday Times Digital Archive; and The Times Digital Archive.
NewsVault This link opens in a new window
Search all Gale newspapers from one search box:
Economist Historical Archive
Financial Times Historical Archive
Sunday Times Digital Archive
Times Digital Archive
Associated Press Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Associated Press Collections Online gives insight into major events, people and trends from the mid-1800s through the twentieth century from the Associated Press Corporate Archive. Collections may include: original wire copy, personal papers, AP style books, internal publications, and more.
Daily Mail Historical Archive, 1896-2004 This link opens in a new window
The Daily Mail has been at the heart of British journalism since 1896, regularly changing the course of government policy and setting the national debate. As well as providing access to the regular edition of this path-breaking newspaper, the archive also contains the Atlantic Editions, printed on board the transatlantic cruise liners between 1923 and 1931.
Economist Historical Archive, 1843-2012 This link opens in a new window
The Economist Historical Archive ('EHA') is the fully searchable complete facsimile edition of The Economist, the weekly paper which is essential reading for anyone engaged in politics, current affairs and all aspects of business and trade worldwide. Containing every issue since its launch in 1843 and more than 600,000 pages, EHA offers full-color images, multiple search indexes, topic and area supplements and surveys. Altogether this is an unrivaled multidisciplinary primary source for researching and teaching the 19th and 20th centuries.
Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010 This link opens in a new window
The Financial Times Historical Archive is the complete searchable facsimile run of the world's most authoritative daily business newspaper. Every article and advertisement ever printed in the paper, since it was first published in 1888, can be searched and browsed individually and page by page
Guardian (1821-2003) & The Observer—(1791-2003) This link opens in a new window
The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. .This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
New York Times (1851-2013) with Index (1851-1993) This link opens in a new window
Searchable full-text and page images from The New York Times archive with the option to search by subject headings (index covers 1851-1993).
Sunday Times Digital Archive, 1822-2006 This link opens in a new window
Since 1822, The Sunday Times has provided thoughtful analysis and commentary on the week's news and society at large. Murder, theatre, sport and politics - all collide in its pages in an abundance of glorious narrative detail. In more than 800,000 pages, The Sunday Times Digital Archive is a gateway to the greatest crimes, careers and culture of the last 180 years.
Times Digital Archive, 1785–2014 (Gale)
The Times Digital Archive, 1785–2006 makes 221 years of this highly regarded resource available for students and researchers of 19th-, 20th-, and early 21st-century history, literature, culture, business, art and architecture, and more. Every complete page of every issue is full-text searchable — every headline, article, editorial, announcement, image and advertisement.
Times of India—1838-2002 This link opens in a new window
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. The Times of India (1838-2001) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Wall Street Journal—1889-1994 This link opens in a new window
The digital backfile of the Wall Street Journal provides historical coverage of business news and worldwide financial markets.The Wall Street Journal—1889-1994 provides searchable access to the backfile of the Wall Street Journal newspaper (Eastern Edition) from the first issue on July 8, 1889 through the December 31st issue of 17 years ago. (One year of additional content from 17 years ago is added annually.)

Current Newspaper Databases

Canadian Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Canadian Newsstand Complete contains the fulltext of 190 Canadian newspapers.
International Newsstream This link opens in a new window
International Newsstream provides content from outside of the U.S. and Canada. The collection features newspapers, newswires, transcripts, and digital-only news sites in full-text format from over 800 of the world's top news sources such as The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, and the South China Morning Post.
LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis is now NexisUni.
US Newsstream
US Newsstream provides access to several US local newspapers such as the Advocate, Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun and more.