Information found in newspapers can range from life events like birth announcements, engagement and marriage notices, or obituaries to tales of heroic bravery, anniversary celebrations, criminal court cases, military service, student spotlights, business advertisements, and so much more. The stories found within can add a depth of color and interest to your ancestors lives that can’t be found anywhere else, and may even include photographs.
The most popular tool for genealogy research is likely the subscription based database Newspapers.com, and it’s a great tool if you are willing to pay. Use it as a first stop, and then expand your research for added results. Many newspaper websites may have their own archive available online. You can often find copies of historical newspapers at local libraries, in county courthouses, in state archives, and in local historical and genealogical societies.
Look up the newspapers that were in business at the time and places your ancestor lived. City directories are useful here, or a quick web search. There’s also a directory from the Library of Congress that can help you figure this out. Look at the state, county, city, town, and neighborhood levels. Keep in mind many places had several competing newspapers in the same area, and each of these papers ran a variety of schedules like the daily paper, the Sunday paper, or the evening paper. Also think about societies that have published their own newspapers and may have current archives, like colleges or universities, various ethnic or religious groups, or military branches.
When researching newspapers, you can search for events specific to an individual’s life by using variations of their name, or you can browse local papers during specific time periods for relevant information.
Newspaper Subscription or Pay Sites
Free Newspaper Research Sites:
Elephind.com - search world newspapers
The Internet Archive (Archive.org) - from Newspaper Collections to books of local history and other media
Independent Voices - collection of alternative press from US, UK, and Canada
Legacy.com - more recent obituaries and newspaper search
A Few Examples of State or Location Specific Historic Newspapers
The New York Times Archive - search Article Archive for free, or subscription holders can use TimeMachine to browse and search scans of NY Times from 1851 through 2002
California Digital Newspaper Collection - University of California Riverside
Georgia Historic Newspapers - from the Digital Library of Georgia
Missouri Digital Newspaper Project - from the State Historical Society of Missouri
Washington State Historic Newspapers - from Washington State Library
BC Historical Newspapers - from the University of British Columbia
Newspaper Directories & Links
Directory of Newspaper Links from the AncestorHunt.com - scroll down to see links to historical newspapers organized by state and then by special collection, like Historical African-American newspapers or Historical Jewish-American newspapers
Xooxle Answers: National, State, & Local Newspaper Archives - links of newspaper archives by state
Various Other Online Newspaper Collections
African American Historical Newspapers Online - from Cornell University
Historical African American Newspapers Online - from James A. Cannavino Library at Marist
19th Century Mormon Article Newspaper Index - from BYU Library
Catholic News Archive - from the Catholic Research Resources Alliance
Portuguese-American Digital Newspaper Collections - from UMass Dartmouth
Collegiate Chronicle Collection - various college newspapers from Illinois Digital Collections
War and Military Related Newspaper Collections
American Civil War Newspapers - from Virginia Tech
Civil War Newspapers - from the University of Texas at Tyler
Stars and Stripes: The American Soldier’s Newspaper of World War I, 1918 - 1919 - from the Library of Congress
World War History: Newspaper Clippings, 1914 to 1926 - from the Library of Congress
Wartime Press - multimedia from around the world
GI Movement: Underground Newspapers - Anti-Vietnam war underground newspapers from the University of Washington
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