The Leatherby Libraries is thrilled to offer ongoing access to the ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Black Newspapers database, to which we offered trial access in Fall 2020. With this acquisition, which represents a major campus-wide collaboration, we now have permanent access to the archives of ten historical black newspapers that provide first-hand accounts and coverage of the politics, society, and events of the historical times in which they were published. Content includes articles, obituaries, editorials, photographs, and more, and each includes full cover-to-cover scans that are fully searchable and downloadable. These newspapers and their dates of coverage are:

  • Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003)
  • Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988)
  • Chicago Defender (1910-1975)
  • Cleveland Call and Post (1934-1991)
  • Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005)
  • Michigan Chronicle (1936-2010)
  • New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993)
  • Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2003)
  • Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001)
  • Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002)

The acquisition of these newspapers represents a major collaboration across campus, with faculty and administration from several departments and offices making a collective effort to secure access to this database to support research and scholarship by Chapman University faculty and students.

The newspapers continue to be available at the same URL as during the trial: https://chapman.libguides.com/black_newspapers. Please feel free to contact the Leatherby Libraries’ Coordinator of Scholarly Communications & Electronic Resources, Kristin Laughtin-Dunker, at laughtin@chapman.edu with any questions.

Cover image courtesy: https://about.proquest.com/products-services/histnews-bn.html