Jewish Newspapers at the New York Public Library: Introduction

I'm looking for a specific article that appeared in a newspaper, but I don't have an exact citation. How can I find it? Can NYPL staff find it for me?

Start with the tips in the next tab in this box, Finding an Article without a Citation.

If you can't find the article online and are unable to come into the Library yourself, you may wish to engage our fee-based research service. Reading Room staff members cannot conduct research on your behalf.

I can't read Yiddish, but I want to read articles from the Jewish press. Can NYPL staff assist with translation?

NYPL does not offer translation services. YIVO and the Yiddish Book Center maintain lists of translators that may be helpful.

I want to browse a list of all the [Yiddish/Hebrew/Ladino/English] newspapers published in [Argentina/Brooklyn/Egypt] held by the New York Public Library.

Though not exhaustive, the World Jewish Periodicals on Microfilm lists are the closest way to do this. See the "Historical Newspapers on Microfilm" section of the guide for more information on how to use them.

For newspapers that were never microfilmed, or that are part of the shared collections (materials from Columbia, Harvard, or Princeton) browsing by subject headings (see the secondary sources tab for ideas) will be helpful. 

How do I know which years of a newspaper NYPL has?

Currently, we recommend using the Legacy Catalog to answer this question. The default Research Catalog is undergoing updates to make the display of periodical dates clearer. Select the option to search by Journal Title for the most accurate results.

Be aware that many newspapers have multiple catalog records associated with a single title. This may be due to a merging with another paper, a change in publisher, or some other factor. If you only look at one record, you may not see all of the dates we have. Make sure to look carefully at all the results of your search. 

I need a specific newspaper but I can't find it in your catalog. What are my options?

First, check the Union List of Digitized Jewish Historic Newspapers, Periodicals and e-Journals to determine if it is available online. If it is not, we also recommend checking the catalog of the Center for Jewish History to see if they hold the item you need. Finally, Interlibrary Loan may be able to borrow a copy from another institution for your use.

You can check WorldCat to see which libraries hold the newspaper you are looking for. The Periodical Center at the American Jewish Archives is another place to look.

Sometimes it can be hard to tell whether we have a certain newspaper at all, or which dates we hold. You can always email dorotjewish@nypl.org for assistance. If we don't have the paper you need, we can recommend next steps.

How do I request books?

In the Research Catalog, many books have a button that says "Request for On-site use." Click on this button to request delivery of a book to our reading room. You will be prompted to log in with your library card.

If the book you want to see does not have a "Request" button, you can request it by emailing us at dorotjewish@nypl.org, or by filling out a paper call slip if you are already in our reading room. If you don't have a library card, you'll need to apply for one first.

I found a book I want to read. Can I take it home?

Books from NYPL's research collections can only be used in the library. We will be happy to help you reserve a seat to read your book in our reading room.

One common question we hear about Jewish newspapers goes something like this: “A photo of my relative appeared in a newspaper years ago. Can you find it?” Or: “I have this newspaper clipping but I lost the citation. Where did it appear?” Often, somebody knows or believes that an article on a specific topic appeared in a certain Jewish newspaper, but they don’t know how to go about finding it.

Here are some steps we recommend taking:

Make a list of basic facts

Start by writing down everything you think you know about the article you’re looking for. For instance, you may have some idea of the following:

• Language

• Newspaper title

• Date

• Subject of the article

• Words or names that would likely have appeared in the title or article

• Section the article likely appeared in

Any other information you can think of about the article (like that a picture accompanied it, or that it came out on a Wednesday) may come in handy later, so write it all down.

Try a preliminary search

Is the newspaper you’re thinking of available online? Check the "Online Newspapers" tab for tips on how to answer this question.

If the newspaper is available online for the dates you’re targeting, you may find your article with a keyword search. If you thought of a name or proper noun that would definitely have appeared in the article, try searching for that first, limiting your search by date if possible.

If you don't get the result you’re looking for, don’t worry: this is normal. First, if you’re searching in Yiddish or another language written in a non-Roman script, the spelling you used may not be the same as what appears in the paper itself. Or there may be so many 

Check your facts for assumptions

Sometimes people tell us they are looking for an article that appeared in the Forverts. But when they think about it more, it turns out they only assumed it was the Forverts because that’s such a well-known paper. In fact, there were a number of New York daily newspapers written in Yiddish throughout the 20th century, each with a distinct political and/or religious slant, and therefore different types of people tended to read each one. 

Furthermore, some of the major Yiddish dailies actually merged into one, so someone might believe an article was published in Der Tog when, at the time of the event they’re researching, that newspaper had actually become the Morgen Zhurnal. 

Likewise, there were newspapers published for a Jewish audience in languages other than Yiddish (or Hebrew or Ladino). Some Jewish immigrants may have spoken or read a language like German, Russian, or Hungarian, and chosen to consume their news in that language. Also, some mainstream, English-language newspapers also reported on events of Jewish interest. Unless you know for sure that the newspaper you are looking for was in Yiddish, leave open the possibility that it was in another language, or not in a Jewish newspaper at all. 

The directories linked in the Secondary Sources tab can help you find other papers your article may have appeared in.

Narrow down the date range

Knowing an exact date will help immensely with trying to locate a specific newspaper article. You may not know the exact date of an event, but you can often get more specific than just “a Sunday in the 1940s.” In the case of a family story, if you are able to ask questions of the relative who told you about the newspaper article in the first place, here are some you might try:

• Who was mayor and/or president?

• What was the weather like? Were people wearing coats?

• Did any big life events happen that could narrow down the time frame? For example, if somebody associated with this event died or moved in a certain year, the event probably happened before then

• What about big historical events? Was the war over? What news stories dominated the papers at the time? 

• What day of the week was it? For example, maybe your family only got the newspaper on Sundays

Even if it’s not possible to ask more questions of a relative, you can still try to think through some of these questions yourself and figure out if it’s possible to narrow the date range down any more.

If you’re researching an event that would have been covered in multiple sources, try to use the internet to find other accounts of it. Assuming that news about this event appeared in the English-language press too, you will often have more luck narrowing down a date that way. For instance, if you were looking for a specific article about a certain writer’s visit to New York, you could search for their name in a general New York City newspaper database and see if you can find a date that way. 

Contact a librarian

For more help finding an article that appeared in the Jewish press, please email us at dorotjewish@nypl.org.

For more on this topic, see our blog post: Help! I Know This Article Was Published In a Jewish Newspaper, But I Can’t Find It!