Newspapers in Genealogy and Local History Research: Access

In particular, researchers can search the NYPL databases homepage for specific newspaper titles:

• Go to Articles and Databases.
• In the right sidebar, click "Scholarly Journals" (this is misleading: the link opens to the search page for ALL serial publications).
• Click "Full-text Journals and Scholarly E-Books (on-site in the Library)" or "(from Home)," depending in your type of access.
• In the top left dropdown menu, select "title contains all words," which expands the searchability of your search terms.
• Type in the name of the newspaper - if there is digital access, the results page will indicate the database and the available date range.

For New York City newspapers, see our Guide to New York City Newspapers at New York Public Library.

Fulton History

• 50+ million pages
• 1700s - 1980s
• Metro Region / Mid-Atlantic

Center for Brooklyn History

• Brooklyn Public Library + Brooklyn Historical Society
• 30 Brooklyn newspapers
• Brooklyn Daily Eagle
• Long Island Star - first Long Island newspaper (when Queens and Brooklyn were part of "Long Island"). This title is only available onsite at the Brooklyn Public Library.

NYS Historic Newspapers

• By County
• 7.5 million+ pages

Library of Congress

• Chronicling America
• 1789-1943
• 46 U.S. States + Puerto Rico

Major NYC Publications

• New York Post
• Village Voice
• NY World-Telegram (1931-1950)
• UNINDEXED  

NYC Neighborhood Publications

• Manhattan East (1963-1983)
• East Village Eye (1979-1986)
• Co-op City Times (1969-1987)
• Gotham Life (1906-1949) 

Back when historic newspapers were only accessible in print and on microfilm, the point of entry was nonexistent unless you knew the ballpark date of a specific article you were trying to find. As a result, print indexes have been created for different newspapers and arranged according to broad searchability, or a specific type of information. Not all newspapers are indexed, with the exception of The New York Times, newspapers do not typically create their own index.

The internet has not made these indexes obsolete: inaccurate character recognition, weak search algorithms, and other technical issues sometimes make it easier to search these indexes as an alternative to the databases.

Genealogical Data

• Names
• Subject 
• Type (marriage announcements, ethnicities, etc.)
• Vital Records (see the "Print Indexes" section under "Alternative Vital Records")

Examples

• New York Times Index
• Blacks in Selected Newspapers, Censuses and Other Sources: An Index to Names and Subjects
• Genealogical Data from Colonial New York Newspapers

Locate a specific title in our print or microfilm collections by browsing the NYPL research catalog by journal or newspaper title - select "Journal Title" in the dropdown.  

These PDF spreadsheets provide comprehensive lists of microfilm newspaper holdings by geography:

• New York City newspapers
• United States newspapers
• International newspapers listed by country or by title.

And use these subject headings to browse the catalog:

• American newspapers -- Directories
• Newspapers -- Directories
• New York (N.Y.) -- Newspapers