Research Guides: Arkansas Genealogy: Newspaper

Arkansas Newspapers & Microfilm

Mullins Library holds the second largest newspaper archives in the state. While libraries are increasingly utilizing technology to digitize newspapers, the majority of Arkansas newspapers are preserved on microfilm. You will find the microfilm copies of Arkansas newspapers available in the library's Periodicals department.

Microfilm may be accessed on-site by the general public. However, one of the distinct advantages available to non-local genealogists is that Mullins Library allows most of our microfilm to circulate out to patrons via interlibrary loan. Most public library systems will provide an interlibrary loan service, so you should have access to the information that you need without having to travel. For more information about using Interlibrary Loan, please see the 'Interlibrary Loan' tab.

Arkansas Newspaper Print Resources

The Libraries have a large collection of newspapers from all regions of the state.

Use the search box to the right to locate our papers by place or time period or name.

Below are some additional resources for Arkansas papers.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Current and Historical This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1868-. Provides the full text of articles from the Arkansas Gazette (1868-1991), The Arkansas Democrat (1947-1991), the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 2006-current, and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Little Rock edition, 1994-current. Includes page images for current issues, 2017-present.

The Arkansas Gazette Obituaries Index, 1819-1879 by Stephen J. Chism
ISBN: 0893083984
Publication Date: 1990
This index includes 14,329 entries of unequivocal reports of death in which a person(s) is named between the years 1819 and 1879. The Arkansas Gazette for the same period lists 4,201 names under the heading "Deaths". This can be attributed to the inclusive policy of listing every mention of death, whether it appears in an obituary column or in the text of an article on another subject. If a person identified in an obituary used an alias, the index bears an entry under both the alias and the name given at birth. If the name appears spelled differently in two references of a death, it is listed as it is spelled. This index, arranged alphabetically, contains the last name of the deceased, followed by the first name, middle initial, title as given (Mrs., Mr., Miss., Corp., Capt., Col., etc.), where death appears with month and day of the issue of the newspaper, page and column it appeared on.

Arkansas Gazette Index / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Index
The online version provides a PDF version of the indexes covering 1880-1893 and parts of 1957 and the decades of the 1960s, 1980s, and 1990s.
The printed index covers 1819-1894 and 1960-1993 in and is shelved in REF AI 21 .A75.
The online version of the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette can be found at https://uark.libguides.com/ARDEMGAZ.
The microfilm of the Arkansas Gazette and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is housed i n Library Annex Lisa at call number F419.L7 A7.

19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
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Covers: 1800-1900.A fully-searchable, facsimile archive of hundreds of U.S. papers, including the Arkansas Gazette (1819-1898), Arkansas Democrat (1846-1899), the Arkansas State Gazette (1836-1865), and the Morning Republican (Little Rock, 1867-1875).

Arkansas State Archives - Newspaper Search
The State Archives in Little Rick offers a collection of "about 3000 titles published at some 250 different places in Arkansas, 1819 to present." In addition, a number of their newspaper titles have been digitized on the Library of Congress Chronicling America site.

Index Arkansas This link opens in a new window
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Covers: dates of coverage vary by title. Indexes periodical and newspaper articles and book chapters on Arkansas topics. In some cases, journals are indexed back to the first date of issue through current.

NewspaperArchive.com

Try NewspaperArchive.com for online access to more than 2 dozen Arkansas papers. Most stories date from 1900-1980. (To use this specific digital database you will need to have a library account).

For additional assistance, please see our subject guide for using the library's newspaper resources.

Arkansas Newspaper Search

Looking for Arkansas news from a particular place or time?

Use our Arkansas Newspaper Search to identify papers by county, city, or time period.

Note that not all location / decade combinations may be available.

Search by County

Choose a County:

Choose a Decade:

Or, Search by City

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Or, Just Search by Decade

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Please note that while we make every effort to include new electronic holdings, not all new electronic papers may be included. Ask us if you have questions about a specific locale or paper.

Shirley Brendel's Guide to Arkansas Newspapers

As a reference tool, Shirley Brendel's Arkansas Newspapers is a valuable resource for conducting genealogical research. What makes this guide so useful is the way in which the information for newspapers is arranged. You can research for all the newspapers within a given county and easily see the years the paper was being published, where it was being published, and where the papers are archived in the state.

Arkansas Newspapers by Brendel, Shirley
Publication Date: Fayetteville, AR: University Libraries, .1987.