Research Guides: History Day Research at the University of Arkansas Libraries: Newspapers

Newspapers Guide

Finding and using newspapers is a big topic. You can read the Research Guide for Newspaper Research for more in-depth information.

To learn more about Arkansas newspapers:

Community Diaries: Arkansas Newspapering, 1819-2002
Michael Dougan.
MAIN, ARK COLL PN4897.A8 D68 2003.
History of the Arkansas Press for a Hundred Years and More
PN4897.A8 A6 1922.
Gives a county-by-county history of newspapers, editors, editorial stances, and readership.
Black Arkansas Newspapers, 1869-1975: A Checklist
Amanda Saar.
MAIN, REF, ARK COLL E185.5 .S2.

Newspaper Indexes

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.

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

Choose a City:

Choose a Decade:

Or, Just Search by Decade

Choose a Decade:

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.

Newspapers Online

These resources have full text online that can be searched by keyword.

NewspaperArchive.com This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides a searchable archive of Southeastern papers, included those from Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Includes Arkansas newspapers from Fayetteville, Blytheville, Benton, Camden, Harrison, Hope, and Gentry.
19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
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).
New York Times, 1851-2019 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides the full archive of the New York Times, from the first date of issue. View retrieved articles as PDFs or view the entire newspaper page for context. The detailed indexes, which cover 1851-1993, allow one to search by named person, company name, place, or type of article (editorial, obituary, review, etc.)
Civil War Collection This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Covers: 1860-1865. Offers newspaper articles, memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories. Includes some pre-war abolitionist materials.
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
LexisNexis Academic offers many newspapers, including the New York Times, the Times of London, and the Washington Post, back to the 1980s.

Historical Newspapers in Microform

The Libraries offer many newspapers of historical and research on microfilm or microfiche.

Some noteworthy collections of newspapers on microfilm include:

Arkansas Newspapers
Papers can be found in OneSearch by title or place of publication.
Early American Newspapers
This collection is based on Clarence S. Brigham's History and Bibliography of American Newspapers 1690-1820 (Research Desk Z6951 .B86). It collects all available issues of more than 2000 newspapers, covering 130 years of historical source materials. The University Libraries own a few dozen of these titles, ranging from 1719-1825, published in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Most papers are a little too early for this class.

Finding Newspapers / Finding Newspaper Articles

There are two different strategies for working with newspapers:

locating articles on specific topics
Usually, for this technique you will need an index - or a digitized version of the paper - or a lot of patience.
locating entire papers from specific places or time periods
Then, you can browse the paper for local news and events.