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Primary Sources

Guide to finding sources for research in historical primary sources such as newspapers, archives, historic photographs, oral histories, and other sources.

General Research Tips

Newspaper and magazine research is much easier to do if you can search the full text of the newspaper's articles through a database. However digital coverage varies quite a bit, according to publication date. 

  • 1800s through 1923: newspapers are fairly likely to have been digitized, because they are in the public domain and no longer subject to copyright. See the Digitized Newspapers & Magazines section below for links to databases.
  • 1923 through ~1990: Magazines are pretty well covered for this time period, but Newspapers are unlikely to be available in digital format. This is because material from after 1923 is copyrighted, but Newspapers are not in high enough demand to make it worthwhile for commercial databases to digitize them. A notable exception is the New York Times Historical. The Oregonian is available, but only through the Multonomah County Library (see below). In most cases, you'll need to follow the steps under If You Can't Find a Digitized Version of a Newspaper/Magazine. 
  • 1990+ : Newspapers and magazines may be available digitally, but there is often a subscription required, or you may only get partial content. In general, you will need to Google the title you need plus the word "archives" to check, e.g.: San Francisco Chronicle Archives. 

Digitized Newspapers & Magazines

Newspapers
  • Historic Oregon Newspapers, 1850s-1923 (recommended general source for historical Oregon news)
    This outstanding free resource allows you to search through scanned versions of hundreds of Oregon newspapers from the 1850s-1923.
     
  • Chronicling America, late 1700s-1923 (recommended general source for historical US news)
    This database provided by the Library of Congress for free covers a huge number of newspapers from across the United States from 1789 to 1923, with a few newspapers stretching up through 1949.
     
  • America's Historical Newspapers, 1780s-1810s, 1860s 
    This is an excellent database which Pacific pays to access. It includes more newspapers beyond those in the two free databases above. We have paid for certain decades and regional coverage. Currently, our selection of material is especially good for the post-Revolutionary War period (1780s-early 1800s), the Civil War, and the pre-1923 Oregonian.
     
  • Google News Search: roughly late 2000s-present
    Covers recent news that appear in online news sources. Links back to the original online source. The plus side is that you see original formatting and images; the downside is that as news articles "expire" off of current news sites, they disappear from the searches. Articles older than 1-2 years have very spotty coverage. 
     
  • New York Times Historical, 1851-2013
    Pacific pays for access to this database.
     
  • NewspaperSource (EBSCO), 1969-present
    Searches several hundred newspapers from 1969 to the present. Coverage in some years is spotty. Most newspapers are from the U.S., with some international coverage.
     
  • Pre-1923 Oregonian
    Pacific pays for access to this historical archive of the Oregonian, which covers 1861-1922. If you need access to post-1923 article, try: 
    • The Historical Oregonian, 1861-1987
      This is a more complete database that requires libraries to pay an expensive subscription price. Pacific does not subscribe, BUT you can get a free Multnomah County Library Card and access it through their site online. 
    • The Oregonian - oregonlive.com, recent articles only (reliably); some older articles from 1987-present
      This version of the Oregonian provides limited free access to recent news, but older articles sometimes "expire" and cannot be viewed. 
       
  • International Newspapers
  • Other Digitized Newspapers
    Some newspapers that are not covered in the databases above have been digitized for stand-alone web sites. If you know the name of the newspaper you want, it is often easiest just to Google: "Newspaper Title" Archives

If you're just starting out and need to know what magazines or newspapers existed at a certain time/place:

  • Ulrichs Periodical Directory
    This database can tell you what periodicals have ever been published in a particular state or city:
    1. Go to Advanced Search. 2. In the drop-down search box, select "Publisher City" or "Publisher State". 3. Enter the city or state name in the search box and click Search. 
 
Magazines

Popular magazines published before 1980 or so are fairly likely to be available in digital format.

  • Readers' Guide Retrospective (1890-1982)
    This is a great way to search across popular 20th century magazines. You can use it to find articles on all kinds of topics that the general public would have been reading about. It includes hundreds of titles; for example, Time, Sports Illustrated, Motor Trend, Vogue, Ebony and many more. The Readers Guide Retrospective Title List provides a list of the magazines covered in the RGR Database; it is a good basic list of popular American magazines that existed from 1890-1980. Note: This database does not have full-text versions of all the articles it indexes, so you may find articles there that you can't immediately access online. You can, however, always request PDF copies of articles that are not online through Pacific's Interlibrary Loan services. 
     
  • Gale Popular Magazines (1980-present)
    Indexes a wide variety of popular magazines from 1980-present. 
     
  • Search within Magazine Titles in HathiTrust (1800s-1920s)
    Most popular American magazines from the late 1800s through early 1900s have been digitized and are searchable in HathiTrust. Here are two search methods: 
    1. Search within ALL serials by doing an Original Format = Serial + Keyword Advanced Full-Text Search
      Note that this will give you results from all kinds of serials (other than newspapers), e.g. magazines, government reports, bulletins, etc. There is no way to limit to just popular magazines. 
    2. Search within a specific magazine title by doing a Title + Keyword Advanced Full-Text Search. 

      A few of the most popular American magazines for historical research include: 
  • Other Digitized Magazines
    Many magazines that are not covered in the databases above have been digitized for stand-alone web sites. If you know the name of the magazine you want, it is often easiest just to Google: "Magazine Title" Archives. 

 

More news sources are linked to on this library page.

If You Can't Find a Digitized Version of a Newspaper

To find physical or microfilm copies of newspapers: 
 

  1. Find out which newspapers from your city have survived in libraries
    • Go to Worldcat.org and search for subject = your city name AND Format = newspaper. This will usually turn up records of most known copies of newspapers. (Worldcat covers holdings at most libraries, but not museums or small historical societies.)
       
  2. Search for holdings of a particular newspaper
    • Go to Worldcat.org and search for the newspaper title AND Format = newspaper
    • This should return a list of matches. Try to pick the correct one based on date, etc. 
    • Clicking through on the newspaper title should bring you to a page that lists libraries which own that newspaper.
    • *You'll need to check those libraries' catalogues individually to see if they have the specific issues that you need.* For example, if the Multnomah County Library owns the newspaper you need, google the Multnomah County Library, then check their catalog for that newspaper; open the record for it; and see if they have the exact issues you need.
    • If you need to go deeper: find the closest city-level or county-level historical society and contact them for help.
       
  3. Once you've located a library that owns the newspaper, plan how to get access.
    • ​​If the newspaper is on microfilm, you might be able to borrow the microfilm reel and have it delivered here to Pacific for you to use with our microfilm reader. Request the microfilm reel for borrowing through our Interlibrary Loan 
    • If you can't borrow the microfilm, your choices are:
      • Make arrangements to visit that library in person, or
      • Request copies of specific articles through that library. You can request this through Pacific's Interlibrary Loan, or through the library that owns the newspaper. Directions are usually listed somewhere on the library's site under "reproductions."