In 1947, the Library of Congress in cooperation with the American Council of Learned Societies microfilmed the original print pages of over 150 African American newspapers published in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This 12-reel microfilm collection brought together a selection of issues from these newspapers that were available in various libraries and state historical societies across the country. For some titles, only a single issue is extant or available, highlighting the uniqueness and significance of the collection. More info on this microfilming project is detailed in this guide distributed by the Library of Congress in 1953.
A selection of African American newspapers now available in Chronicling America. Image Source: LC
As part of an ongoing effort to enhance access to African American newspapers from the Library of Congress collections, we’re now digitizing these historically significant issues. By making this digital collection available online as part of Chronicling America*, we greatly broaden access to this content that was previously only available in disparate databases or in microfilm collections at many libraries throughout the country. These titles expand a growing list of more than 110 other African American newspaper titles digitized by National Digital Newspaper (NDNP) participants.
As of February 2022, we’ve added 1,224 new pages from 103 African American newspaper titles throughout 28 states and the District of Columbia.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
