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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
The first of April some do say, Was set apart for All Fools' Day: But why the people call it so, Nor I nor they themselves do know" begins the article in the San Francisco Call on April 1, 1900, which discusses the history and customs of "April Fool's Day," also known as "All Fools' Day. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| April 1 | April Fools’ Day celebrated by sending people on fruitless errands, giving inedible treats, and other pranks. |
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