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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages from 1770-1963 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.
"Cocaine Monster Throws His Tentacles Around the Nation," reports the Los Angeles Herald of December 11, 1898. Found in common medicines and popular soft drinks, cocaine addiction sweeps across the country during the early 1900s creating a nation of “drug fiends,” and prompting government legislation. 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.
| December 1898 | The cocaine monster begins to spread its tentacles across the U.S., threatening to spawn a nation of “dope fiends.” |
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| May 1911 | The Federal Government warns of cocaine in bottled sodas and colas. |
| December 4, 1912 | Druggists call for restrictions on the sale of cocaine. |
| February 1914 | The New York Sun calls the U.S. the “most drug afflicted nation” in the world. |
| May 22, 1915 | Harrison anti-drug law triggers a nationwide crime wave. |
