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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.
A veteran of New York City’s political machine and a pronounced Stalwart Republican, Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as President of the United States on September 19, 1881, following President Garfield’s assassination. During the beginning of his presidency, Arthur enacted the first general federal immigration law, the Chinese Exclusion Act. He also surprised his Stalwart allies by supporting civil service reform with the Pendleton Act. 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.
| September 19, 1881 | Chester A. Arthur is sworn in after the death of President Garfield. |
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| May 6, 1882 | President Arthur signs the Chinese Exclusion Act. |
| January 16, 1883 | Arthur signs the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. |
| March 3, 1883 | Arthur signs the Tariff Act of 1883. |
| June 1884 | Arthur loses the Republican party nomination to James G. Blaine. |
| October 1884 | International Meridian Conference. |
| November 18, 1886 | Arthur dies in New York City. |
