This resource contains several collections. The most useful for local history is the American County Histories Collection.

Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories, revealing the prevalent challenges of racism, discrimination and integration, and a unique African American culture and identity.

African American Newspapers provides online access to more than 350 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African-American experience. This unique collection, which includes historically significant papers from more than 35 states, features many rare 19th-century titles. Newly digitized, these newspapers published by or for African Americans can now be browsed and searched as never before. Part of the America’s Historical Newspapers collection, African American Newspapers was created from the most extensive African-American newspaper archives in the world. Titles in Series 1 come from the Wisconsin Historical Society, Kansas State Historical Society and the Library of Congress, while titles in Series 2 come from the American Antiquarian Society, Center for Research Libraries, the Library of Congress, and New York Public Library.
The collections span life in the Antebellum South; the spread of abolitionism; growth of the Black church; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Jim Crow Era; the Great Migration to northern cities, the West and Midwest in search of greater opportunity; rise of the NAACP; the Harlem Renaissance; the civil rights movement; political and economic empowerment; and more. Teachers and students will find firsthand perspectives on notable Americans from Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington to W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as obituaries, advertisements, editorials and illustrations.

• African American Newspapers, Series 1: 1827-1998: Features 280 newspapers from 35 states, beginning with Freedom’s Journal (NY), the first African American newspaper published in the United States
• African American Newspapers, Series 2: 1835-1956: More than 75 newspapers published in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

America's Historical Newspapers features full text cover-to-cover reproductions of historic newspapers published in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The coverage provides insight into the early years of the United States: the daily life of hundreds of diverse American communities; the later westward expansion and the rise of the penny press with its increasing emphasis on society, industry, and scientific advances; the Civil War era, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, the Progressive era, and beyond. Please note that the full text may not be available for all issues of a particular newspaper (the database continues to grow). Collections include:

• African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 (Series 1 and Series 2)
• American Business: Agricultural Newspapers
• American Business: Mercantile Newspapers
• American Gazettes: Newspapers of Record
• American Politics: Campaign Newspapers
• American Religion: Denominational Newspapers
• Early American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876: From Colonies to Nation
• Early American Newspapers, Series 2, 1758-1900: The New Republic
• Early American Newspapers, Series 3, 1783-1922: From Farm to City
• Early American Newspapers, Series 4, 1756-1922: The Rise of Industry
• Early American Newspapers, Series 5, 1777-1922: An Emerging World Power
• Early American Newspapers, Series 6, 1741-1922: Compromise and Disunion
• Early American Newspapers, Series 7: 1773-1922: Reform and Retrenchment
• Early American Newspapers, Series 8, 1844-1922: A Nation in Transition
• Early American Newspapers, Series 9, 1832-1922: Protest and Prosperity
• Early American Newspapers, Series 10, 1730-1900: Regional Pioneers
• Early American Newspapers, Series 11, 1803-1899: From Agrarian Republic to World Power
• Early American Newspapers, Series 12, 1821-1900: The Specialized Press
• Early American Newspapers, Series 13, 1803-1916: The American West
• Early American Newspapers, Series 14, 1807-1880: The Expansion of Urban America
• Early American Newspapers, Series 15, 1822-1879: Immigrant Communities
• Early American Newspapers, Series 16, 1800-1877: Industry and the Environment
• Early American Newspapers Series 17, 1844-1922: American Heartland
• Early American Newspapers, Series 18, 1825-1879: Racial Awakening in the Northeast

American Indian Newspapers presents the publications of a range of communities, with an extensive list of periodicals produced in the United States and Canada, including Alaska, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Nevada and Oklahoma, from 1828 to 2016.

Includes city directories

ProQuest Historical Newspapers-Black Newspapers offers primary source material essential to the study of American history and African-American culture, history, politics, and the arts. Examine major movements from the Harlem Renaissance to Civil Rights, and explore everyday life as written in over a half dozen historical African-American newspapers.

• Atlanta Daily World (1932-2003) -The Atlanta Daily World had the first black White House correspondent and was the first black daily in the nation in the 20th century. The
• Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988) -The most widely circulated black newspaper on the Atlantic coast (includes the Afro-American ledger). It was the first black newspaper to have correspondents reporting on World War II, foreign correspondents, and female sports correspondents.
• Chicago Defender (1909-1975) -A leading African-American newspaper, with more than two-thirds of its readership outside Chicago.
• Cleveland Call & Post (1934-1991) -Founded by Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas mask and traffic light. Contributors included noted journalists Charles H. Loeb and John Fuster. The newspaper is well known for its support of the Scottsboro trial defendants with letters, clothing, stamps, and donations to the defense fund.
• Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005) -The oldest and largest black newspaper in the western United States and the largest African-American owned newspaper in the U.S.
• New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993) -This leading Black newspaper of the 20th century reached its peak in the 1940s. The Amsterdam News was a strong advocate for the desegregation of the U.S. military during World War II, and also covered the historically important Harlem Renaissance.
• The Norfolk Journal and Guide (1921-2003) -This was the only black newspaper to provide on-the-scene, day-to-day coverage of the Scottsboro trial, and was one of the best researched and well written black newspapers of its time. The
• Philadelphia Tribune (1921-2001) -The oldest continuously published black newspaper is dedicated to the needs and concerns of the fourth largest black community in the U.S. During the 1930s the paper supported the growth of the United Way, rallied against the riots in Chester, PA, and continuously fought against segregation.
  
• Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002) -One of the most nationally circulated Black newspapers, the Courier reached its peak in the 1930s. A conservative voice in the African-American community, the Courier challenged the misrepresentation of African-Americans in the national media and advocated social reforms to advance the cause of civil rights.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers is the definitive newspaper digital archive offering full-text and full-image articles for significant newspapers dating back to the 18th Century. From leading issues and events, like the U.S. Civil War, immigration, westward expansion, industrial developments, race relations, and World War I and II to local and regional politics, society, arts, culture, business, and sports, ProQuest Historical Newspapers reveals the day-to-day news coverage to researchers and historical explorers, providing invaluable insights and information to users from a wide range of subjects.

Newspapers include: The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger; The American Israelite; The Arizona Republican, The Atlanta Constitution; Atlanta Daily World; The Baltimore Afro-American; The Baltimore Sun; The Boston Globe; Chicago Defender; Chicago Tribune; The Christian Science Monitor; The Cincinnati Enquirer, Cleveland Call and Post; Detroit Free Press; The Guardian and The Observer; Hartford Courant; The Jewish Advocate; The Jewish Exponent; Los Angeles Sentinel; Los Angeles Times; Newsday; New York Amsterdam News; The New York Times; New York Tribune/Herald Tribune; Norfolk Journal and Guide; The Philadelphia Enquirer; Philadelphia Tribune; Pittsburgh Courier; San Francisco Chronicle; San Francisco Examiner, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; The Times of India; The Wall Street Journal; The Washington Post

More than half of America’s states began as territories. From the 1760s to the 1950s the United States of America expanded southward and westward, acquiring territories that spanned from Florida to California to Alaska. Before they evolved into twenty-seven American states, these territories were managed by the U.S. State and Interior departments. The official history of their formative territorial years is recorded in the “Territorial Papers of the United States”—a collection of Native American negotiations and treaties, official correspondence with the federal government, military records, judicial proceedings, population data, financial statistics, land records, and more. For the first time, the Territorial Papers are available in a digital online collection, offering unparalleled research opportunities for anyone interested in the creation of modern-day America.