Newspapers and Microfilm Center

1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215-686-5431

Microfilm Collection and Finding Aids

The Newspapers & Microfilm Center is our region’s largest collection of newspapers from the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Over 400 newspapers dating back to 1720 are on microfilm . Our collection includes newspapers from major cities around the world, local community papers, as well as microfilmed versions of academic, underground, and trade periodicals collected by the subject departments. Students and the curious should begin their research process by inquiring within the Social Science & History Department.

Major Holdings of the Newspapers and Microfilm Center

• Alphabetical listing of newspapers on microfilm
• Chronological listing of newspapers holdings for each decade 1710 to the present
• Newspapers by city of publication
• Newspapers by Philadelphia neighborhoods and selected suburbs

Newspapers published by selected ethnic, racial, religious, or other communities

• African American Newspapers
• Ethnic Community Newspapers
• Foreign Language Newspapers
• Religious Community Newspapers

Underground Newspapers

• Alphabetical listing of undeground newspapers on microfilm 1963-1977
• International Geographical Listing of underground newspapers on microfilm 1963-1977
• National Geographical Listing of underground newspapers on microfilm 1963-1977

Databases: Electronic Access to Newspapers

Newspapers 1978 - present

In the late 1970s, newsrooms accelerated their use of computers to produce their publications. These "born digital" articles were the easiest for publishers to make accessible digitally. As a general rule accessing information published in newspapers in the 1980s and beyond is the simpler than for prior decades. The Free Library subscribes to several full text databases to assist researchers in easily accessing news normally behind paywalls in the computer era:

Access World News News sources world wide, but the most important local sources are the Inquirer and Daily News:

• Philadelphia Daily News (1978 - present). Coverage between 1978 - 1981 is incomplete.
• Philadelphia Inquirer (1981 - present)

TDNet is the tool for researchers to use to determine which databases provide electronic access to periodicals. Search a newspaper (or magazine) by title, and TDNet will tell you which database(s) to which we subscribe provide full text. TDNet is an imperfect tool, if something seems missing consult with a librarian for assistance.

Newspapers 1923 - 1978

The Free Library's most robust electronic access point to news during this time period comes from Proquest, which owns the rights to distribute scans from the Inquirer::

• Philadelphia Inquirer Digital Archive 1860-2001

Because newspapers before the late 1970s were not "born digital" most electronic access is in the form of full-page scans in PDF form. Full text searching through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is often imperfect. These documents can be cumbersome to navigate. A prime examample is Fultonhistory.com Amateur historian and retired engineer named Tom Tryniski has scanned several million pages worth of the newspaper record of New York State and elsewhere in the US. Although his work covers the period before 1923, as an individual he's been among the few to take the legal risk of scanning papers between 1923 -1963 that may or may not be in the public domain. Of local interest are 4 Philadelphia papers:

• Philadelphia Inquirer (1860-1963)
• Philadelphia Nation Reformer (1838)
• Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper (1840-1856)
• Philadelphia Saturday Museum (1843)
• All other papers (prior to 1964 usually)

For a fee, private researchers can pay for access to Newspapers.com for articles during this period.

Microfilm or major clippings collections can be a serious alternative access point for research. Many of the subject departments at the Central Library maintain clipping files that can often act as an index to this period. Inquire at each department's reference desk. Temple University's Urban Archives includes the George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin News Clippings Collection, which is currently the best index to this time period. 

As a final resort, and for a fee, private researchers can pay for access to Newspapers.com for articles during this period.

Newspapers prior to 1923

Every newspaper published at or before 11:59 pm on December 31st 1922 is almost certainly in the public domain, which makes it legally simple for others to scan, store, and make the oldest newspapers searchable. The task, however, is expensive. Some companies, institutions, governments, and individuals have taken on the task. Below is mix of digital newspaper resources that provide access to this work, to which we subscribe or recommend:

• Early American Newspapers (1690 - 1922 depending on paper. Click on Newspapers Tab to limit searches to specific newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Pennsylvania Historic Newspapers (1790 - 1922)
• Philadelphia Press Index (1898-1912) Citations only, full text on microfilm at the Central Library in the Newspapers and Microfilm Center
• Chronicling America (1836-1922). This is a project of the Library of Congress, and is free to all. No library card required. The main Philadelphia papers in this database are: Philadelphia Evening Telegraph (1864-1918) 1864-1871 and Evening Public Ledger (1914-1922)