LibGuides: Architectural History: Historical Newspapers, Magazines, and Trade Publications

Researching architects

AIA Historical Directory Helps locate information about U.S. architects from the 19^th and 20^th centuries in the AIA Archives and elsewhere.
Dynamic National Archive Collection A searchable database documenting the work of women architects and designers who have contributed to the places and spaces of the United States.
IAWA Biographical Database Browse the IAWA Biographical Database to learn more about women in architecture around the world.
Pacific Coast Architecture Database PCAD includes a range of information on the buildings and architects of California, Oregon and Washington.
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings provides authoritative information on three centuries of Philadelphia buildings and designers.
SAH Archipedia an authoritative online encyclopedia of the U.S. built environment organized by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press.

Historical Texts

Historical Newspapers, Magazines, and Trade Publications are a great way to find contextual information about the historical period to which your research project belongs. While you may not find specific information on a building or architect, you may find valuable information with regard to the concerns of the day.

The Hathi Trust
APT Building Technology Heritage Library
The Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL) is primarily a collection of American and Canadian, pre-1964 architectural trade catalogs, house plan books and technical building guides. Trade catalogs are an important primary source to document past design and construction practices. These materials can aid in the preservation and conservation of older structures as well as other research goals.
US Modernist Architecture Magazine Library
Open digital collection of major US 20th-century architecture magazines, with over 4 million downloadable pages.

Historical Newspapers

Local and Texas Historical Newspapers:

Austin American Statesman (Historical) Unlimited users.Provides full text and full image articles with digital reproductions of every page, every article and every issue in PDF format. As the leading newspaper in the capital of Texas, the Historical Austin American Statesman provides researchers with unique insights into the political, economic, cultural, and social life of this important state, as well as the southwest U.S. from the late 19th through the 20th century. The paper has strong central Texas coverage, especially for political reporting.
Dallas Morning News (Historical) Unlimited users.Provides comprehensive coverage for one of the largest daily newspapers in Texas. Accessible by keyword and date searching. Documents major events in Texas, the United States, and the world, providing valuable primary source information. Includes classified and display advertising, photos and graphics.
Daily Texan - Newspaper Archive Unlimited users.Digitized copies and content of the Daily Texan.
Texas Newspaper Archive

Historical Newspapers:

African American Newspapers, Series 1 Unlimited users.Updated regularly (until completed). When completed, will provide online access to approximately 270 African American U.S. newspapers. Features papers from more than 35 states. The newspapers were scanned from the collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Kansas State Historical Society and the Library of Congress.
America's Historical Newspapers
American Periodicals Series (APS) Unlimited users.Updated daily. Contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
Titles include Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine, the first American professional journals, and several consumer magazines still in publication, such as Vanity Fair, Harper's Magazine, and Ladies' Home Journal.
British Periodicals Collection Unlimited users.Provides access to the searchable full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth, comprising millions of high-resolution facsimile page images.
HarpWeek Unlimited users.Provides full text and page impages of Harper's Weekly, one of the most important serials of nineteenth-century America. Includes browse issues by date, search the index, search for the full text of articles, browse literature by genre, or find people by their cccupation or role in society.The University of Texas Libraries subscribes to the entire database, including The Civil War Era (1857-1865), Reconstruction I (1866-1871), Reconstruction II (1872-1877), Gilded Age I (1878-1883), Gilded Age II (1884-1889), Gilded Age III (1890-1895), Gilded Age IV (1896-1901), Gilded Age V (1902-1907), and Gilded Age VI (1908-1912).
Hispanic American Newspapers Unlimited users.Provides access to a large compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries. Includes many newspapers published bilingually in Spanish and English. Features hundreds of Hispanic American newspapers, including many long scattered and forgotten titles published in the 19th century. Based on the “Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project", a national research effort directed by Professor Nicolás Kanellos.
Los Angeles Times (Historical) Unlimited users.Updated annually. Provides comprehensive coverage for Southern California's largest daily newspaper. Includes all the articles published since the first issue of the paper in 1881. Provides full text and full image articles with digital reproductions of every page, every article and every issue in PDF format. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, photos, and advertisements.
New York Times (Historical) Unlimited users.Updated annually. Includes all the articles published since the first issue of the paper in 1851. Provides full text and full image articles with digital reproductions of every page, every article and every issue in PDF format. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, photos, and advertisements.More recent years are also available in other full text resources.
Nineteenth (19th) Century U.S. Newspapers Unlimited users.Provides access to approximately 500 U.S. newspapers, published between 1800 and 1900. Includes titles from throughout the United States, many published in what were, at the time, only territories. Newspapers selected on their immediate value to researchers on the press and on the century in general. Papers selected cover a broad spectrum, with a comprehensive geographical and chronological range.
Washington Post (Historical) Unlimited users.Updated annually. Includes all the articles published since the first issue of the paper in 1877. Provides full text and full image articles with digital reproductions of every page, every article and every issue in PDF format. In addition to news stories, includes editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, photos, and advertisements.
17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers Unlimited users.The newspapers and pamphlets gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) represent the largest single collection of 17th and 18th century English news media available anywhere. The 1,270-title collection includes a wide range of pamphlets, proclamations, newsbooks and newspapers from the period, covering more than 200 years of accounts from newspapers from England, Ireland, Scotland and a handful of papers from British colonies in the Americas and Asia.

Complete List of Newspapers Databases
Includes both current and historical newspapers.

Historical Magazines

Here are some suggestions to get you thinking:

Trade Publications

Southern Architect and Building News The South's oldest trade publication, 1882-1932
Southern Architect and Building News (digitized content)
The Western Architect