LibGuides: African and African Diaspora Studies: Newspapers and Magazines

Open Access Newspapers

Explore this collection of open access, historical African American newspapers available online. Browse by title, time period or region. Compiled by Marist Library.

Find more African American newspapers in the Primary Sources: Databases tab.

Digitized Magazines

Black Enterprise
Online version of Black Enterprise digitized by Google. African American business publication since 1970.
Black World/Negro Digest (1961-1976)
Founded in 1943, Negro Digest (later “Black World”) was the publication that launched Johnson Publishing. During the most turbulent years of the civil rights movement, Negro Digest/Black World served as a critical vehicle for political thought for supporters of the movement.
Colored American Magazine
From 1900 to 1909, during a period of intensifying racial violence and Black disfranchisement in the United States, the Colored American Magazine served a vital role in promoting the development of African American literature, protesting injustice, and contesting dominant representations of African American culture and history.
Commerorator Newspaper (1991-2012)
Newspaper printed in South Berkeley from 1990-2013 by the Commemoration Committee for the Black Panther Party.
Crisis Magazine (1910-2011)
The Crisis, founded by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP, is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color.
Ebony (1959-2008)
Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.
Ebony Jr. (1973-1985)
Created by the publishers of Ebony. During its years of publishing it was the largest ever children-focused publication for African Americans.
Jet Magazine (1951-2005)
Weekly source of African American political and entertainment news.

Featured Newspapers

A select few of historical African-American newspapers in our collection.

Atlanta Daily World
Publication Date: 1932-2000
An early and influential African American daily newspaper; oldest Black newspaper in Atlanta, Ga. Format: microform
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Constitution, coverage 1881-2001, microform & print newspaper
Atlanta Journal, coverage 1889-2001, microform & print newspaper
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, coverage 2001-present, microform, print newspaper, online access from 1991-current

Chicago Defender (Historical) This link opens in a new window
1910 - 2010. Unlimited users.
Includes the full image of articles published in the Chicago Defender from 1910 to 2010. You can browse individual issues by clicking Publications at the top of the screen, or search by keyword(s), author(s), article title, date ranges, and more. Includes illustrations and advertisements. The Chicago Defender was the most influential African-American newspaper of the 20th century. With the majority of its readership outside the Chicago region, it served as the de facto national black newspaper in the U.S. The Defender covered events in the South, such as lynchings, that Southern black newspapers could not safely report. The paper was a major influence for the Great Migration of African Americans to the North in the early 20th century. Later issues of the Chicago Defender are in the Ethnic NewsWatch database.

Tulsa Star
1913-1921.