DOCUMENT RESUME ED 062 240 SO 002 916 AUTHOR Hamilton, Dave TITLE A Guide to the Negro Newspapers on Microfilm: A Selected List. INSTITUTION Northern Illinois Univ., De Kalb. PUB DATE [ 72 ] NOTE 56p. EDRS PR ICE MF--$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Indexes (Locaters) ;Microfilm; Negroes; *Negro History; *Newspapers; United States History IDENTIFIERS *Negro Newspapers; Primary Sources ABSTRACT In 1946, the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies began the project of microfilming the Negro newspapers published in the United States in the last century. The Library of Congl'ess, through its Photoduplication Service, performed the\ microfilming service and in 1953 issued a guide entitled Negro Newspapers on Microfilm: A Selected List. The present document is intehded to fill the gaps and omissions in that Library of Congress guide. The results of a title-by-title search of the 180 reels of microfilm have been compiled into three lists. List I is arranged alphabetically by the title of each newspaper on the f ilm. At the beginning of certain entries, symbols are used to indicate that the title cannot be found in Brown's Check List, Ayer's Newspaper Directory, Gregory's, and Union List of Serials. If dates of publication can be verifiedin one of these sources, they are included in the title line of the entry. The reel and title number on the last line of each entry expresses the exact location on the microfilm. List II is arranged by stateand city of publication. List III is arranged by reel and titleorder indicating the order in which the titles appear on each reel of the set. (Author/JLB) on w4oz;_. A Guide to the Negro Newspapers on Microfilm: A SelectedList xwptIm..itwut 2t2.0'.60 m404.6824 by Dave Hamilton wzw=4.. 40 440zu1;P.E-g- 220, to gRIA.unc2t4z2-00-mw-w "Efforts to use Negro newspapers in an investigation of Negro uOu OoluzwalZ eww2mg:ilia.- =0 pigF."t6 life and thought too frequently have been attended by considerable futility andfrustration.° Almost twentyfive years have passed since these words introduced the description of a proposal to help alleviate that situation. Although the proposal did result in a commendable presentation of Negro newspapers on 180 reels of microfilm, there was no adequate index given. The lists presented here are intended to be a guide to this historic collection. In June, 1946 the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies began the project of microfilming the Negro newspapers published in the United States in the last century. The project director, Armistead Scott Pride, then director of the School of Journalism of Lincoln University, spent a year tracking down the survivors of long forgotten publications. The Library of Congress, through its Photoduplication Service, performed the microfilming service and in 1953 issued a guide entitled Negro Newmpas on Microfilm: A 2 Selected List. But the guide was not complete because its editors "decided to omit a detailed record of holdings for those titles which are represented by scattered issues, if these issues correspond to those reported in the Union List of Newspapers."3 When an investigation by this author revealed that several newspapers appearing on the film had not been included in the guide, a thorough canvassing of the film was undertaken to discover other possible discrepancies. 2 Certain crucial omissions in the guide were found.For example, an issue of The Ram's Horn of1847 is not listed in the guide, nor is a letter from John Brown which apparently has been accidently produced on the film after The Ram's Horn. In addition, it is not clear in the guide that many of the newspapers are represented by a single issue only. Also, in several instances the numerical placement of a newspaper on a reel with other newspapers has not been correctly identified.But more importantly, because all title changes of the newspapers are not noted in the guide, bibliographical temmation for many of them w lad have to be obtained by working simultaneously with the fi.;m, the guide, and the bulky volume of Gregory's Union List ofNwelsomrs.4 Several other bits of information are not given in the guide. It is not evident that thirty of the news- papers on the film are not given the usuallabel of 'Negro' in Gregory's and an additional thirty-nine are not even listed in Gregory's. The discovery of these omissions demonstrated a need for a systematic study which would result in a complete listing.The results of this title by title search of the microfilm have been compiled into the three lists presented here. List I is arranged alphabetically by the title of each newspaper on the film. At the beginning of certain entries, symbols are used to 5 indicate that the title cannot be found in Brown's Check List, Ayer's 6 7 Newspaper Directory, Gregory's, and the Union List of Serials. If the dates of the publication life of the newspaper can be verified in one of these soUrces, they are included in the title line of the entry. A question mark after the date indicates that the compilers of the above sources were uncertain about the accuracy of the date.The place of publication appears as the second line of each entry. If a newspaper was moved to another city, a separate entry has been made for each place 3 of publication. The third line of the entry begins with the date of the earliest issue of the paper appearing on the film, with the volume and issue number following in parenthesis. Single issues and short runs of many of the same newspapers appear in severaldifferent places on the film and these have all been placed under one entry in the list. The reel and title number on the last line of each entry in List I expresses 8 the exact location on the microfilm of those issues of that newspaper. List II is arranged by state and city of publication. The numbers in parenthesis following each title refer to the number assigned to the title in List I. List III is arranged by reel and title order indicating the order in which the titles appear on each reel of the set. lArmistead Scott Pride, "Negro Newpaper Files and Their Micro- filming," Journalism Quarterly, XXIV (June, 1947), 131. 2U.S.Library of Congress, Negro Newspapers on Microfilm: A Selected List. (Wazhington: Government Printing Office, 1953). 3 Ibid., "Introduction" (n.p.). 41inifredGregory (ed.), American Newspapers, 1821-19 6: A Union List of Files Available in the United States and CanadaNew York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1937T. 51arrenBrown, Check List of Negro Newsparers in the United States, 1827-1946 (Jefferson City, Missouri: School of Journalism, Lincoln University, 1946). 6 N. W. Ayer and Son's American Newspaper Annual and DirectorY (Philadelphia: N. W. Ayer ai7E7KWI): 1880 to present. 7 Union List of Serials in Libraries of the United States and Canada, 3rd ed-.7NW York: H. W. Wilson Company, 196-577 8 The reels are arranged and numbered by Library of Congress in two different units: one unit of 168 reels numbered in a more or less alpha- betical system and on: unit of twelve reels entitled 'miscellaneous.' With this dual scheme the reel numbers presented in the guide are often misleading. If the reels are slightly rearranged so that they are in strict alphabetical order by the title appearing on the box label the 3 h. twelve 'miscellaneous' reels can be placed inthe Mos.Then the boxes can be renumbered sothat the miscellaneous reels are Reels 103 to 113 and the remainder can be renumbered to follow. This system has been followed in List I in order to give a more accuratelocation. Symbols / = publication ceased with date given ?/ = publication ceased, date unknown * = unable to verify in Gregory's, Brown's, Ayer's, or Union List of Serials = only known source of verification isBrown's @ = only known source of verification is Union List of Serials & = not laboled as Negro in Gregory's = not listed in the guide presented with 'alefilm 4. 4 List I Alphabetically !a-ranged list of Negro Newspapers appearing on the microfilm published by the Library of Congress in 1953. ir 1. The Advance w1899-1901/ Wilmington, Delaware Sept 22, 1900 (v2 no47) Reel 112, title 14 2. The Advocate wAug 1191888-Sept1491889/ Leavenworth, Kansas Aug 18, 1888 (v1 no2) - Sept 14, 1889 Reel 96, title 1 NOTE: Succeeded by The Leavenworth Advocate (103) on Sept 21, 1889. 3, Africo-American Presbyterian w 1879-1940/ Charlotte, North Carolina Dec 21, 1899 (v21 no50) Reel 105, title 42 4. The Afro-American w Aug 1892 to date Baltimore9Maryland April 29, 1893 (v1 no32); Aug 3-17, 31, Sept 7, Oct 19-Nov 1, 30, Dec 14, 21, 1895; Feb 15-22, April 18, May 9, 16, 30-June 13, 27, 1896; March 27, April 17, 1897; March 26, 1898 Reel 102, title 3 5. &The Afro-American Advance w May 27, 1899-1905/ Minneapolis, Minnesota May 27, 1899 (v1 no16) - Nov 17, 1900 Reel 112, title 13 NOTE: Succeeded The Twin City American (193) and The ColoredCar-gninot on this list) on May 27, 1899. 6. &Afro-American Advocate wSept 2, 1891-Sept 1, 1893/ Coffeyville, Kansas Sept 2 (v1 nol), 9, Dec 25, 1891; Jan 1, 15-April 15, 29-July 1, 16-Sept 9, 22-Nov 11, 25, Dec 16, 1892; Jan 13 , 27, Feb 24, March 17-May 26, June 30, July 21-Sept 1, 1893 Reel 1 1 7.