Research Guides: Women & the American Civil War: Primary Source Databases & Historical Newspapers

Primary Source Databases

Everyday Life & Women in America, c.1800-1920
Especially rich in conduct of life and domestic management literature, it comprises thousands of fully searchable images (alongside transcriptions) of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing political, social and gender issues, religion, race, education, employment, marriage, sexuality, home and family life, health, and pastimes.
Women and Social Movements in the U.S.
Contains some primary and secondary sources related to women and the Civil War including a Document Project entitled "How Did White Women Aid Former Slaves during and after the Civil War, 1863-1891?"

Microfilm

What is microfilm?
Microfilm is reproduction of an original document on a roll of film. It looks very much like the film in an analog camera. It is made so that it is easy to preserve documents, such as old newsprint, that may be in danger of deterioration.

How do I use microfilm?
Microfilm is inserted into a reader, which then projects a full-size image of the original onto a screen so that the user can view it. Please visit us and ask a librarian to provide a quick tutorial on how to use microfilm readers.

Historical Newspapers and Periodicals in Database Finder

Database Finder offers online access to databases and journal articles, and is available only at University of Maryland Libraries or remotely only to University of Maryland staff and students. Below is a list of databases pertaining to historical newspapers and periodicals.

African American Newspapers, 1827-1998
Digitized and fully searchable collections of more than 270 African American newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries.
America's Historical Newspapers
Digitized and fully searchable collections of early American newspapers. Includes five databases, Early American Newspapers Series 1 - 3 and African American Newspapers which can be searched together or separately, as well as select Maryland newspapers including the Maryland Gazette (1728-1832) and Baltimore American (1861-1870, 1903-1922). Early American Newspapers includes more than 1,000 U.S. newspapers published between 1690 and 1922. African American Newspaper includes more than 270 African American newspapers published in the 19th and 20th centuries.
American Periodicals Series
Full text images of over 1,100 colonial and early American magazines and periodicals spanning from colonial times to the mid 20th century. Titles range from America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository, to popular magazines like Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal. Useful for the study of American history, literature, culture, sciences and social sciences. Time span: 1740-1900
Baltimore Sun, the (1837-1994) (Historical Newspapers)
Provides complete issues of The Baltimore Sun from 1837-1992. Search by keyword and more....
Black Abolitionist papers, 1830-1865
Online full-text primary source collection is the first to comprehensively detail the extensive work of African Americans to abolish slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War.

Guide to Maryland Newspapers

Historical newspapers
Searchable full-text of the Los Angeles Times (1881-1986); Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003); Atlanta Constitution (1868-1945); Chicago Tribune (1849-1986); Chicago Defender (1909-1975); Boston Globe (1872-1979); Christian Science Monitor (1908-2001); Cleveland Call and Post (1934-1991); Detroit Free Press (1831-1922); St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1874-1922); Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005); Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001); Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002); San Francisco Chronicle (1865-1922); New York Tribune (1841-1922); New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993); Hartford Courant (1764-1984); Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916-2003); Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988); Baltimore Sun (1837-1989); San Francisco Chronicle (1865-1922); Wall Street Journal (1889-1997); Washington Post (1877-1998)

Newspapers on Microfilm

Visit the Maryland Room in Hornbake Library or the Periodicals section of McKeldin Library to view these microfilmed newspapers. Click on a title to view the full catalog record. This list currently relates to Maryland newspapers, but other newspapers will be added soon!

American and Commercial Advertiser by Scope 1861-1869, Baltimore, MD
Call Number: AN41.16 .A4
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm
American Sentinal by Scope 1856-1928, Westminster, MD
Call Number: AN41.281.W4A4
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser by Scope 1857-1861
Call Number: AN41.16.A4
Hornbake Library, the Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
Daily Exchange by Scope Feb. 1858-Sept. 1861, Baltimore, MD
Call Number: AN41.16.D3
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
Democratic Alleganian by Scope 185_-1864, Cumberland, MD
Call Number: AN41.041.C8 A4
UMCP McKeldin Library Periodicals Rm - Microfilm
The Examiner by Scope 1849-1913, Frederick, MD
Call Number: McKeldin Library Periodicals Rm - Microfilm | AN41.441.F7 E9
Kent News by Scope 1860-1986, Chestertown, MD
Call Number: AN41.61.C5K4
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
Montgomery County Sentinal by Scope 1856-2009, Gaithersburg, MD
Call Number: AN41.64.S4
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
Planter's Advocate Upper Marlboro by Scope 1851-1861
Call Number: AN41.68P75
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
St. Mary's Beacon by Scope 1852-1983, Leonardtown, MD
Call Number: AN41.76.B4
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
Southern Aegis and Harford County Intelligencer by Scope 1857-1986, Bel Air, MD
Call Number: AN41.521.B4S61
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection
later Bel Air Aegis
The Valley Register by Scope 1858-1976, Middletown, MD
Call Number: AN41.441.M5V3
Hornbake Library, Maryland Room, Maryland Microfilm Collection