Historic newspapers are a rich primary source that can be used to investigate social and political information about the past. The information available in historic newspapers provides researchers with the opportunity to examine the local impact of slavery across Maryland and how it was covered by journalists at the time.
For more information using newspapers for your research, visit the interpreting primary and secondary sources guide from the University of Maryland libraries.
In additional to traditional news stories about the politics and court cases related to slavery, early newspapers contain editorials, advertisements for slave auctions, and reward notices for runaway slaves. In many instances, reward notices provide detailed biographic information, including the names and relatives runaway slaves, physical descriptions, and geographic details of where they may have traveled.
The Maryland Room has an a variety of pre-Civil War newspapers from across the state of Maryland that are available on microfilm. Use the list below to browse these titles. For more information on newspapers in the Maryland Collection, visit the Newspapers of Maryland webpage.
Some early American newspapers have been digitized and are available to search using Database Finder. See a list of selected resources below.
Image: Typical reward notice for a runaway slave in Anne Arundel County, Maryland 1850.
Database Finder offers online access to databases and journal articles, and is available only at University of Maryland Libraries or to University of Maryland staff and students. Below is a list of databases pertaining to historical newspapers.
There are several early Maryland newspapers available on microfilm in the Maryland Room. The following is a sampling of these titles, followed by the years covered available. Click on a title to view the full catalog record.
Easton Gazette- 1818-1822
Frederick-Town Herald- 1802-1807, 1830-1832
Kent News- 1845-1945
The Maryland Journal, and the Baltimore Advertiser- 1773-1791
Montgomery County Sentinel- 1856-1974
Planter’s Advocate (Upper Marlboro, Md.)- 1851-1861
Republican Star- 1802-1832
Southern Aegis (Bel Air, Md.)- 1857-1862
St. Mary’s Beacon- 1845-1863
Telegraph (Chestertown, Md.)- 1825-1828
The Valley Register- 1858-1975
The Baltimore News American changed names several times during its publication history, below are the earliest titles available:
American and Daily Advertiser- 1799-1802
American and Commercial Daily Advertiser- 1802-1853
American and Commercial Advertiser- 1854-1856
Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser- 1857-1861
American and Commercial Advertiser- 1861-1869
Additional historic newspapers are also available in the Periodicals/Microforms room in McKeldin Library, including:
Maryland Gazette- 1745-1837
The Sun- 1837-2008
National intelligencer & Washington Advertiser Newspaper Abstracts by 