Skip to Main Content
Research Guides

AIS370/HSTAA315: Researching Indians' History - spr 2014: Primary Sources: Articles

Why Use Newspapers & Magazines

Newspapers are a primary source providing a first rough draft of events. Since most newspapers are local in scope, there is good coverage of local issues. Newspapers also provide a good feel for the time period.

Popular magazines (news, fashion, sports, etc.) also provide a good feel for the period. However since most magazines are national in scope, there is limited coverage of local topics. In addition to the articles, the illustrations and advertisements that are imbedded in magazines are useful primary sources especially for the study of consumerism, gender roles, material culture, history of technology, and popular culture.

Keep in mind changes in terminology when searching for articles in the past. For example the word African American is a relatively recent term you may have to use terms such as Negro, Afro American or Black in earlier decades.

For more information on using newspapers as primary sources see: Analyzing Newspapers & Newspapers. Also see Learning to Do Historical Research: Prowling the Periodicals.

Image: Seattle Daily Times, 5/2/1956.

Local Newspapers

This is a selection of local and PNW Native American newspapers. Many are available on microfilm (scanners & printers are available) and are housed in the Microform and Newspaper Collections on the ground floor of Suzzallo Library, others are in print and housed in Special Collections

Use the Pacific Northwest regional newspaper & periodical index to search for articles published in local newspapers on various topics. For a comprehensive search also use the card catalog version of this index which is housed in Special Collections. Many newspapers will not have indexing so you will need to browse through a newspaper issue by issue to find pertinent material.

Other Newspapers

The following newspapers are just a selection of those that we have available online. See the E-Newspapers guide for a more comprehensive list. In addition we have hundreds of papers on microfilm in the in the Microform and Newspaper Collections on the ground floor of Suzzallo Library. Staff there can help you identify other newspapers.

Finding Magazine Articles

In addition to the online resources listed below the UW Libraries has a printed collection of 20th century magazines such as Time, Newsweek and the Saturday Evening Post. Just go to the AP2 section on the 4th floor of Suzzallo Library to browse these magazines. You can also search some of the databases that have coverage going back to the 19th or early 20th centuries such as JSTOR and Anthropology Plus for primary sources. These are listed under the Scholarly Analyses tab.