Paper Directories

For decades researchers relied on three major lists of newspapers-- Brigham, Gregory and NIM-- which are described in this article on newspaper directories

• Brigham. History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820. 2 vols., Worcester, Mass., American Antiquarian Society, 1947. A volume of "Additions and Corrections" was published in 1961. (This should be available in almost any library of a moderate size. )
• Gregory. American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1937 (This should be in any library of a moderate size)

Other valuable, but lesser used directories include:

• The Ayer Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, Philadelphia, N.W. Ayer and Sons, annual. (find in a library) The Library of Congress site provides Ayers Directory of Newspapers 1869-1919 online.
• Roswell's American Newspaper Directory. (find in a library)
• Lathem. Chronological Tables of American Newspapers 1690-1820. National Directory of Weekly Newspapers (annual)
• German- American Newspapers and Periodicals 1732-1955 -- you will want the second edition, 1965 which includes a list of WWII refugee and prisoner-or war camp publications. (find in a library)
• The Library of Congress site explains describes sources used to identify newspapers by date and place.
• The Library of Congress Newspaper and Periodical Reading Room has a great deal of information on newspapers.

For more sources, see Annotated Bibliography of Newspaper Sources

Back to Your Guide to Using Newspapers For Genealogical Research