Oxford LibGuides: Disability History Resources: Newspapers and Magazines

How to find Historical Newspapers and Magazines

Searching for Newspapers and Magazines
Key Magazines

Before starting a search for newspaper articles and magazines it's a good idea to know what area and time period you are interested in researching.

Once you have an idea of your area of interest, the next step is to look for libraries and archives with holdings for the area you are researching. There are some global collections of digitised newspapers that may be useful.

ICON - International coalition on newspapers
ICON's directory of digitization efforts around the globe provides links to past, present, and prospective digitization projects of historic newspapers. The focus is primarily on digital conversion efforts, not full-text collections of current news sources.
Google News Archive
Allows you to browse the thousands of pages of newspapers digitised by the Google Books project.

But often it's a good idea to start with national libraries, as they typically have the most complete collections. Although, bear in mind that they may only have indexes and not full text availability.

Newspapers at the British Library
A title-level list of catalogued newspapers held by the British Library. Scroll down to the item itself and you can then choose to download the list.
Waterloo Directory of English Newspapers and Periodicals, 1800-1900
Search for e.g blind, deaf, etc. in Topic to find 19th Century English newspapers and magazines.
Example: The British Deaf Monthly; organ of the National Association of Teachers of the Deaf, etc (1896 - 1903)
Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries
A directory of newspapers published in the United States since 1690. Derived from the library catalogue records primarily created by state institutions during the United States Newspaper Program
Digital Foreign Newspaper Collections - Library of Congress
A research guide containing links to national libraries that hold newspaper collections, links to major freely available digital collections of non-U.S. newspapers, and links to free online resources that can facilitate newspaper research.

Searching for local public libraries may also provide information on local newspapers, and specific institutions may have collections of relevant magazines.

Many of the following magazines were created by and for disabled communities and are a great insight into the opinions and lives of disabled people from the past.

Accent on Living
A long-time source of information for people with disabilities The magazine has been operational since 1956.
The Beacon and The New Beacon
A magazine "Devoted to the Interests of the Blind" published by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (formerly Royal National Institute of the Blind)
The Braille Monitor
The National Federation of the Blind (US) has published The Braille Monitor since 1957. It covers the events and activities of the NFB, addresses the issues blind people face, and highlights their members. Issues from 1957 to 1986 are also available in accessible form from the Internet Archive.
Cheshire Smiles Magazine
The Cheshire Smile was a published magazine started by the residents of the first Cheshire home in 1954. It ran until 1999 and was edited, printed and distributed by residents on behalf of the charity and contained contributions from disabled people living all over the world.
The Ragged Edge
The Ragged Edge / Disability Rag was a magazine published between 1980 to 2007 that covered the U.S. disability rights movement, as well as a wide range of articles and opinion pieces from individuals with disabilities. It was considered one of the most important publications of the disability rights movement.
St Dunstan's Review
The internal magazine of the St Dunstan's Home for Blind Veterans of the interwar and post war years - it details the lives of blinded veterans for the world wars and the impact of their disabilities on daily life.

Newspapers and Magazines at Oxford

Newspapers and other online news sources from the 17th – 21st centuries
by Isabel Holowaty Last Updated Aug 23, 2024 18360 views this year

Disability History Resources: Newspapers and Magazines

Introduction

How to find Historical Newspapers and Magazines

Newspapers and Magazines at Oxford