JOU 3940: History of American Journalism

Primary sources are contemporary documents that are associated with the historical event. Examples of primary sources include diaries, letters, magazine and newspaper articles, court hearings, and government documents. Booth also has a guide to more detailed information on primary and secondary sources.

Lists of sources for newspapers on microfilm can be found below:

​These materials can be found in the microforms area, 1000 North.


Booth Library also has several historical newspaper and magazine databases that provide access to primary sources. Link to the history databases and the newspaper databases.

Examples of the library's historical and magazine databases are:

New York Times (Historical) (full-text articles, 1851-2010)

African American Newspapers: The 19th Century (full-text articles, African American newspapers, 1800s)

American Periodicals (full-text articles, American Magazines, 1740`s-early 1900s)

Chicago Tribune (Historical) (full-text articles,1849-1990)

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers (Selected American newspapers, 1789-1963)

Pennsylvania Gazette (full-text articles, 1728-1800)

Search for books in the EIU Library Catalog by author, title, keyword or subject. 
 Limit results under the "Tweak your results" section.  “Subjects” are especially useful.

To expand your book search to all 90 I-Share libraries, choose the "All I-Share Libraries" radio button on the "Advanced Search" page.

Journal and magazine articles on United States History may be found by searching the library's collection of databases. All databases are accessible from off campus by logging-in with your EIU netID and password. Link to the History databases here.

The leading History database for United States history is:

America: History and Life (peer reviewed articles, some full-text articles, United States History, Pre-Colonial Era to Present) 

Other databases useful for research for United States history to 1877 are:

Academic Search Complete (full-text articles, broad subject coverage including History)

JSTOR (peer reviewed articles, full-text articles, broad subject coverage including History)

Project Muse (peer reviewed articles, full-text articles, broad subject coverage including History)

Historical Abstracts  (peer reviewed articles, some full-text articles, world history)

One way to get a feel for the social mores and consumer trends of an era is to look at magazine ads.  The All-American Ads series provides a look at magazine ads from decades of the 20th century. These are available in the reference room, 3000 level north.

	1900-1919: All-American Ads  Call number: NC998.5.A1 A11 2005x
	20s: All-American Ads  Call number: NC998.5.A1 A12 2004x
	30s: All-American Ads  Call number: NC998.5.A1 A125 2003x
	40s: All-American Ads  Call number: NC998.5.A1 A128 2001x
	50s: All-American Ads  Call number: NC998.5.A1 A132 2001x

Another way to get a feel for the era and news of the 20th century would be to browse popular magazines, such as Time, Newsweek, Life, etc. The library has these in print bound volumes.

These and other periodicals are also available online through various databases and e-journal sites. The best way to find a journal or magazine by title is to use the "Journal Titles" tab on the library homepage: