Newspapers
The capital city of Williamsburg was the only place in Virginia that had a newspaper until the eve of the American Revolution. William Parks published the first issue of the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg on August 6, 1736. With a few interruptions, Parks and his several successors published weekly newspapers in Williamsburg until the capital of Virginia moved from Williamsburg to Richmond in 1780.
All of the issues of the Williamsburg editions of the Virginia Gazette that had been located by the end of the 1940s are indexed in Lester J. Cappon and Stella F. Duff's two-volume Virginia Gazette Index, 1736-1780 (Va. Ref. AI 21 V5). A valuable companion volume to Cappon and Duff's Virginia Gazette Index is Robert K. Headley Jr.’s Genealogical Abstracts from 18th-Century Virginia Newspapers (Va. Ref. F 225 H43 1987).
On 9 June 1774, William Duncan began publishing a weekly newspaper in Norfolk, the Virginia Gazette, or, the Norfolk Intelligencer, which was the first Virginia newspaper to be printed outside of Williamsburg. Duncan and his successor, John Hunter Holt, issued the newspaper until September 20, 1775, after which the royal governor of Virginia confiscated the printing press.
(summary from Eighteenth Century Virginia Newspapers (VA-NOTES), used with permission from the Library of Virginia)
For additional information on early American newspapers, consult the following standard resources:
Brigham, C. S. History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820, 2 vols. Worcester, Mass.: American Antiquarian Soc., 1947. (Ref. Z 6951 B86, Additions and Corrections vol. at Ref. Z 6951 B86a)
Cappon, Lester J. Virginia Newspapers, 1821-1935: A Bibliography With Historical Introduction and Notes. New York: Appleton Century, 1936. (Va. Ref. Z 6952 V8C24)
Gregory, Winifred, ed. American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union List of Files Available in the United States and Canada. New York: Kraus Reprint, 1967. Orig. pub. 1937 (Ref. Z 6951 A498 1967)
Swem Library subscribes to a number of databases that provide the full text of early newspapers across the country. Access to these databases is restricted to William and Mary students, faculty, and staff, and to anyone who uses them from a computer on campus:
America’s Historical Newspapers (1690-1922) ---over 1,000 newspapers
19th Century U.S. Newspapers--Full pages and clipped articles for hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers
Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective—Articles taken from New York Herald, Charleston Mercury, and Richmond Enquirer between November 1, 1860, and April 15, 1865
HarpWeek--Harper's Weekly, from 1857-1877
Pennsylvania Gazette 1728-1800
New York Times 1851-2004
Los Angeles Times 1881-1986
Washington Post 1877-1991
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The United States Newspaper Program is a cooperative national effort among the states and the federal government to locate, catalog, and preserve on microfilm newspapers published in the United States from the eighteenth century to the present. As a result of William and Mary’s participation in the Virginia Newspaper Project (Virginia’s contribution to this program), all its historical newspapers -- both microfilm and original issues -- have been cataloged and can be found in our online catalog. They also form part of a searchable database maintained at the Library of Virginia: http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwehave/news/bib_data.asp
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Major runs of historic newspapers on microfilm at Swem Library are listed below; note that this is not a complete list of all titles. Except for the (Williamsburg) Virginia Gazette for the years 1736-1780, none of these newspapers is indexed.
Newspaper |
City |
Dates of Publication
|
Microfilm Call #
|
Afro-American and the Richmond Planet |
Richmond |
June 4, 1938-Dec. 1977 |
AN 47 R52A37 |
American Beacon & Norfolk and Portsmouth Daily Advertiser |
Norfolk |
Aug. 7, 1815-Jan. 4, 1840 |
AN 47 N67A42 |
Daily Intelligencer |
Wheeling, WV |
Jan. 1, 1858-Dec. 29, 1865 |
AN 49 W33W22 |
Daily Press |
Newport News |
Jan. 11-Dec. 30, 1898 |
Current Newspapers |
Enquirer |
Richmond |
May 9, 1804-Dec. 31, 1862 |
AN 47 R52R546 |
Lynchburg Virginian |
Lynchburg |
Aug. 6, 1822-Aug. 31, 1866 |
AN 47 L96L986 |
Mathews Journal |
Mathews |
Jan. 6, 1906-Nov. 4, 1937 |
AN 47 M37M34 |
Norfolk Journal and Guide |
Norfolk |
Sept. 30, 1916-Dec. 1947 |
AN 47 N67J68 |
Petersburg Index Appeal |
Petersburg |
July 4, 1865-Dec. 28, 1895 |
AN 47 P47P427 |
Public Ledger |
Norfolk |
Aug. 4, 1876-Oct. 21, 1895 |
AN 47 N67P82 |
Republican |
Petersburg |
May 4, 1801-March 22, 1805 |
AN 47 P47R46 |
Richmond Planet |
Richmond |
Jan. 4, 1890-May 28, 1938 |
AN 47 R52R564 |
Richmond Times-Dispatch |
Richmond |
Jan. 14,1852-present |
Current Newspapers |
Richmond Whig |
Richmond |
Jan. 2, 1860-April 30, 1865 |
AN 47 R52R527 |
Rockbridge County News |
Lexington |
Nov. 7, 1884-June 1962 |
AN 47 L48R62 |
Sentinel |
Richmond |
May 21, 1864-Dec. 5, 1865 |
AN 47 R52R573 |
Shepherdstown Register |
Shepherdstown, WV |
Jan. 5, 1856-Dec. 25, 1858 |
AN 49 S33S37 |
Southern Churchman |
Richmond |
Nov. 22, 1861-Mar. 15, 1865 |
AN 47 R52S68 |
Spirit of Jefferson |
Charlestown, WV |
Nov. 6, 1865-Dec. 31, 1867 |
AN 49 C32S64 |
Virginia Gazette |
Williamsburg |
Aug. 6, 1736—present, except for the following when the Virginia Gazette was not published (except for scattered issues): 1780-1853; 1862-1869; 1871-1892; 1923-1929. |
Current Newspapers |
Virginia Gazette and General Advertiser |
Richmond |
Sept. 28, 1791-May 17, 1799 |
AN 47 R52V546 |
Virginian-Pilot |
Norfolk |
Jan. 1, 1899-April 1991 |
Current Newspapers |
