Find items in UIC Library collections, including books, articles, databases and more.
Find items on the UIC Library website, including research guides, help articles, events and website pages.
Newspapers present first-hand accounts of contemporary events or issues, so they are considered primary sources.
Newspaper reporters and editors report the facts, but they have different perspectives based on the politics and interests of their editorial boards and audience. Comparing different newspaper accounts can reveal historical questions about your topic. The Encyclopedia of Chicago gives an overview of various Chicago-area newspapers and their perspectives.
Online newspapers:
Microfilm newspapers:
History Fair students will need staff assistance to access these online newspapers. They can be accessed only on the UIC campus.
A limited selection of newspapers has been digitized to search online. These are expensive resources that are typically available only through libraries. If you rely only on the free newspapers you find via Google, you miss out on excellent historical resources.
Historical archives of the Chicago Defender digitized cover-to-cover from 1909 to 2010.
When a newspaper is on microfilm, that means it has been photographed onto a small film. You need a machine, called a "microfilm reader" to view it. Libraries place newspapers on microfilm because doing so makes it easier to store them and because newsprint tends to deteriorate rapidly.
To find articles on your topic, you need to know the date when reporters would have written about that event or theme.