Tag: African American newspapers

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Historic Georgian African American newspapers dating from 1886-1926 are now available freely online, thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

The Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) is pleased to announce that it has completed the digitization of two historically significant Georgia African American newspapers as part of a National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The digital images will be included in the Library of Congress’ newspaper site: Chronicling America http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ and the DLG’s own site: Georgia Historic Newspapers (GHN), http://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/. 

“NEH grants help strengthen and sustain American cultural life, in communities, at museums, libraries, and historic sites, and in classrooms,” said former NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “As the nation prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary in 2026, NEH is proud to help lay the foundations for public engagement with America’s past by funding projects that safeguard cultural heritage and advance our understanding of the events, ideas, and people that have shaped our nation.”

The newspapers include:

Featured images:

Savannah Tribune of November 10, 1888, celebrates Republican Benjamin Harrison’s presidential victory: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn84020323/1888-11-10/ed-1/seq-1/



Athens Republique of January 7, 1922, covers Athens’ 59th Anniversary of Emancipation celebration and looks back on Booker T. Washington’s legacy: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/2012233098/1922-01-07/ed-1/seq-1/

The GHN website also includes several other African American newspaper titles published in Georgia ranging from 1867-2018 that were digitized as part of previous grant-funded projects. These titles can be browsed through at https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/types/#africanamerican

African American newspapers from across the country can be found in the Chronicling America website at https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers/?state=&ethnicity=African+American

About the National Endowment for the Humanities 

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.

Twitter: @nehgov

Facebook: facebook.com/nehgov/ 

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African American Newspapers in the Georgia Historic Newspapers Website

Issue of the Wolverine Observer, published by the students of Morris Brown College in May 1967

African American publishers in Georgia have a rich history of delivering news and recording the first-hand history of our state through newspaper journalism. Beginning in the early years of Reconstruction, Black entrepreneurs began establishing papers across the state and exercised their newly won freedoms in the face of harsh resistance. The growth of African American newspapers accelerated in the mid-twentieth century with the burgeoning of the American Civil Rights Movement and the proud tradition of Black newspaper journalism continues in the present day.

Over the last five years, the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG) has made a concerted effort to identify and seek funding to digitize African American newspapers published in Georgia between 1865 and the early twenty-first century. Through partnerships with the Atlanta University Center, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS), the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the R. J. Taylor Foundation, and the University of Georgia Libraries, we have made over twenty newspaper titles published by black Georgians available for browsing and searching on the Georgia Historic Newspapers (GHN) website.

A list of these titles is available at https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/types/#africanamerican

Highlights from the collection include:

  • The Spelman Spotlight 1957-1980 – College newspaper published by the students of Spelman College that covered the events of the American Civil Rights Movement.

The DLG is continuing to work with partners to make African American newspapers freely available to the public through our GHN website. Upcoming titles slated for digitization in the Spring include:

  • Augusta News-Review (1971-1985) – A partnership with the Georgia Public Library Service.
  • Savannah Tribune (1943-1960) – A partnership with Live Oak Public Libraries and the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council (GHRAC).
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