Online Newspapers: Historic & Current
A great many historical newspapers are available online, unfortunately, they are not all located in one place. Through BadgerLink, Wisconsin residents are fortunate to have access to a number of large newspaper databases. The Wisconsin Historical Society provides a wealth of information about newspapers at the WHS and beyond. The site Ancestor Hunt also has an excellent page dedicated to Wisconsin Online Historical Newspapers as well as Newspaper Research Links for other states. There are also great resources made available for free by InfoSoup libraries and their community partners, or through library subscriptions (free with your InfoSoup Library card). Please check out the sites below to learn more.
Historical newspapers archive from the 1700s – 2000s containing thousands of well-known regional, state, and small local newspapers in the United States and other countries. Includes 150+ Wisconsin Newspapers. Made available through BadgerLink.
View Wisconsin Newspaper in BadgerLink Title List
Covers more than 250 Wisconsin newspapers from 2005 to 90 days ago, and 25+ historical Wisconsin newspapers from the 1800s and 1900s, including the New London Press/Republican/Times from 1879 – 1906. Each newspaper is available cover to cover in a searchable PDF format. This is a combined project of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, BadgerLink, and The Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC).
InfoSoup Libraries
The following InfoSoup Libraries have worked with other organizations in their communities to digitize local Newspapers and make them freely available on the web.
- Algoma Public Library
- Door County Library
- Kewaunee Public Library
- New London Public Library – New London Press, Press-Republican, Press Star
- Oconto County – Farnsworth & Oconto Falls Public Libraries
The following InfoSoup libraries maintain partial newspaper and/or obituary Indexes for their local papers:
- Appleton – Appleton Post Crescent Index | Obituary Index
- Clintonville – Clintonville Obituary Index
- Kaukauna – Kaukauna Newspaper Index | Kaukauna Times Obituaries
Many InfoSoup libraries have local newspapers on microfilm. Please contact your local library to learn more.
This research guide provides information about one the nation’s largest collections of historic and contemporary newspapers, including what is available online and what is available on Microfilm at the Historical Society or through InterLibrary loan from your local library.
Note that Wisconsin papers listed as available through NewspaperARCHIVE are available with your InfoSoup Library Card but only through the link on InfoSoup.
Other Newspaper Resources
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
Historic newspapers published between 1789 and 1963. Available for free as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. View Title List.
While discontinued by Google, a large collection of historic papers are still available. Check out this article for tips for searching the Google news archive.
Ancestor Hunt: Wisconsin Online Historical Newspapers Summary
An excellent resource including title lists of Wisconsin newspapers available in Chronicling America and Google Newspaper Archive.
Current Newspapers
Theses resources, made available through BadgerLink, provide indexing and full text to thousands of regional, national, and international newspapers. These resources are text only and generally do not include images, graphs, and charts.
Current and archival to 1980s U.S. news featuring key national and regional sources including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, & Chicago Tribune as well as over 80 Gannett titles. Wisconsin title list is included as part of Wisconsin Newspapers in BadgerLink. Made available through BadgerLink.
Broad collection of U.S Regional Newspapers (400+) and International Newspapers (700+). Staff articles are included from the following Wisconsin papers: Janesville Gazette, La Crosse Tribune, (Eau Claire) Leader-Telegram, (Superior) Telegram, & The Wisconsin State Journal. Made available through BadgerLink.
