Library patrons now have access to EBSCO’s digital collection American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection, 1684-1912. Originally released in five series, this collection has long been on our “wish-list”, and we have finally acquired the entire collection, which complements several existing digital collections (American Periodical Series Online, America’s Historical Newspapers, 19th Century American Newspapers, and Early American Imprints), and makes pre-1900 American print culture among the best covered source bases for online historical research here at the University of Illinois Library.
Like these other collections, American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection, 1684-1912 has a pronounced European-American bias. It does, however, document cultural encounters and the process of cultural appropriation, which may interest students especially. You can find, for example, evidence of how the word “tortilla” entered the English language, as well as the introduction of the food itself into the American diet. Not surprisingly, early journalists attempted to describe the food in terms that would already be familiar to readers (hoecakes): “These wheat cakes, which have long been an indispensable feature at our breakfast table, we have rather been considering an invention of our own; but they are evidently identical with the Mexican tortillas, and we shall call them by that name in future.”
The small number of African American periodicals are mostly religious papers, and Readex’s African American Periodicals and African American Newspapers remain the standard starting points for that source base.
Readex’s Hispanic American Newspapers likewise remains the best starting point for patrons wishing to use Hispanic American newspapers. American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection, 1684-1912 does, however, offer a few new titles, including El Comercio and El Enseñanza:
We’re especially excited now to have access to some American Indian newspapers that were previously unavailable to our patrons except on microfiche, such as the Dakota newspaper Iapi Oaye:
