In this unique collection of titles required to publish official announcements and documents, American Gazettes: Newspapers of Record offers a wealth of local facts, figures, legal decisions, and pronouncements, as well as wide-ranging coverage of regional and national events.

Illuminating records for posterity
The collection provides more than 100 gazettes, or “newspapers of record,” all of which complied with prevalent town and city government requirements in the 18th and 19th centuries to publish official information. Their pages were rich with vital coverage of meetings, legal actions, notices, laws and the like. The intention was to give the community an opportunity to read these important documents and to better inform public action or comments. Over time, the gazettes evolved to refer to papers widely considered authoritative less by virtue of legal authority than through influence earned from journalistic quality and accuracy.

Nationwide geographic distribution across the 19th century
The collection spans the nation with gazettes published in 35 states between 1796 and 1884. Coverage is provided from all regions, including strong representation from the Midwest (Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, etc.), South (Louisiana, Texas, etc.) and West (California, Hawaii, etc.). Major subject areas covered in the gazettes range from political history, slavery and abolition to legal history, ethnicity and immigration. Students and scholars will find a trove of illuminating information. Even papers with short runs offer abundant value, recording critical moments in America’s past.

Key titles include the Daily Globe (Washington, DC), Polynesian (Honolulu, HI), Chicago Daily Republican (Chicago, IL), Bangor Courier (Bangor, ME), Natchez Daily Courier (Natchez, MS), Daily Argus (Fargo, ND), Daily Telegraph (Jersey City, NJ), Morning Oregonian (Portland, OR), Milwaukee Daily News (Milwaukee, WI), Nacodoches Chronicle (Nacodoches, TX), and many more.

Other subject-specific newspaper collections
American Gazettes: Newspapers of Record is part of a new group of collections designed to meet targeted teaching and research needs. The other subject-specific collections include American Business: Agricultural Newspapers, American Business: Mercantile Newspapers, American Politics: Campaign Newspapers, and American Religion: Denominational Newspapers.