Newspapers
History Behind
the Headlines!
The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the largest collection of newspapers in the United States. This stunning national collection spans from the 17th century to the present and serves the needs of researchers not only in Wisconsin but also throughout the world.
Explore Our Newspaper Research Guide!
Corner of the newspaper stacks in the Wisconsin Historical Society Library from the early 1900's.
Newspaper Collection
Explore Our Newspaper Collection!
The newspaper collection includes titles published in each of the 50 states, U.S. possessions, and the 13 Canadian provinces, plus an assortment of military newspapers published overseas. More than 4,000 titles are included in the collection, with Wisconsin newspapers accounting for approximately 1,600 of these. Out-of-state newspaper holdings are for most metropolitan areas.
Search Library CatalogCollection Overview:
- Wisconsin: Starting with Wisconsin's first newspaper, The Green-Bay Intelligencer (1833), the Society holds the most comprehensive collection of Wisconsin newspapers in the nation.
- Early America: The Society specializes in colonial and early American newspapers published west of the Appalachian Mountains.
- National Leaders: The Society holds the nation's largest collection of labor and trade union papers, as well as extensive holdings of 1960s "underground" and alternative newspapers. This includes one of the nation's largest GI Unground Press collections.
- Diverse Voices: The Society is a major repository for Native American and African American newspapers. The collection also includes Wisconsin and national newspapers in Czech, Dutch, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, and Yiddish.
- Special Interests: The collection includes publications from military bases, prisons, social action groups, and religious organizations. The Society holds the largest collection of military base newspapers in the U.S.
Wisconsin's first newspaper, The Green-Bay Intelligencer, dated Dec. 11, 1833.
Newspaper Resources
The Wisconsin Name Index (WNI) Collection is an index of obituaries, newspaper clippings, and biographical book excerpts, drawing from a database of 150 county and local histories, dozens of professional directories, more than 60 scrapbooks containing 30,000 obituaries, and selected articles in Wisconsin magazines and newspapers — most published between 1870 and 1970.
The Wisconsin Local History and Biographical Articles (WLHBA) Collection contains 16,000 historical newspaper articles on notable Wisconsin people and communities. The entire collection is available digitally with most articles published between 1860 and 1940.
Learn more about our newspaper collection. Explore our research guide!
Accessible Anywhere
Chronicling America is a free newspaper collection with over 13 million pages of digitized newspapers from 1690 to 1963, created by the NEH and the Library of Congress.
Available Free to Wisconsin Residents
Wisconsin residents can access the following newspaper databases from home through Badgerlink’s Wisconsin Online Library:
- Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers
- Newspapers.com Library Edition: World Collection
- Newspaper Source Plus
- U.S. Newsstream
Available In the Library
In addition to those on Badgerlink, you can access a variety of newspaper databases in the Society's Library, including:
- 19th Century U.S. Newspapers
- NewspaperArchive.com
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers collections
Wisconsin Digital Newspapers
Zoom in on the map to find Wisconsin newspapers available online. Click on a dot to view city, newspaper title, online date range, accessibility, and link. Use the drop down boxes to narrow the search by county, city, or newspaper title.
Collections Use FAQs
Explore how you can find, access, and use our collection materials.
The Society's library and archives collections can be searched in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library catalog and some parts of our collections have been digitized and are available online.
The Society's historical object collection cannot be searched online.
Library & Archives
Many books, bound periodicals, microforms and government publications may be checked out for home use with a library card. Rare, fragile, small and heavily used materials (including genealogical resources) do not circulate. A borrowing card is not required if you want to use materials within the Library. Archival materials are available for use in our Archives Reading Room.
For more information about our borrowing policies Library & Archives Services.
Historic Objects
If you are interested in viewing our historical objects please contact us.
Due to significant demands associated with developing the Wisconsin History Center, the Society has reduced capacity to handle loan requests. Therefore, we are not accepting new requests at this time.
For a credit line: Wisconsin Historical Society, Creator, Title, Unique Identifier.
The Unique Identifier can be found at the top or bottom of the webpage for each item. The name of a downloaded file is NOT the unique identifier.
For bibliographic citations please consult the UW-Madison Libraries Citation Research Guide to ensure compliance with appropriate style guidelines.
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Personal use (prints, gifts, home and study): Request images for personal use
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Commercial use (public display, publishing, media, products, film and more): Request commercial use of our Collection
Materials in our websites and digital collection are provided for research, teaching, and private study. The Wisconsin Historical Society hold rights to some items; others may be governed by additional copyright or donor restrictions.
We encourage users to download low-res images from our website for personal or classroom use, without written permission, within the meaning of the principles of “Fair Use.”
Permission is required for reproduction, publication, or commercial use of any content made available through our websites and digital collection. By using this website, including our digital collections, you agree to the Terms of Use. Users are responsible for determining whether their intended use qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law. When relying on fair use, cite the source.
Visit Our
Library & Archives
Perhaps the best way to begin exploring our collections is by visiting us in person. In our reading rooms, you’ll find free and unparalleled access to our collections, helpful staff and amenities, and perhaps, your very own story.
Plan Your Visit Hours
Donate to The Society's Collections
Your Story is Wisconsin's Story
History is made every day, everywhere. Since 1846, contributions from people across the state have helped us fulfill our mission to collect, preserve and tell the stories of Wisconsin.
Find Out HowLast Updated: April 8, 2026
