Research Guides: Magazines and Journals: Historical Magazines & Journals

Discover Historical Magazines and Journals

Historical magazines and journals are found in databases, print, microfilm, online digital libraries, archives and special collections.

There are several methods for finding historical periodicals. You may need to search in different ways to find what you need.

Start with databases of historical magazines to search for articles.
You might also need to identify specific publications. Use Library Search, Wikipedia, or periodical indexes to discover other magazines.

Historical Magazine Databases

Not all databases include full-text articles. If the full article is not available online, request it through Interlibrary Loan.

19th C. UK Periodicals I: Women's, Children's, Humour, Leisure
Lifestyle publishing in 1800s Britain
19th C. UK Periodicals II: Empire/Colonial, Travel, Culture, Missions
Role Britain played as an imperial power throughout the 1800s
African American Periodicals, 1825-1995
Wide range of publications by & about African Americans
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection
Provides digital access to a highly comprehensive collection of American periodicals published between 1684 and 1912.
American Periodicals Series
American serials from 1741-1900
British Periodicals Collection
Consists of searchable full text of British journals published from the 1680s to the 1930s.

C19: Periodicals and Newspapers
Periodical index on the Anglo-American world, 1790-1919

Essay and General Literature Index
Indexes essays and articles on a variety of subjects
HAPI Online - Hispanic American Periodicals Index
About Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, & Hispanics/Latinos in the U.S.
Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines
Covers 4 viewpoints: Union, Confederate, Abolitionist, & British
Index to Jewish Periodicals
Jewish history & current affairs
Readers' Guide Retrospective
An index of articles in the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States from 1890-1982.
RIPM Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text
Historical music periodicals, from 1800-1950
Women’s Magazine Archive (1846-2005)
Vogue Archive
Vogue magazine (US edition), from the first issue in 1892-
Vogue Italia Archive
A digital archive of Vogue Italia, from its launch in 1964 to the present

Library Search

To discover magazines by time period or with a specific topic or audience:

Search in Advanced Library Catalog Search,
Include "periodicals" as a subject term and any other relevant terms (ex. "Civil War," 18th century, satire, literature), and
Filter for journals.

Library Catalog - Advanced

Periodical Indexes

Periodical indexes provide citations, usually organized by subject, for articles in journals, magazines, newspapers and more. Use an index to discover titles that may not be available online or in our collections.

Library Search for periodical indexes
Narrow the results by topic, historical period, or resource type.

Microforms

If a magazine or journal is unavailable digitally, it may be on microform.

Some may have an index, which allows you to search by subject. Without an index, you can only search microforms by date. Find indexes in Library Search or WorldCat.
Microform readers are located in Fondren, Bridwell, and Underwood Libraries.
Use WorldCat to discover and request titles held by other libraries.

WorldCat
Find newspapers on microform and indexes held by other libraries. Search with "mic" in "Material Type."

Archives at SMU

DeGolyer Library holds several hundred journals, most in the fields of western history, railroad history, the history of photography, and bibliography. Also held are humor publications, trade publications, and literary magazines.

Not every title will appear in Library Search, but we have in-house checklists.
Many of our magazines are stored offsite and can take up to a week to retrieve.

Contact DeGolyer staff about the availability of certain titles.

DeGolyer Periodicals Collection