JOURNALISM 453:
NEWS COVERAGE OF RACIAL ISSUES
MARYLAND ROOM, HORNBAKE LIBRARY,
NOVEMBER 9, 2010
PRESENTERS: ANNE TURKOS, UNIVERSITY ARCHIVIST,
AND JASON SPECK, ASSISTANT UNIVERSITY ARCHIVIST
Contact information for Anne Turkos and Jason Speck:
Office: University Archives, 2208 Hornbake Library
Phone: 301-406-9060 (Anne), 301-405-9297 (Jason)
Email: aturkos@umd.edu (Anne), jgspeck@umd.edu (Jason)
Maryland Room hours:
Monday through Friday 10 AM to 5 PM; extended hours on
Wednesday evenings until 8 PM and Sundays from 1 PM to 5 PM.
We will be closed for Thanksgiving Break on November 25 and 26
and for the holiday break from December 23 to January 2.
General information about the Maryland Room and the
policies for its use: http://www.lib.umd.edu/mdrm/
Potential news sources for racial issues at the University
of Maryland, 1930s to the present:
HINT: You can use newspapers that are indexed, e.g. Washington
Post or Baltimore Sun to identify key dates around which to look at
microfilm of other newspapers that are not indexed, e.g.
Diamondback.
ON-CAMPUS SOURCES
Diamondback
Back files of the Diamondback are available on microfilm in the Periodicals
Room in McKeldin Library and in the Maryland Room in Hornbake. The call number for
the microfilm in McKeldin Periodicals is: LH1.M3 D5. Most recent back issues of the
paper are available online at http://www.diamondbackonline.com/
Black Explosion
The Black Explosion is a University of Maryland student newspaper published by
the Black Student Union which began as an outgrowth of the civil rights protests of the
1960s. Issues from 1970 to the present are available in hard copy in the University
Archives and can be consulted in the Maryland Room. Call number: UPUB S36.015.
Eclipse
Issues of the Eclipse, another African-American-oriented student newspaper, are
available in the Maryland Room. They begin in 1985 and continue to the present. Call
number UPUB S36.016.
14%
The University Archives has one issue of this student paper, produced by the
Asian Student Union. The title of the paper represents the percentage of Asian
Americans in the student body in May 1995, at the time this issue appeared. Call number
UPUB S36. 018.
15%
This paper succeeded 14% in late 1995. The Archives has two issues. Call
number UPUB S36.012.
Asian Voice
The Asian Voice is the first known student paper to represent the Asian American
student community. Publication began in September 1991, and the Archives has issues
through the spring of 1994. Call number UPUB S36.011.
Public Asian
The University Archives holds issues of the Public Asian, whose masthead reads
“A Voice for the Asian Pacific Community at the University of Maryland, College Park,”
from 2004 to the present. Call number S36.013.
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS
Afro-American
There were editions of a newspaper called the Afro-American, a paper particularly
targeted toward an African-American readership, published in several cities across the
country. A national edition of the paper was produced in Baltimore beginning in 1915.
This is available on microfilm in McKeldin Periodicals. Call number: AN41.16 .A33.
Access to articles in the Afro-American from 1893 to 1988 is also provided
through the Baltimore Afro-American Historical Newspapers database. This resource
provides offers full page and article images with searchable full text and is available
through Research Port.
Baltimore News American
The Baltimore News American was an active daily newspaper that existed in
various forms with many different titles for over 200 years. It competed closely with the
Baltimore Sun. The last issue of the paper was printed on May 27, 1986. The paper is
available on microfilm in the Maryland Room in Hornbake Library. To determine which
newspaper title covers the period of time you want to read, consult with the reference
librarian on duty in the Maryland Room. Two of the titles and call numbers are: News
American (AN41.16 .A41) (1964-1986) and Baltimore News Post (AN41.16 .B2)
(May 1, 1946-Jan.11, 1964).
Washington Post
The Washington Post is available on microfilm in the Periodicals Room in
McKeldin; issues begin in 1877. Call number: AN29 .W3.
The back files of the Washington Post (1877-1988) are available online through
Research Port on the UM Libraries’ website in a database called Washington Post
Historical. This database offers full page and article images with searchable full text
back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to
every page from every available issue. There are also two other searchable databases
relating to the Post.
Washington Times
The Washington Times began publishing in 1982. It is available on microfilm in
McKeldin Periodicals. Call number: AN29 .W35.
Baltimore Sun
The Sun is available on microfilm in McKeldin Periodicals. Call number:
AN41.16 .S8
The historical files of the Sun are also accessible through a database called
Baltimore Sun Historical, accessible through Research Port on the UM Libraries’
website. This database will cover the years 1837 to 1985 by the end of 2009. Content is
being added continuously, so additional content is available each day. This database is
searchable by keyword, more than 20 article types, date ranges, specific dates, author,
and more. View news articles, photos, advertisements, classified ads, obituaries, cartoons,
and more for added context. Print and download articles and images in PDF format.
NATIONAL COVERAGE
New York Times
The New York Times is available on microfilm in McKeldin Periodicals. Call
number is AN53.N4 T5.
The historical files of the New York Times (1851-2006) are available online
through Research Port in a database called New York Times Historical on the UM
Libraries’ website. This database offers full page and article images with searchable full
text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access
to every page from every available issue. There are two other databases which relate to
the New York Times.
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is available on microfilm in McKeldin Periodicals (call
number AN25.L6 T5). More recent issues are available online; search under the call
number in the UM Libraries catalog, and click on the “Find It” button in this record in the
catalog to easily access the online issues.
AUDIO AND VIDEO NEWS COVERAGE
News coverage in audio and video format is more difficult to track down, but not
impossible. Check with local television and radio stations to see what sort of archives
they maintain. A word or two of caution—oftentimes broadcasts are not taped and
maintained archivally, or tapes may be re-used after a certain time period has elapsed,
and coverage may be lost.
Known radio and television archives include:
Vanderbilt Television News Archive
This resource, located at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, provides indexing to
national television news programs from 1968 to the present. Videotapes of programs are
available for loan from the archive. The archive is searchable by keyword, such as
“University of Maryland.” See http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/.
WMAR TV News Collection
The film archives for this Baltimore television station are located in the Special
Collections at the University of Baltimore. See http://archives.ubalt.edu/wmar/table.htm
for a description of the collection.
National Public Radio
The tape library for National Public Radio is located in the Broadcasting Archives
in the UM Libraries’ Special Collections. Contact Karen King, the Curator of the
National Public Broadcasting Archives (npba@umd.edu, 301-405-9988), for information
about accessing the records of NPR broadcasts.
Additional Resources
The University Archives holds several administrative files relating to the AfricanAmerican student papers. See:
Records of the Chancellor’s Office, Series, III, Box 4, Folder 9, Black Explosion (student
publication), October 1970-February 1972
Records of the Division of Student Affairs, Series V, Box 1, Folder 10, Black Student
Union, 1968-1970
Records of the UMS President’s Office, Box 274, Chancellor—Black Explosion (Publication
of Black Student Union), Nov. 5 Ltr. to Bishop & Reply, Nov., 22, 1971
The UMS President’s Office files from Dr. Elkins’s tenure also contain a number of files relating
to the Diamondback during his presidency (1954-1978). Search the term
“Diamondback” in the inventory to Dr. Elkins’s files, which is available at
http://www.lib.umd.edu/archivesum/findingaids/elkins.pdf
The Archives also has some publications relating to the Black Student Union (call
number UPUB S34 B7), Asian American Student Union (call number UPUB S34 A29),
Asian Student Union (call number UPUB S34 A5), and the Asian Pacific American
student group (call number UPUB S34 A31) in its University Publications Collection.
Additional advice on how to locate newspapers published in Maryland is available at:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/RARE/MarylandCollection/MDNewspapers.html
Or
http://www.world-newspapers.com/
A UM Libraries’ guide to News Sources on the Web is available at:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/guides/news_sources.html
Information and advice on Research Using Primary Sources is available at:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/special/research/
See particularly the page on using Newspapers as Primary Sources:
http://www.lib.umd.edu/special/research/interpret/example7.html