Newspaper Collection

About the newspaper collection

The Minnesota Historical Society’s Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center holds the largest single collection of Minnesota newspapers, with dates ranging from 1849 to today. The collection includes daily and weekly Minnesota newspapers, as well as non-English-language, labor, ethnic, reservation, legal, prison, religious, political, school, and other special-interest papers. Most titles have deep coverage, though the completeness of an individual newspaper file varies with the city and the time period. Past issues of newspaper titles held by MNHS are available on microfilm. Researchers can also access select digitized newspapers online.

Searching the collection

Search for newspapers using the library catalog.

  • Search by city and title of newspaper (e.g., Granite Falls Tribune) or by the city and "newspapers" (e.g., Granite Falls newspapers)
  • Limit your search to newspapers by clicking on the Genre option in the left-hand "Modify my Results" menu, and then select "Newspapers" from the listing
  • From the results list, click on a title to learn more from a newspaper’s catalog record
  • Once in catalog record for a newspaper title, look under the "Location Items" heading to get detailed listings of the microfilm rolls under that section. Click "Show more items" to see more, repeating as needed.

Viewing the collection

The majority of the newspaper collection can be viewed on microfilm. However, MNHS ceased microfilming new editions in 2010. This means that more recent newspapers are available in print format. In addition, some newspapers have been digitized and are available online with searchable interfaces. While some newspapers are freely accessible online, others are available only through subscription databases.

On microfilm

  • Microfilm of newspapers is available in the Hubbs Room of the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center
  • Microfilm of newspapers is also available through Interlibrary Loan and for purchase. Find more information about ordering microfilm on the For Libraries page.

In print

  • Most of the print-format newspapers in the MNHS collections are relatively recent, dating from 2008 or after. There are very few older, historical newspapers available in their original print formats.
  • The most recent newspapers — usually from the past calendar year — are stored on-site at the History Center. Researchers can request and view these issues on the same day.
  • Older print editions are stored in our off-site storage location. We retrieve them upon request, but they cannot be viewed the same day they are requested. For more information, please see our off-site collections page.

On-site subscription access

Some digitized newspapers are only available through paid, subscription databases. The following database can be accessed from computers in the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center at any time, using the links below.

These databases are available in the Gale Family Library reading room and at other Minnesota libraries. Users with a valid, current Minnesota public library card can access these and other databases at home through the Electronic Library of Minnesota.

Free digital access

  • Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub
    The Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub is a searchable website created by MNHS that makes hundreds of thousands of pages of Minnesota newspapers available online. This new version of the Hub (released March 2017) contains geographically and culturally diverse newspapers published between 1856 and today, including the historic Minneapolis Tribune (1867–1922). Due to copyright law, newspapers published after 1922 can only be accessed from the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center.
  • Chronicling America
    A freely accessible website that hosts historic newspapers (1860–1922) from across the United States for noncommercial, educational, and research purposes. From 2007 to 2014, MNHS contributed digitized Minnesota newspaper pages to Chronicling America as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). There are currently 38 historic Minnesota newspaper titles published between 1858 and 1922 available with keyword search capabilities.
  • Swedish American Newspapers/Svensk-Amerikanska Tidningar
    Hundreds of Swedish-language newspapers were published in the United States from 1850 onwards, catering to America’s Swedish immigrant communities. Use this online portal to learn more about these newspapers, and to search over 300,000 digitized newspaper pages from 28 different Swedish American newspaper titles published across the United States between 1859 and 2007.
  • Winona Newspaper Project
    An online archive of late 19th century and early 20th century Winona newspapers.
  • Minneapolis Labor Review (1907-2006)
    The Labor Review Archive is available free to the public online. The online archive was created and is hosted by the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation.
  • Minnesota Daily (1900-2012)
    The PDF archive for the Minnesota Daily — the newspaper of the University of Minnesota — is available free to the public. Editions are organized by year and are browsable by date.

Indexes and finding aids for newspapers

Combined, printed indexes for the following newspapers (here referred to by commonly known titles) are available in the Hubbs Room of the Gale Family Library at the Minnesota History Center.

Please note there is not a master index to newspaper articles, obituaries, or advertisements.