NYPL Blogs: Paperless Research

Investigue y aprenda sobre los derechos humanos con la Biblioteca

Camila Franco Diaz, Communications — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 16:50:00 -0500

Entrega adaptada del inglés escrita por: Camila Franco Díaz (Editora de acceso lingüístico y alcance comunitario) en colaboración con Paloma Celis Carbajal (Curadora para las colecciones Latinoamericanas, Ibéricas, y de Latinos en EUA)

En conmemoración del Día Universal de los Derechos Humanos, celebrado cada 10 de diciembre, la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York ha creado una breve lista de recursos para ayudarle a explorar el tema. Estos recursos son accesibles para cualquier persona que tenga una tarjeta de la NYPL.

1. Archivo de Fondos y Colecciones of the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos

Contiene materiales escritos e imágenes de artefactos físicos que documentan las violaciones de derechos humanos bajo la dictadura de Augusto Pinochet en Chile de 1973-1990, así como materiales que documentan las luchas por defender los derechos humanos en ese período.

2. Archive it

Una colección con capacidad de búsqueda de copias archivadas de sitios web de derechos humanos creados por organizaciones no gubernamentales, instituciones nacionales de derechos humanos, tribunales e individuos.

3. A rchivo Radial

Colecciones de audios radiales del Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos. Consta, por una parte, de una base de datos cuyos campos y descripciones permiten realizar búsquedas de forma temática o libre; por otra, permite la escucha y revisión de las grabaciones radiofónicas desde cualquier computador; constituyendo un recurso para la investigación y difusión de los derechos humanos en el país. Estos registros son de naturaleza y origen diverso. Corresponden a despachos periodísticos, noticias, segmentos, locuciones y programas completos, emitidos por radioemisoras nacionales e internacionales, algunos de estos últimos realizados por chilenos desde el exilio. Registros ordenados por emisora y programa, pero también se pueden hacer búsquedas temáticas.

4. Bartolomé de las Casas

Archivo digital sobre la vida y obra de Bartolomé de las Casas. Incluye tanto las obras que escribió como ilustraciones, una biografía y una bibliografía de obras sobre de las Casas.

5. A rchivos en uso

Un proyecto colectivo impulsado por distintos grupos de trabajo de la Red Conceptualismos del Sur y del “Grupo de Estudios sobre Arte, cultura y política en la Argentina reciente”, radicado en el Instituto de Investigaciones Gino Germani, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires.Contiene material sobre Democracia; Dictaduras; Personas desaparecidas; Eva Perón; Derechos humanos; Carteles políticos; Movimientos populares; Juan Perón; Juan Carlos Romero.

6. B NM Digital

Un compendio de más de 900,000 páginas que demuestran la tortura practicada por la dictadura militar en Brasil entre 1964 y 1985.

¿Le gustaría seguir investigando? He aquí hay un resultado de búsqueda de lo que tenemos en colecciones de investigación en español sobre el tema de Derechos Humanos.

The Library Adds Access to Central and East European Online Library (CEEOL)

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 13:50:30 -0400

Central and East European Online Library (CEEOL) is a leading provider of academic e-journals and e-books in the humanities and social sciences from and about Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, over 1,000 publishers entrust CEEOL with their high-quality journals and e-books.

CEEOL provides scholars, researchers, and students with access to a wide range of academic content in a constantly growing, dynamic repository. Currently, it covers more than 2,000 journals and 690,000 articles. The open-access part of the database includes 1,800 e-book titles and 6,000 grey literature documents.

Access to CEEOL database is available remotely with your NYPL library card.

Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana 2021: realización de investigaciones con los recursos electrónicos y otras bases de datos de la NYPL

Camila Franco Diaz, Communications — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 18:05:39 -0400

Read this post in English

Desde el 15 de septiembre hasta el 15 de octubre es el Mes Nacional de la Herencia Hispana. La Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York ha creado esta lista de recursos gratuitos en línea para ayudarlo a profundizar en los muchos aspectos de la historia y la cultura latinas e hispanas. Cualquier persona que tenga una tarjeta de biblioteca puede acceder de forma gratuita a estos recursos en línea. También se mencionan otros archivos digitales públicos notables con artefactos, materiales e imágenes de la comunidad latina e hispana.

Investigación general y académica

Credo Reference

Brinda acceso a más de 1,000 libros de referencia multidisciplinarios sobre arte, salud y medicina, historia, derecho, literatura, política, psicología y varias enciclopedias.

HLAS Web (Handbook of Latin American Studies)

Base de datos bibliográfica en línea en la que se pueden realizar búsquedas vincula a los investigadores con descripciones académicas de más de 260.000 libros, revistas, capítulos de libros, artículos de conferencias, mapas y atlas y recursos electrónicos publicados desde la década de 1970 hasta el presente. opciones y límites, y opciones sencillas para citar, guardar y enviar por correo electrónico los resultados de la búsqueda.

HLAS Online

Esta herramienta en línea vincula a los investigadores con descripciones de materiales publicados desde la década de 1930 hasta el presente y también brinda acceso en línea a ensayos bibliográficos de texto completo escritos por académicos. HLAS Online es un sistema de búsqueda heredado con búsqueda básica y experta.

JSTOR

Contiene miles de artículos de varias revistas académicas y capítulos de libros de publicaciones hispanas / latinx contemporáneas.

ProQuest Research Library

Incluye miles de artículos de varias revistas académicas, periódicos y revistas locales, nacionales e internacionales y publicaciones comerciales.

RedALyC

Redalyc es una de las bases de datos de acceso abierto más prestigiosas de la región. Reúne revistas publicadas en 26 países por 695 instituciones de investigación, con más de 1.400 revistas de investigación y un cuarto de millón de artículos disponibles en texto completo y gratis en formato pdf. La mayoría de los artículos están en español, portugués e inglés. Incluye resúmenes en español e inglés, información de referencia y otros metadatos.

Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926

Ofrece una perspectiva de la vida en el hemisferio occidental, que abarca desde la llegada de los europeos a las costas de América del Norte a finales del siglo XV hasta las primeras décadas del siglo XX. Cubriendo más de 400 años y más de 65,000 volúmenes en América del Norte, Central y del Sur y las Indias Occidentales, esta colección digital fácil de usar destaca la sociedad, la política, las creencias religiosas, la cultura, las opiniones contemporáneas y los eventos trascendentales de la tiempo a través de sermones, tratados políticos, periódicos, libros, folletos, mapas, legislación, literatura y más.

SciELO

Una de las primeras y más grandes bases de datos de revistas académicas de acceso abierto basadas en América Latina y sus alrededores. En 2013, SciELO se integró en Web of Knowledge (WoS) de Thomson Reuters. Para 2015, SciELO brindó acceso abierto a más de 1200 revistas de la región, lo que permitió búsquedas a nivel de artículo y revista, por tema o país. Los usuarios pueden ver y descargar resúmenes, textos completos y citas.

Periódicos y revistas

Caribbean Newspapers (1718-1876)

Más de 140 títulos de periódicos de 22 países están cubiertos en esta base de datos, proporcionando contenido de fuente primaria sobre la historia colonial, la trata de esclavos y el comercio.

Digitalia Hispánica

Base de datos de revistas, diarios y libros electrónicos en español para bibliotecas con más de 40.000 documentos electrónicos.

HAPI (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)

Producido por el Instituto Latinoamericano de la Universidad de California, Los Ángeles, el Índice de publicaciones periódicas hispanoamericanas (HAPI) es una base de datos bibliográfica que proporciona citas de los contenidos de revistas académicas publicadas en todo el mundo sobre América Latina, el Caribe y las personas hispanas / latinas en los EE. UU. desde finales de la década de 1960.

Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980)

Esta colección representa la compilación electrónica más grande de periódicos en español impresos en los Estados Unidos durante los siglos XIX y XX.

Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press

Una colección de publicaciones históricas mexicanas y mexicoamericanas de Tucson, El Paso, Los Ángeles, San Francisco y Sonora, México. De las bibliotecas de la Universidad de Arizona.

Newspapers.com

Una base de datos con más de 11,100 periódicos de historia de todo el mundo, incluidos más de 2,000 periódicos del continente americano y 22 periódicos de Hawái. El marco temporal de los periódicos abarca principalmente los siglos XIX y XX.

Latino American Experience

Abarca la historia y la cultura de todos los países de América Latina, el Caribe y la Península Ibérica, incluido contenido sobre los países latinoamericanos actuales, la historia de la diáspora hispana y los pueblos indígenas. Presenta ensayos revisados por pares, fuentes de referencia, documentos primarios, medios, periódicos y revistas.

Latin American Newspapers (1805-1922)

Cobertura de las personas, los problemas y los eventos que dieron forma a América Latina durante el siglo XIX y principios del XX. Incluye títulos de periódicos de Brasil, Argentina, México, Perú, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala y otros.

Latin American Newsstand

Ofrece información de texto completo en español y portugués de 41 periódicos de Puerto Rico y 11 países de América Latina, incluidos México, Argentina y Brasil. Los artículos completos están disponibles en formato ASCII.

Recursos digitales adicionales

Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes

La Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes es un proyecto de biblioteca digital a gran escala, alojado y mantenido por la Universidad de Alicante en Alicante, España. Comprende el mayor repositorio de acceso abierto de textos históricos y literatura en español digitalizados y del mundo iberoamericano desde el siglo X hasta la actualidad.

dLOC (Digital Library of the Caribbean)

Un proyecto de digitalización cooperativo, multilingüe y multiinstitucional de socios dentro del Caribe y la circunferencia del Caribe que brinda a los usuarios acceso abierto a materiales culturales, históricos y de investigación caribeños que se encuentran en archivos, bibliotecas y colecciones privadas, incluido el Diario del Caribe. Biblioteca digital, Colección de mapas del Caribe, materiales de Panamá y la Zona del Canal y Archivo Vudú.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog

Contiene millones de fotografías digitales, grabados, ilustraciones y dibujos de la Biblioteca del Congreso.

LACLI (index to free online resources on Latin America and Latinx)

LACLI es un esfuerzo colectivo para crear un almacén de recursos electrónicos gratuitos en línea con contenido completo latinoamericano, caribeño, latinoamericano e ibérico.

Smithsonian Institution Search Center

Contiene millones de fotografías digitales e imágenes de artefactos de museos, fotografías, clips de audio y video y publicaciones de blogs.

Oxford Bibliographies Online

Una colección de guías de investigación para una amplia variedad de temas. Incluye resúmenes de temas y bibliografías comentadas.

National Hispanic Heritage Month 2021: Researching with NYPL's E-Resources and Other Databases

Camila Franco Diaz, Communications — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 08:57:18 -0400

Leer este post en español

From September 15 through October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. The New York Public Library has created this list of free online resources to help you delve into the many aspects of Latinx & Hispanic history and culture. These online resources can be accessed for free by anyone with a library card. Other notable public digital archives with Hispanic & Latinx artifacts, articles, and images are mentioned as well.

General and Scholarly Research

Credo Reference

Provides access to more than 1,000 multidisciplinary reference books on art, health and medicine, history, law, literature, politics, psychology, and various encyclopedias.

HLAS Web (Handbook of Latin American Studies)

This searchable online bibliographic database links researchers to scholarly descriptions of more than 260,000 books, journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, maps and atlases, and electronic resources published from the 1970s to the present.HLAS Web is mobile-friendly, offers multiple search options and limits, and easy options for citing, saving, and emailing search results.

HLAS Online

This online tool links researchers to descriptions of materials published from the 1930s to the present and also provides online access to full-text bibliographic essays written by scholars. HLAS Online is a legacy search system with Basic and Expert searching.

JSTOR

Contains thousands of articles from various scholarly journals and book chapters from contemporary Hispanic/Latinx publications.

ProQuest Research Library

Includes thousands of articles from various scholarly journals, local, national and international newspapers and magazines, and trade publications.

RedALyC

Redalyc is one of the most prestigious Open Access databases for the region. It gathers journals published in 26 countries by 695 research institutions, with over 1,400 research journals and a quarter million articles available full-text and free in pdf format. Most articles are in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. It includes abstracts in Spanish and English languages, reference information, and other metadata.

Sabin Americana: History of the Americas, 1500–1926

offers a perspective on life in the western hemisphere, encompassing the arrival of the Europeans on the shores of North America in the late fifteenth century to the first decades of the twentieth century. Covering more than 400 years and more than 65,000 volumes in North, Central, and South America and the West Indies, this easy-to-use digital collection highlights the society, politics, religious beliefs, culture, contemporary opinions, and momentous events of the time through sermons, political tracts, newspapers, books, pamphlets, maps, legislation, literature, and more.

SciELO

SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) is one of the first and largest databases of Open Access academic journals based in and around Latin America. In 2013, SciELO was integrated into Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge (WoS). By 2015, SciELO provided Open Access to over 1200 journals from the region, allowing searches at article and journal level, by subject or country. Users can view and download abstract, full-text, and citation information.

Newspapers and Magazines

Caribbean Newspapers (1718-1876)

More than 140 newspaper titles, from 22 countries are covered in this database, providing primary source content on colonial history, slave trade, and commerce.

Digitalia Hispánica

Database of magazines, journals, and electronic books in Spanish for libraries with more than 40,000 electronic documents.

HAPI (Hispanic American Periodicals Index)

Database of magazines, journals, and electronic books in Spanish for libraries with more than 40,000 electronic documents.

Hispanic American Newspapers (1808-1980)

This collection represents the single largest electronic compilation of Spanish-language newspapers printed in the U.S. during the 19th and 20th centuries

Historic Mexican and Mexican American Press

A collection of historical Mexican and Mexican American publications from Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico. From the University of Arizona libraries.

Newspapers.com

A database with over 11,100 history newspapers from around the world, including more than 2,000 newspapers from the American mainland and 22 newspapers from Hawaii. The time frame for the newspapers mainly covers the 19th and 20th centuries.

Latino American Experience

Covers history and culture from all the countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Iberian Peninsula, including content on modern-day Latin American countries, the history of the Hispanic Diaspora, and indigenous peoples. Features peer-reviewed essays, reference sources, primary documents, media, newspapers, and magazines.

Latin American Newspapers (1805-1922)

Coverage of the people, issues, and events that shaped Latin America during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Includes titles from newspapers in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Guatemala, and others.

Latin American Newsstand

ProQuest Latin American Newsstand provides full-text information in Spanish and Portuguese from 41 newspapers from Puerto Rico and 11 Latin American countries, including Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. The complete articles are available in ASCII format.

Additional Digital Resources

Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes

The Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library is a large-scale digital library project, hosted and maintained by the University of Alicante in Alicante, Spain. It comprises the largest open-access repository of digitized Spanish-language historical texts and literature from the Ibero-American world from the 10th century to the present times.

dLOC (Digital Library of the Caribbean)

The dLOC is a cooperative, multilingual and multi-institutional digitization project of partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that provides users with open access to Caribbean cultural, historical, and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections including the Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library, the Caribbean Map Collection, Panama and Canal Zone materials and The Vodou Archive.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog

Contains millions of digital photographs, prints, illustrations, and drawings from the Library of Congress.

LACLI (index to free online resources on Latin America and Latinx)

LACLI is a collective effort to create a warehouse of online free e-resources with Latin American, Caribbean, U.S. Latinx, and Iberian full content.

Smithsonian Institution Search Center

Contains millions of digital photographs and image of museum artifacts, photographs, audio, and video clips and blog posts.

Oxford Bibliographies Online

A collection of research guides for a wide variety of subjects. Includes topic overviews and annotated bibliographies.

Researching Human Rights at The New York Public Library

NYPL Staff — Wed, 25 Nov 2020 14:35:50 -0500

Very Short Introductions Database

In honor of Universal Human Rights Month, The New York Public Library has created this list of online resources to help you explore all aspects of human rights—nationally and internationally. These online resources are accessible to anyone with a New York Public Library card.

1. ACLU American Civil Liberties Union Papers 1912-1995

The ACLU digital archive includes more than 2 million pages of primary resource materials from the organization's archives. Patrons can explore legal briefs, newspapers, internal memoranda and committee reports dealing with human rights issues, as well as other major topics, such as the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War.

2. Archives of Sexuality and Gender

This database contains 18 digitized archival collections exploring LGBT history and culture since 1940. Patrons can find excellent resources concerning human rights and the LGBT community, for example, The Human Rights Situation of the LGBT : Shadow Report Submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee and Born Free and Equal Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Human Rights Law.

3. Brill Online Books and Journals

This online resource contains thousands of e-books and e-journals, including the collection, "Human Rights and Humanitarian Law E-Books Online, 2017". This collection includes current titles covering human rights issues all over the globe, for example, Ending War Crimes, Chasing the War Criminals and Blurring Boundaries: Human Security and Forced Migration.

A Transnational Human Rights Approach to Human Trafficking. Available in Brill Online Books and Journals

4. Cambridge Core

Through the Cambridge Core database, NYPL patrons can access hundreds of books and journals published by Cambridge University Press, covering many areas of studies. This database also provides extensive coverage on human rights issues, with books such as, Human Rights in Emergencies and Beyond Human Rights.

Beyond Human Rights. Available in Cambridge Core

5. Credo Reference

If you are in need of a quick introduction to issues relating to human rights, the Credo Reference database is a great place to begin. You can begin your research with the Encyclopedia of Human Rights in the United States, Encyclopedia of Human Rights Issues Since 1945, and The Atlas of Human Rights.

An Encylopedia of Human Rights in the United States. Available in Credo Reference.

6. Ethnic NewsWatch (1959-present)

This resource provides a large collection of ethnic, minority, and native newspapers, magazines and journals published in the United States covering human rights issues nationally and internationally.

7. IMF eLibrary Texts

This database is a full-text collection of virtually all publications from the International Monetary Fund since 1946. The collection includes important titles such as, Human Rights and the IMF and the Human Development Report.

8. Modern Genocide: Understanding Causes and Consequences

This database covers genocides globally from 1904, from the Herero Genocide to the Darfur Genocide. Researchers can explore the causes, consequences and international reaction to these genocides through various formats, including photographs, videos and government documents.

9. Sage Knowledge

This social sciences database includes thousands of e-books, journal articles, videos, interviews, handbooks and other reference materials. Patrons can view thousands of current works focused on human rights, such as, The Sage Handbook of Human Rights, Crime and Human Rights: Genocide and Atrocities, and Human Rights and Peace: Ideas, Laws, Institutions and Movements.

The SAGE Handbook of Human Rights. Found in Sage Knowledge

10. United Nations iLibrary

Perhaps one of the best sources to research international human rights issues, the United Nations iLibrary provides publications across a broad range of UN programs—this includes statistical compilations as well as thematic treatments of major international issues covering human rights. Patrons can read works such as, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, The Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, and Women's Rights are Human Rights.

11. Very Short Introductions

Oxford University Press's Very Short Introduction series provides concise overviews of a topic, covering all areas of humanities, law, medicine, science and the social sciences. This series provides an extensive collection of issues dealing with all areas of human rights from torture to civil liberties.

Peace: A Very Short Introduction.
Found in Very Short Introductions

9 Reasons to Try the Naxos Music Library

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 10:30:20 -0400

Naxos Music Library is a streaming music service, available with your library card, that includes nearly 2.5 million tracks (over 150K discs) to listen to. Primarily "Western Art Music" from the 14th to 21st century, it also includes hundreds of film soundtracks and cast recordings of musicals, as well as content from around the world. Come explore with us!

Reasons to Try the Naxos Music Library

It's free to use with your library card (NYS residents can apply for a digital card via our SimplyE app).
It's also commercial-free streaming, unique in its depth and diversity.
The library includes complete Naxos and Marco Polo catalogues, plus thousands of titles from other labels, including Chandos, BIS, Hungaroton, Hänssler, Bridge, First Edition, CPO, Coro, and Wergo.
There is an extensive collection of film music and musicals.
You can download to the app for offline listening (find help here for using the app).
Tracks are identified—you actually know what you’re listening to!
A booklet with program notes accompanies each recording (in web version).
You can create and share playlists.
The website can be navigated in eight languages—English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Korean (look for a globe icon at the top to change language).

Extra Features and Resources

Naxos Music Dictionary with audio clips
Naxos Musicology International, a new online platform for music scholarship and opinion
Work Analysis for more than two dozen composers
Aural Training exercises for students

Naxos Music Library homepage

Recent additions in the
Naxos Music Library app

Who Is It For?

Anyone with an interest in classical or concert music, musical theatre and film music fans, scholars and beginners will enjoy exploring this resource. Naxos Music Library has a deep catalog, preferring to record new or little known works rather than multiple recordings of the same works. Music students now have an alternative to YouTube for free-streaming. And aficionados will not tire of following recent additions to the Naxos Music Library (left sidebar, “New & News”)—246 in the last week.

For more tips, including how to log in with the Naxos mobile app, see Streaming Audio and Video in Music Research from Home using NYPL resources.

You can find e-books to enhance your listening, in our catalog:

Music appreciation (OverDrive and Libby)
Music appreciation (web resources)

Check out NYPL's playlist on Naxos:
Climate, Environmentalism and the Performing Arts: A Playlist

This post was prepared with assistance from Rebecca Littman, Managing Librarian, Music & Recorded Sound, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Researching with NYPL's E-Resources and Other Databases

Michelle Lee, Young Adult Librarian, Riverside Library — Tue, 19 May 2020 11:10:12 -0400

Children of Chinatown, San Francisco, 1903-1904. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID 66574

May is Asian Pacific America Heritage Month. The New York Public Library has created this list of free online resources to help you delve into the many aspects of Asian/Pacific American history and culture, including genealogy, the performing arts, LGBT studies and more to promote further research this month or any time of the year.

These online resources can be accessed for free to anyone with a New York Public Library Card. Other notable public digital archives with Asian/Pacific American artifacts, articles and images are mentioned as well.

Some important research tips:

Searching for the term "Asian American" in a digital database or archive may sometimes lead to overwhelming or disappointing search results that include Asian-specific articles, images and references, or search results from unrelated topics that just happen to have the words "Asian" or "American" within the text or description.

Screenshot of search term results for "Asian American" in Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog

Similarly, search results for the term "Indian American" can vary as well and occasionally include articles, photographs and other stories about Native Americans/American Indians.

Screenshot of search term results for "Indian American" in The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Researchers can narrow down resources by using a combination of specific search terms for different Asian/Pacific American ethnic groups (such as "Korean American," "Filipino American," "Asian Indian American," "Native Hawaiian," or "Samoan,") or by using more general terms, such as "South Asian American," or "Pacific Islander."

General and Scholarly Research

Credo Reference

Provides access to more than 1,000 multidisciplinary reference books on art, health and medicine, history, law, literature, politics, psychology, and various encyclopedias.

Gale Virtual Reference

Contains hundreds of articles on Asian/Pacific American studies from e-books and encyclopedias, including the Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature; Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia; Asian American Cultures: From Anime to Tiger Moms; Asian American Religious Cultures and Japanese Americans: The History and Culture of a People.

JSTOR

Contains thousands of articles from various scholarly journals and book chapters from contemporary Asian/Pacific American publications, including books and journals published by the University of Hawaii Press.

ProQuest Research Library

Includes thousands of articles from various scholarly journals, local, national and international newspapers and magazines and trade publications. Titles that may be of interest include the Journal of Asian American Studies, Asian American Policy Review and Amerasia Journal.

U.S. History in Context

A database with millions of general reference materials, news and periodical articles, academic journals, images and primary source documents. Patrons can access biographies on notable Asian/Pacific American activists, artists, scholars, politicians, writers, scientists and athletes by searching Asian American Reference Library, Encyclopedia of World Biography Online and Newsmakers Online.

Genealogy

Ancestry Library Edition

Includes databases from around the world with billions of records for genealogical research, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, military records, immigration and emigration travel lists, and citizenship and naturalization records. Some databases of interest for Asian/Pacific American research include U.S. - Chinese Exclusion Act Case files from 1883-1924; Hawaii Special Rights of Citizenship Certificates from 1894-1895; ship passenger lists for several states and Ellis Island during select years, U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes from 1791-1992; and U.S. City Directories from 1822-1995.

Ancestry also provides access to U.S. Federal Census records from 1790 to 1940. Asians were first counted in the 1870 Census when enumerators were instructed to write "C" for Chinese as a separate race category (which was also used to classify all people of East Asian descent). Enumerators later specified "Chinese" and "Japanese" as separate race categories in the 1890 Census. Additional Asian ethnic categories —"Korean," "Filipino," and "Hindu" —would be added in the 1930 Census and people of other backgrounds could write in their respective race.

People who live in the Hawaiian Islands were first counted in the 1900 Census, two years after annexation (for more information on earlier censuses, visit the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library historical census guide). Residents of Guam and American Samoa were first counted in the 1920 Census and residents of the Northern Mariana Islands were first counted in the 1970 Census (for more information, visit the U.S. Census History website on Island Areas).

Newspapers and Magazines

India Abroad, March 30,2020. Archives accessible via Ethnic News Watch. Image from www.indiaabroad.com

Yolk, vol. 1,1994. Archives accessible via Ethnic News Watch. Image from www.yolk.com

Ethnic News Watch

A collection of more than 400 various ethnic, minority and native newspapers, magazines and journals primarily in English and published in North America. Current and archived newspapers of interest include AsianWeek, India Abroad, Filipino Reporter, Hmong Times, Korea Times and Northwest Asian Weekly. Current and archived magazines and journals of interest include A. Magazine, Chinese America: History and Perspectives, Chopsticks NY, Filipinas, Hinduism Today, Hmong Studies Journal, Hyphen Magazine, V. Magazine and Yolk.

Newspapers.com

The New York Public Library also provides remote digital access to more than 100 other databases for current and historical national and international newspapers in various languages, including the World Newspaper Archive from 1800 -1920, 12 English-language Chinese newspapers from 1832-1953, the South China Morning Post from 1903 - 1996, the Times of India from 1838-2003, the Japan Times Archive from 1897 - 2015, and the Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971, which contains digitized copies of several Japanese internment/concentration camp newspapers and the Rocky Shimpo, a Japanese American newspaper from Denver, Colorado.

Lesbian Gay Transgender Bisexual (LGBT) Resources

Archives of Sexuality and Gender

Contains 54 digitized archival collections focused on LGBTQ culture and history since 1940. Collections of particular Asian/Pacific American interest include the Asian/Pacific AIDS Coalition (APAC)Records, from a San Francisco advocacy group that existed from 1987-1995; and the Asian Pacific Lesbians and Gays (A/PLG) Records, a collection of materials from the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives spanning 1977-2012.

Other NYPL Collections

"Aloha Oe sheet music." Queen of Hawaii Liliuokalani (1838-1917), composer and lyricist. The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1899. Image ID 1269177.

Japanese agricultural workers packing broccoli near Guadalupe, California . Dorothea Lange, photographer. The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1937. Image ID 57585029.

The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Has more than 890,000 digitized historic and contemporary items ranging from photographs, illustrations, documents and audio/visual materials.

Note: some of the older photographs, illustrations and texts may have images, captions and descriptions that use outdated or stereotypical language and depictions from the time the item was made that would now be considered racist or offensive.

Chinatown Legacy Project

The New York Public Library Community Oral History Project

A collection of more than 50 interviews with current and former Manhattan Chinatown residents and local business owners. Some interviews were conducted in partnership with the Chinese-American Planning Council. One person who talks in length about Chinese American history is Corky Lee, the "undisputed unofficial Asian American photographer laureate."

The Library for the Performing Arts

The Library for the Performing Arts has several collections of interest, including the archives of theater director/choreographer/film and video artist Ping Chong, actress/dancer/talent agent Jadin Wong, costume designer Willa Kim, the papers of classical Indian dancer and teacher Indrani Rahman, videos from the Asian American Dance Theatre and archived materials from the South Asian Theater Arts Movement. Some materials may be accessed virtually from the New York Public Library Digital Collection.

Indrani: Classical Indian Dancer. The New York Public Library Digital Collections, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. 1965-1975. Image ID 1712322.

Besame costume sketches for Eric Rivera and Jenny Sandler. Willa Kim, costume designer. The New York Public Library Digital Collections, Billy Rose Theatre Division. 2001. Image ID: 58110509.

Additional Digital Resources

Angel Island Immigration Station Archives

Contains historic photographs, films and immigrant stories and photographs, translations and audio/video recordings of the Chinese poetry inscribed on the immigrant station barrack walls.

Archives New Zealand

Contains thousands of digitized government records, photographs and artwork going back to 1840, including a research guide for Māori genealogy and records.

The Chinese Railroad Workers Project at Stanford Libraries

A digital exhibit website which contains digitized images of artifacts and records connected to the Chinese laborers who worked on the U.S. transcontinental railroad from 1864-1849. The website also contains oral history interviews with the descendents of the railroad workers recorded from 2013-2018.

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project Digital Repository

Contains thousands of photographs, documents, newspapers, oral histories, interviews and other primary source materials connected to the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Guampedia

A digital heritage project with articles and pictures about the history, geography, government and environment of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands and information about Chamorro art and culture.

Hawaii State Digital Archives Photography Collection

Contains a selection of historic photographs of people, places, items and events from the 18th to 20th century. Popular collections include photos of Hawaiian royalty, Honolulu, sugar plantations and airlines.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog

Contains millions of digital photographs, prints, illustrations and drawings from the Library of Congress, including Ansel Adam's photographs of the Japanese American Internment at Manzanar.

National Archives Asian American and Pacific Islander Month website

Contains numerous select articles, images, teaching documents, research links and videos.

Smithsonian Institution Search Center

Contains millions of digital photographs and image of museum artifacts, photographs, audio and video clips and blog posts.

South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

Contains thousands of digital images, newspaper clippings, oral histories, films, articles and other artifacts related to South Asian American history from the 19th century to the present.

University of Hawaii at Manoa Library Digital Image Collection

Contains digitized images of scrapbooks, photographs, illustrations, maps, music, magic lantern slides and other artifacts from the University of Hawaii at Manoa Library spanning the 18th century to the present.

Welga Digital Archive - Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies

Contains digital photographs, documents and oral histories pertaining to the Filipino American labor movement and activism in California, including the United Farm Workers (UFW) and Delano grape strike.

Exploring Ethnic NewsWatch

Amanda Seigel — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 14:29:26 -0400

Ethnic NewsWatch is a database of 477 publications, including scholarly journals, newspapers and magazines, that focus on African-American, African, Arab, Asian/Pacific Islander, Caribbean, European, Jewish, Latinx, Multi-Ethnic, and Native communities. The publications are largely in English, with 18 in Spanish, and a few other languages. They range from the well-known to the highly localized and somewhat obscure. Although some publications are indexed as far back as 1959, coverage is particularly strong from the 1990’s and 00’s onward.

Ethnic NewsWatch is a terrific resource, particularly for hard-to-find, small local publications as well as academic journals for which physical copies are not easily accessible. Here you can search publications’ contents remotely, and in many cases get the full text in a few different formats. Because the database is text-based, though, it doesn’t provide images of the pages like other databases such as PressReader; therefore you may not be able to find images for ads, photographs, or other visuals here. For those, you may need to place an InterLibrary Loanrequest if NYPL does not own a physical copy of the issue(s) you need.

Using the Database

Go to the login page and click “Connect to database”

Log in with your Library card and four-digit PIN.

(Forgot your Library card number or PIN? Contact Ask-NYPL Don’t have a Library card yet? Get one here

Browse by Publication

Choose “Publications” from the top menu for an alphabetical list of titles.

Narrow your search by:

Source type (type of publication: scholarly journal, newspaper, magazine, etc.)
Publication subject (ethnic group or topic)
Language
Publisher

Click “more” at the bottom of each option for a more detailed list.

Search for Content

Enter your article title or author (if you have it) in the search box.

Or, enter one or two keywords that relate to your research topic. Choose “Advanced search” for more options to narrow your search.

Here is an example of results from a keyword search:

You can print, download, cite, and save content in a variety of formats, as shown on the top of this page on the left.

Still not finding what you need? We are here to help—contact a librarian.

The Homebody Generalist: A Short Guide to Knowing it All from Home

Andrew Fairweather, Seward Park Library — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 14:53:54 -0400

Athanasius Kircher, one of history's more bizarre polymaths

Oh, to be a generalist! Seamlessly weaving one's way in and out of conversation, the generalist is a know-it-all who, while risking pedantry, often saves the day with a simple preamble—"as a matter of fact..." Naturally, with your library card the goal of achieving a broad spectrum of knowledge comes at no cost to you... but did you know that the New York Public Library offers many resources to assist in your "polymathematical pursuits" from the comfort of your own home? And now that coronavirus has us spending more time indoors, there's never been a better time to explore the wealth of online resources the NYPL has on offer for the couch-bound... and the resources below are just the tip of the iceberg. Homebodies rejoice!

Oxford Very Short Introductions

The Oxford Very Short Introductions series probably needs no... introduction. It is an incredibly popular series, offering navigable paths towards acquaintance with a wide range of subjects. Each volume is written by an expert in the field and is delivered in approachable language that renders even the most esoteric subjects readable. And with your library card the entire catalog of Very Short Introductions is accessible from home!

The Cambridge Companion

The Cambridge Companion series is an in-depth exploration of subjects from law, literature, and history to individual works by writers, artists, and philosophers. Ideal for the lifelong learner, whether as an introduction to a new frontier, or a gateway to deepen your relationship with an already familiar subject. Available from home with your library card as a web-resource.

Who says you need a degree from Cambridge to intellectually spar with the best of them?

Oneworld Beginner's Guides

The Oneworld Beginner's Guides are a great way to get a brief on complicated or technical subjects, world-historical events, and broad, heady issues. And since most of their catalog is offered by the NYPL in e-book form, you can browse these books from home with just as much effort as it takes to enjoy breakfast in bed.

Opposing Viewpoints & Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society

Every issue has two sides, as they say. Key to being an affable generalist is the ability to understand both sides of controversial issues with a holistic sensibility. Checking out the Opposing Viewpoints and the Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society should help prepare you for your role as peacemaker at your next social gathering... whenever that may be.

Lynda.com

For the more practically-minded generalist, check out Lynda.com. This technically-bent resource is a wonderful way to begin courses in an array of popular fields including web design, IT, education, and business. Also, be sure to browse our "...For Dummies" series, available in e-book format. The series is known for its non-intimidating delivery of complicated technical subjects. With these resources, you'll learn to be a Jack/Jill of all trades without leaving the door. People will wonder—"where do they find the time?"

JSTOR

It's true—JSTOR is a little different from the resources listed above and is usually only available onsite at branches of the New York Public Library, but I'd be remiss not to mention it... after all, for the time being the NYPL has made itavailable from home (with a library card). This incredibly popular database containes articles from scholarly journals in a wide sweep of academic fields. So dive deep and take advantage while you can!

This short list is but a few examples of how you may broaden the scope of your curiosity from home sweet home. But don't take my word for it—go ahead and take some time to see for yourself. After all, we've got plenty of it at the moment... and we'll be returning to the outside world before you know it... so, prepare a snack, go get your library card, and get to learning!

The Secret Lives of Pantry Staples

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 14:13:53 -0400

A mouse in the pantry by Beatrix Potter. Image ID: 1704435

'How to Stock your Pantry' has become a popular headline in the news these days, and one not limited to cooking publications. With restaurants closed in most cities, Americans are in their kitchens, cooking for loved ones and they often seek guidance as to managing their grocery trips. So how do you stock your pantry? Ideally, with staples like milk, peanut butter, bread, fruit. But ever wonder about the histories of those foods? The following books, all available online with a New York Public Library card, reveal the backstories of some basic foods, but with histories that are anything but.

The Banana: Empires, Trade Wars, and Globalization by James Wiley (University of Nebraska Press, 2008). Available in Project Muse.

The portable, humble banana has a far more complicated story than one might imagine. Introduced to U.S. consumers in the late 19th century via refrigerated shipping, the banana quickly became popular in both the United States and Europe. This book peels back the layers of the banana's history, from the creation of a banana empire in Latin America to the recent, and seemingly ongoing, international banana trade disputes.

Comfort Food: Meanings and Memories by Michael Owen Jones and Lucy M. Long (University Press of Mississippi, 2017). Available in University Press Scholarship Online.

Don't let the photos of macaroni and cheese and chocolate chip cookies on the cover of Comfort Food fool you. This is not a cookbook, but rather a compilation of essays written by anthropologists, folklorists, and sociologists on the idea of "comfort food": when did the concept of comfort food emerge? What kinds of foods provide comfort (or discomfort) and why? And how do childhood memories form comfort food attachments? A timely read indeed.

Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food by Jon Krampner (Columbia University Press, 2013). Available in University Press Scholarship Online.

Speaking of childhood comfort foods, I offer two words: peanut butter. Or rather, Creamy and Crunchy—the title of this book that documents the very American love affair with peanut butter. Here you'll find chapters on the Big Three: Skippy, Jif and Peter Pan (and why Peter Pan lost its groove); the growing acceptance of peanut butter internationally; and peanut butter's role in helping to combat world hunger with its inclusion in Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTFs) packs.

Nature's Perfect Food: How Milk Became America's Drink by E. Melanie DuPuis (NYU Press, 2002). Available in Project Muse.

"Got Milk?" was the hugely popular dairy industry ad campaign of the mid 1990s, but Dr. DuPuis, author of Nature's Perfect Food, prefers to start her book with Why Milk? She answers that question by looking at milk consumption as a food habit, a social practice, and as an ingredient of social reform movements. She also explores the sometimes fraught political and economic landscape that is the dairy industry in the United States.

Baking Powder Wars: The Cut Throat Food Fight that Revolutionized Cooking by Linda Civitello (University of Illinois Press, 2017). Available in Project Muse and University Press Scholarship Online.

Baking powder is ususally dispensed by the teaspoon in baked good recipes, but that small measurement belies the enormous impact it's had in how we cook and bake and eat today. Baking powder, a chemical leavening agent introduced in the 19th century, not only gives food height, but also reduces cooking times and changes the texture of food. That combination resulted in an increase in the consumption of sweet and quickly baked treats. As Civitello writes, "It is an American invention, and it was crucial in creating a uniquely American cuisine that has spread throughout the world."

The Economics of Beer edited by Johan F.N. Swinnen (Oxford University Press, 2011). Available in University Press Scholarship Online.

Like its title suggests, this anthology explores the business of beer: consumption, production, and industry growth on a global scale. From beer production in the Renaissance to the origins of the craft brewing movement in the United States, this book takes you on a "flight" around the world and throughout history to help readers understand why beer has always been, and remains to this day, such an enormously popular beverage.

Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making by Geraldine M. Quinzio (University of California Press, 2009). Available in Project Muse.

For dessert? Ice cream. In Of Sugar and Snow, Quinzio begins her journey in 17th century Italy and travels around the world to Turkey to France to England and finally to the United States. In the process one learns about the history of ice cream, including the medical perspective on eating cold foods, the impact Prohibition had on ice cream-eating habits, and how the selling of ice cream has changed over time, from peddlers of the 19th century to artisans in the 21st.

The e-books featured here can be found in two of the Library's academic e-book platforms: University Press Scholarship Online and Project Muse. These platforms contain hundreds of book titles, in a wide variety of subjects, which can be downloaded to read at home. If you have any questions about these, or any other online resource, feel free to email us. The Library may be closed, but staff are still available and eager to help.

Research Essentials: Oxford Bibliographies Online

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 16:08:55 -0400

To the uninitiated, there may be few things that sound more dry than a collection of bibliographies, but for any student, researcher, or lifelong learner hoping to get a quick foothold on essential texts and resources in their area of interest—there is absolutely nothing more useful.

Oxford Bibliographies Online is one of many online bibliographies—or collections of books, journals, and literature organized around a particular subject, author, or other aspect—that New York Public Library provides access to. Researchers usually first encounter Oxford Bibliographies Online when introduced to it by a librarian, as we frequently direct researchers to this resource at the beginning of a project, or when a student is getting their grounding during a seminar or when putting together a literature review.

The database, accessible with an active NYPL library card, provides peer-reviewed guides (meaning they contain credible, scholarly content) to a range of topics, providing brief introductions, lists of core texts, and key areas of scholarship. The search interface is straightforward, with various pathways to search and discover relevant articles, links to related articles, and easy internal navigation across resources.

The range and depth of content is not possible to fully cover here, as over 30 fields in the humanities and social sciences as disparate as Atlantic History, International Relations, and Public Health, can be searched for, each with hundreds of guides for areas within these fields. Over 50 new articles were published this past month providing extensive guides to subjects like, "Black Codes and Slave Codes," "Japanese Ceramics," "Hebrew Literature and Music," and "The Politics of Parenthood."

Oxford Bibliographies Online is a core resource to keep in mind when investigating new areas of study or deepening knowledge of your current field, providing reliable citations for scholarly journals, essential monographs, and databases, all couched with historical context of a subject's field. Once you've explored the wonders contained in this database, with research guides covering everything from 'Roman Law" to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer," perhaps you'll try your hand at other subject specific bibliographies the Library provides access to from the comfort of home.

April Fooling With Suffragists a Century Ago—And How to Find Out if Your Ancestors Were Involved With the Suffrage Movement

NYPL Staff — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 12:33:11 -0400

This year the coronavirus pandemic effectively cancelled April Fools' Day. A century ago, suffragettes were not amused either.

On March 29, 1920 Mississippi voted against ratifying the proposed 19th Amendment, prompting Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman to draw the following April Fools’ Day lampoon:

Published 100 years ago today in the Washington Evening Star, the cartoon shows Uncle Sam wearing a Mississippi hat and gleefully waiting to snatch the 19th Amendment—prohibiting states from denying voting rights on the basis of sex—away from a passing suffragist.

It is, like Berryman’s many other cartoons, clever and funny, but it also illustrates a serious point, one that still resonates a century later. Equality is elusive, even when you think you have it in your grasp.

Although the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920—four and a half months after this cartoon was published—Mississippi did not vote to ratify the amendment until March 22, 1984, 64 years after the fact. More importantly, for many black women, voting rights were not a “fact” until long after the date of ratification. Indeed, although the jury is still out, many would argue that even today, voting rights remain out of reach for many citizens.

In its upcoming exhibition to commemorate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, the New York Public Library will explore the successes, defeats, and complexities of women’s continuing struggle for gender equality. Check the Women’s Suffrage New York City Centennial Consortium website for details on when it will open, and information on related exhibits around the city.

In the meantime, we’ve posted a new online resource to help you explore your ancestors’ involvement in the women’s suffrage movement. Many of the resources identified in How to Find Your Suffragette Ancestors are available online, so you don’t have to wait to get started.

In addition, NYPL has arranged with its vendors to make some databases that were previously only available on-site accessible to NYPL cardholders at home. Among them is Newspapers.com, which includes the Washington Evening Star —so you can view this cartoon as it was originally published from the comfort of your home as well.

---> LibGuide: How to Find Your Suffragette Ancestors

"Donde Quiera Que Estés": Selena 25 Years Later

Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:34:06 -0400

March 31^st,2020, marks 25 years since the death of legendary Queen of Tejano music Selena Quintanilla Perez. Selena’s legacy has lived on in her fans, her music and anyone who is introduced to her charisma, talent and influence. In these 25 years, her relevance continues to grow. In 2015, she became the best-selling female artist in Latin music history, after selling more than 65 million units worldwide. The following year, MAC cosmetics released a sold-out limited edition makeup line inspired by the artist that broke internet record sales and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum immortalized her in a wax representation. In 2017, she joined other entertainment luminaries as she was honored with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

In these last 25 years, “La Reina de Tex-Mex”, has had numerous tributes. Several homages have been published in newspapers and magazines . You may browse these stories and more from your home computer, with a New York Public Library card, by accessing these databases:

Academic Search Premier; Academic One File (Gale); ProQuest Research Library; PressReader; and Flipster.

Many Latinx artists have credited the Grammy award winner, as a leading pioneer of the mainstream explosion of Latin music. In the years following her death, she has become an international icon and inspiration to many entertainers in countless fields.

Selena resonates with people as the girl next door who accomplished the “American dream.” Her story, career struggles, dreams, and family life are relatable to all.

To learn more about Selena, you can search through the following databases:

Biography in Context; International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance with Full Text; Oxford Music Online; Smithsonian Collections Online; Latin American Newsstand; and Latino American Experience. (All accessible from home with an NYPL Library card) You may use the search terms: "Selena" and "Selena Quintanilla"

You can also read her husband Chris Perez's, account of their personal and professional relationship in: To Selena, with love

Resources:

Martin, C. (2016, November 10). Dreaming Of Selena: How the Latina icon became a makeup phenomenon. New York Times.

Morales, M. (2020, April). Selena 25 Años Después. People En Español, 23(2), 62–78.

Parédez Deborah. (2009). Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the performance of memory. Durham: Duke University Press.

Ramsey, J. (2016). Selena in Wax. Texas Monthly, 44(10), 56.

Segarra, L. M. (2017). Selena Honored With Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Time.Com, 1

Winkler, J. (2015, September). AMOR PROHIBIDO. Texas Monthly , 43(9), 106–226.

Our Research Librarians Share Some of Their Favorite Online Resources (That You Can Use at Home)

NYPL Staff — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:35:26 -0400

Librarians are often guilty of playing favorites. We have our favorite subject areas, authors and books, genres and yes, even electronic resources. Online platforms we refer to over and over again for their unique content or special tools that support our patrons with their research. Here is a short list of some of our favorites, all of which are available from home with your NYPL library card, from the research librarians of the New York Public Library.

African American Historical Serials Collection

It can often be difficult for historians to locate small African American publications from the past. This resource includes allows you to search hundreds of local publications to learn about black life and activism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. —Julie Golia, History, Social Sciences, and Government Information, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Ancestry.com

This site is a clearinghouse for genealogy research, featuring vital records, such as immigration, census, military, birth, and death records. You can search by name and other access points, and also browse collections. It's an invaluable site for family research and also research on individuals that can yield amazing results. —Amanda Seigel, Dorot Jewish Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Communist Historical Newspaper Collection

This database documents the history of communist, socialist, and Marxist thought in the United States. Spanning 1917 to 2013, it includes The Daily Worker, The Ohio Socialist, and others. If you want to incorporate perspectives not represented in mainstream media into your historical research, or see the past century through the eyes of workers who never lost sight of their ideals, try this. —Nora Dolliver, General Humanities Reference, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture

This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in 19th century crime, or in an aspect of 19th century life in America and Europe. There are over 2 million pages of primary source materials, including police gazettes, penny dreadfuls and trial transcripts. —Rhonda Evans, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center

Flipster

A virtual newsstand with access to more than 100 of the latest issues of popular magazines including O: The Oprah Magazine, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, English and Spanish language editions of People, and so much more. With this service, you can peruse magazines with an easy to use interface across all of your favorite devices, from your home computer or your mobile device, with online or offline viewing. Offline viewing is available via the Flipster app for iPads, Android tablets, and Kindle Fire tablets. Stay home and keep current with all your favorite magazines. Flip through the pages and explore new titles. Get loss with the great articles, photographs and useful tips. —Maira Liriano, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Harper's Bazaar Magazine

In full text and full color The Harper's Bazaar Archive offers patrons the entire run of the magazine from its first issue in 1867 to the present day. A wonderfully illustrated resource, patrons have the option to browse issues or to search years worth of fashion, design, arts, women's studies, advertising and many other topics of American popular culture, beginning from the mid 19th century onwards. —Elizabeth Rutigliano, General Research Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance

If you're looking for the largest collection of dance magazines in one place, this database should be your first stop. In addition to scholarly journals, you'll also have access to more popular titles like Dance Spirit, Dance Today, the Dance Magazine College Guide, and Dancing Times. —Arlene Yu, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, Library for the Performing Arts

NAACP Papers

This digitized archival collection contains over two million documents from NAACP regional offices dating back to the early 20th century through the 1970s. Within this collection researchers can find documents from NAACP Major Campaigns including their work in support of ending discrimination in education, voting, housing, employment and armed forces. Also contained are records from the Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress For Racial Equality (CORE) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and documents from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s FBI file. —A.J. Muhammad, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center

Oxford Bibliographies

One of the best resources when investigating new areas of study or deepening knowledge of your current field, Oxford Bibliographies provides easy access to extensive, peer-reviewed bibliographies on an enormous range of academic subjects within the Humanities and Social Sciences, from 'A Priori Knowledge' to the 'Zoot Suit Riots' and everything in between. —Kate Cordes, Reference and Outreach, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Pravda

Pravda ("Truth") was the official voice of Soviet communism and the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1918 and 1991. Throughout the Soviet era, party members were obligated to read Pravda. Now you can read it online. —Bogdan Horbal, Slavic & East European Collections, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Very Short Introductions

Are you looking for a brief intro to a topic but want just a little bit more than your average reference article? Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects —from Islam to sociology, politics to classics, and literary theory to history. —Rhonda Evans, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center

How to Access Current and Historic News Resources From Home

NYPL Staff — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 14:11:59 -0400

NYPL Digital Collection, Image ID: 1537205

With your New York Public Library card you have access to a wide array of current and historic news resources from home.

Current News Resources

Limiting your search in the Articles & Databases page to any of these subjects will narrow results to current news resources:

Magazines, Journals, and Serials
International Newspapers
Individual U.S. Newspapers
U.S. Newspapers

Searching by subject in the Articles and Databases page

Suggested Current News Resources

PressReader (formerly called PressDisplay)
Provides access to current newspapers from around the world in full-color, full-page format. Includes over 2,000 U.S. and international titles. Registering as a user with the site is optional and allows for personalized, saved settings.

Global Newsstream
Search the most recent global news content—with archives that stretch back into the 1980s—from over 2,500 news sources including newspapers, newswires, news journals, television and radio transcripts, blogs, podcasts, and digital-only websites in full-text format. Global Newsstream provides one of the largest collections of news from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia.

New York Times
New York Times (1980-present)
Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of ProQuest.
New York Times (1851-2015) w/ Index
Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of ProQuest.

Wall Street Journal
Full text of the Wall Street Journal, 1984-present
Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of ProQuest.

Flipster
Access over 100 popular magazines, including Bon Appetit, Sports Illustrated, Time, and People, through this digital platform.

New Yorker Digital Archive
The entire run of the New Yorker, in full text and full color, from 1925-present.

Blog post: Free Online Magazines & Newspapers from The New York Public Library

Doing Research with Historic Newspapers

The New York Public Library offers a number of digitized collections of newspapers from all across the world, from the colonial period to the present day. Limit your search in the Articles & Database page to “Historical Newspapers.”

Some blog posts about doing research with historic newspapers:

Newspapers.com
Newspapers.com is the largest online newspaper archive consisting of 300+ million pages of historical newspapers from 11,100+ newspapers from around the United States and beyond, with a special focus on full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles in addition to small local newspapers. The collection includes a broad range of dates, mostly covering the 19th and 20th centuries.
Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of ProQuest and its partner Newspapers.com.

Blog Post: Top Five Life Lessons From Newspapers.com

Daily News via ProQuest Northeast Regional Newspapers Collection
Searchable full-text and page images of the ProQuest Northeast Regional Historical Newspapers collections, which includes the following titles related to New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. ProQuest Northeast Regional Historical Newspapers is accessible from home with the library card. This database includes the New York Daily News.

Blog Post: A Look Back at New Year's Eve Through the Newly Available Daily News Archives

AskNYPL

Need assistance? The Library is here to help. Find what you need, from managing your library account to downloading e-books.

Connect with Library staff via live chat and email.

This post was created in collaboration with Rhonda Evans, Assistant Chief Librarian, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Online Resource: Have You Been Introduced to 'Very Short Introductions'?

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 16:31:17 -0400

For many of you, the Oxford University Press Very Short Introductions series doesn’t need much of an introduction at all. You might already be familiar with the books published under the same name (or VSI for...short). The books are pocket-sized primers, providing short introductions to a range of subjects written by scholars noted in that field.

The Library has many of the books in our collection and they are frequently requested by readers and referred to by librarians for their ability to explain sometimes challenging topics or concepts to a general audience. But when you can’t get to the Library to read Very Short Introductions in print, the Library provides access to all of them, online, via the Very Short Introductions database. The database, accessible with an active NYPL library card, includes the full-text of every VSI title, but also allows for browsing of titles by subject or for keyword searching across all the titles at once.

And there are many titles to read through. As of this writing, the database includes 630 books in subjects spanning the arts, humanities, social sciences, hard sciences, health & medicine and law. The three most recently published Introductions demonstrate the range, with books on Albert Camus, Forensic Science, and Marine Biology. The option to keyword search across all the titles allows readers to see the other books that cover their search query, providing a wider application of the term than one might find in a reading of a single title.

The Very Short Introductions platform is a fantastic resource for students and lifelong learners, especially those looking for more in-depth content than one might find in a Wikipedia article. The Introductions, and by extension this online platform, occupy an important space in the information ecosystem: university press-published, scholar-written, overviews for a general audience. They might be very short, but they are also very useful and worth reading.

On the Front Page: A Look Back at the Fall of the Berlin Wall

NYPL Staff — Sat, 09 Nov 2019 09:21:00 -0500

The fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago may very well be one of the last global events documented primarily in traditional print media: newspapers and periodicals. As the 1980s gave way to the 1990s, technology, the world wide web, and social networks have permanently altered the way we experience global events. The New York Public Library makes it easier than ever to access historical newspapers and periodicals, integral resources for researching major events before this shift, including the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The New York Public Library offers a number of digitized collections of newspapers from all across the world, from the colonial period to the present day. To further your research explore the over 500 online research options available to New York Public Library patrons, many accessible from home with a library card.

On June 12, 1987 Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhal Gorbachev in a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate to, “tear down this wall.”

Los Angeles Times, June 13, 1987

Two years later, on November 9, 1989, the East German Government announced the opening of the border between East and West Germany, effectively bringing down the Berlin Wall. East and West Berliners flocked to the streets and hoards of East Berlin residents made their way over the wall to celebrate with their compatriots.

The New York Times, November 10, 1989

Chicago Tribune, November 10, 1989

The Economist, November 18-24, 1989

A unified Germany is restored on October 2, 1990.

The International Herald Tribune October, 3 1990

Read about the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall online in current newspapers and periodicals in the databases PressReader and Flipster.

PressReader

Collection of German Newspaper Front Covers, November 2019

Flipster

Time Magazine, November 11, 2019

Regardless of where your research interests lead you, The New York Public Library has resources to support a broad range of topics. Get started from home using the Library’s online resources and go deeper with print and archival materials. When in doubt, one of our intrepid librarians will be able to help you. Visit us and get started on your research today!

Resources Consulted:

ProQuest Historical Newspapers

The Economist Digital Archive

The International Herald Tribune Digital Archive

PressReader

Flipster

Frontier Feminist Miriam Michelson: An Interview with Lori Harrison-Kahan

Tal Nadan, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 11:06:35 -0400

The Manuscripts and Archives Division of The New York Public Library holds the Century Company records, with the majority of the collection donated by the company in 1931. The Century Company published the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, widely regarded as the best general periodical of its time, performing a role as cultural arbiter during the 1880s and 1890s. Founded in New York City in 1881, the Century Company also published the children's magazine St. Nicholas, dictionaries, and books.

The Library chose to digitize the records in their entirety—correspondence with readers and contributors, administrative records, manuscripts, and proofs. Beginning in 2016, the collection was reassessed and described anew by archivist Amelia Carlin, photographed by the Library’s Digital Imaging Unit, and placed in the Library’s Digital Collections with the assistance of the Metadata Services Unit. The collection is now fully available for online research.

One such scholar taking advantage of this expanded access, Lori Harrison-Kahan is an associate professor of the practice of English at Boston College. She edits and introduces the collection The Superwoman and Other Writings by Miriam Michelson, which provides a look at the "girl reporter," magazine writer, and novelist through a compilation of her work in the early 20th century. Intertwined with Michelson’s work is the passage of suffrage in her home of California and then nationally, and the changing demographics of American citizens. In this conversation, Harrison-Kahan discusses her study of Michelson, and how the digitized Century Company records aided in her work.

To begin, who is Miriam Michelson, and what first drew you to her as a subject?

From an advertisement in Century magazine, 1904

Harrison-Kahan: A bestselling novelist in the early 20th century, Miriam Michelson started her career as one of the first female journalists in San Francisco in the mid-1890s. Later, she leveraged her fame as a popular writer and celebrity reporter to become a suffrage activist. I was drawn to Michelson because of the way she used various forms of print culture—the daily newspaper, popular magazines like Century and The Saturday Evening Post, as well as novels—to make a case for gender equality and to empower women.

I was also intrigued by the fact that Michelson was famous in her own time, and yet has been overlooked in literary and historical scholarship. When I tell people my book is on Miriam Michelson, I get blank stares, even from scholars in my field. Hopefully, The Superwoman and Other Writings will change that and get people thinking about why she has been overlooked for so long.

Which do you find most interesting, Michelson’s newspaper writing or fiction writing?

Harrison-Kahan: I love the novella The Superwoman, which is why I chose it is as the title story of the collection. It is about a utopian society in which gender roles are reversed and women are in power. The story is quite funny at times, but it makes a powerful political point.

Overall, though, it is her journalism that I find endlessly fascinating, especially because she uses the first person and makes herself a character in the stories. We think about news reporting today in terms of objectivity, but that was not the case when Michelson wrote. Women journalists in particular became part of the news stories they were covering—it was news that a woman was reporting in the first place!

San Francisco Call, 30 September 1897. A quarter-length portrait illustration of Michelson with pince nez included on the second page. From chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

I’m also intrigued by the way her journalism has both historical and literary value. It’s interesting stylistically, but also offers a new lens on history. For example, when she covers the debate over the annexation of Hawaii in 1897, she makes a concerted effort to include the perspective of native Hawaiian women and show that they oppose being annexed by the United States. This was a viewpoint that is not always covered in high school American history courses.

It’s even more fascinating to put her journalism and fiction into conversation with each other, which was my goal in publishing this collection. The experience of reading The Superwoman and Other Writings is intended to be interactive, allowing readers to see how Michelson used her journalism as source material for her fiction, and how she borrowed techniques from fiction to make her journalism entertaining. In her journalism, she created a distinct voice and persona. Later, in her novel A Yellow Journalist, she created a fictional character based on herself, a "girl reporter" in the age of Hearst and Pulitzer.

You studied recently digitized Century Company records materials from NYPL. How was the experience of accessing them online rather than in a library?

Correspondence from the Century Records collection. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 57272089

Harrison-Kahan: I love spending time in libraries and archives, and working with original documents. But the travel involved to do on-site research can be a challenge since it requires funding and finding time amidst teaching to make trips to various locations. In the case of Michelson, most of her papers were not saved—in part because she was a single woman without direct descendants and because the work of women writers was often seen as unimportant for posterity. As a result, there was no single archive that I could visit to help me piece together her story. Instead, I found bits and pieces of archival material in libraries around the country, from California to Indiana to Massachusetts and, of course, New York.

I knew that Michelson had published stories in the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine and that her second book, an autobiographical novel called The Madigans, was published by Century Company in 1904. The digitized letters were an incredible boon for my research.

I was sad not to have an excuse to visit The New York Public Library in person after having the pleasure of doing research there for my first book. But I am glad to have the digital option, which definitely made my research more efficient.

The first installment of The Madigans, 1904

How did the Century Company records' editorial correspondence figure into your understanding of Michelson?

Harrison-Kahan: Most of Michelson’s correspondence with Century took place over a brief period of time, between 1903 and 1905. This was a crucial period in Michelson’s career as a writer because she was in the process of shifting from journalism to fiction. In 1904, the Bobbs-Merrill Company published her first book, In the Bishop’s Carriage, which evolved from a short story she published about a female thief in Ainslee’s the year before. The novel was a scandalous sensation and became the basis for a play and two films. The story’s heroine, Nance Olden, was an icon of modern femininity, a prototype for the 1920s flapper.

Residence in Virginia City. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: G90F448_018F

Michelson’s business with Century followed quickly on her success with her first novel. The magazine first published a series of short stories about a family of six sisters growing up in Virginia City, Nevada, Michelson’s hometown.

The stories were based on Michelson’s childhood adventures and were close to her heart as a result. This comes across in her letters. She is clearly having fun writing the stories—and wants her audience to have fun reading them, too. At the same time, she takes small details seriously.

In one case, a story contains a reference to a distinct Virginia City landmark, Bob Graves’s Castle, a mansion built in 1868 by engineer Robert Graves after he became a millionaire thanks to the mining boom. The editor suggested that Michelson refer to the residence as "the best house" instead of by the specific name, but Michelson objected. Her objection shows her fidelity to place and to the experience of childhood. She notes in the letter that a child growing up in a small town would naturally refer to a house "by its first name." Michelson never had children of her own and, at one point in a letter, refers to her characters, the Madigan girls, as her children. No wonder she lavished so much attention on seemingly small details!

Michelson’s correspondence with Century editors offers invaluable insight into her personality. Most writers, of course, have a different style on the published page than they do in correspondence. Michelson's style in journalism and fiction is often bold and sassy. In her correspondence, in contrast, she is sometimes self-deprecating.

For example, at one point, she thanks the editor for his "interest in my little Madigans," which is not simply a reference to the age of the characters; it also conveys her humility about her work. In letters with her editors at Bobbs-Merrill, Michelson sometimes expressed surprise at continuing to receive royalties for In the Bishop’s Carriage. She didn’t expect her work to be as popular as it was. She was pleased by her success but did not take it for granted.

Western Union telegraph, one of 19 items of correspondence between Miriam Michelson and the editors of Century. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 57272040

There is another seemingly small detail from the Century correspondence that struck me and told me so much about Michelson as a person and a writer. In The Madigans, she has the sisters refer to each other by their nicknames. The nicknames are meant to get across the characters’ personalities; they are tomboys and can’t be bothered with the propriety of formal, feminine names. Michelson gave the character of Irene the nickname "Split" in reference to her athletic ability. The editor objected, seeing it as "vulgar" and "suggestive." Michelson disagreed. Although the magazine changed Irene’s nickname to "Sprint" when the story was serialized, Michelson made sure to switch it back to "Split" for the book version. She wanted to maintain artistic authority over her own writing. In this sense, she is like her characters, who are strong women and know what they want, especially out of their careers.

What strikes me about the set is the difficulty of conducting business via post. The first documents are to prove Michelson's identity!

Harrison-Kahan: Yes, Michelson was living in San Francisco and the Century Company was based in New York, so it took some time for letters to cross the country. In addition to the letters, she also sent telegrams, which helped speed up the process.

For scholars doing historical research, there is a real advantage to the old-fashioned postal system. In contrast to electronic communication today, the correspondence creates such a rich, multi-layered historical record. For example, envelopes, stationery, and letterhead all provide important clues, including about where Michelson lived and traveled at various times. Plus, it’s always exciting to see an author’s signature and handwriting. Michelson’s handwriting was, thankfully, pretty good. I didn’t have to spend a lot of time puzzling out words, as I do with other writers’ handwritten correspondence.

NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 57272029

It’s very interesting that Michelson had to prove her identity to the Century Company since, at the time she began her correspondence with them, she was already a celebrity reporter in San Francisco. But newspaper reporters had local followings, which is often still the case for journalists. Michelson may have turned to fiction because she was seeking a larger audience for her work; she could find a home for her fiction in popular, mass-circulation magazines like Century, which had a national subscription base.

There is another clue in the Century correspondence, which suggests a motivation for Michelson turning from journalism to fiction. In introducing herself to the Century editor, she says that she left journalism for fiction because she was "reformed." Newspaper work, especially in the era of sensational journalism, was not exactly seen as a respectable profession, especially for a woman. She was definitely a trailblazer.

What aspects of Michelson’s work will resonate with contemporary students or scholars?

Harrison-Kahan: As I was working on this book, her work, written over 100 years ago, suddenly became more relevant as the current feminist movement took new shape. She wrote about professional women, gender and power, and sexual harassment in the workplace long before #MeToo. And she did it in a breezy, engaging, often comic style that makes her writing entertaining to read.

One of the most exciting parts of working on this project was seeing how Michelson’s work resonated with students. I’ve taught Michelson’s work in my classes, and I had a number of undergraduate research assistants who helped me with the book. (Shout out and thank you to Marena Cole, Marianna Sorensen, Grace Denny, Karen Choi, Maggie McQuade, and Sophia Pandelidis.) I knew I was on to something important with Michelson when my research assistants told me how much they were enjoying going through reels and reels of old microfilm, and how thrilling it was to discover a new article by her, bleary eyes aside. Michelson’s work resonated with them for the same reasons it resonated with me. It feels surprisingly contemporary.

In the field of American literature, where there is increasing attention to periodical studies, scholars will be interested in the ways that Michelson mobilized print culture. At the current moment, the nation is observing the centennial of the 19 th Amendment, and Michelson was a proponent of the suffrage cause, and active in California’s campaign to get women the vote. The collection has a lot to tell us about the way women made their voices heard in print, and the ways that journalism and fiction functioned as women’s primary means of democratic participation before 1920. It’s an apt time for this collection to appear. I’m hopeful that other scholars will undertake further research on Michelson and make use of the NYPL digital collections in the process.

In addition to the Century Company records, the Library holds the papers of editors Richard Watson Gilder and Robert Underwood Johnson. Contact manuscripts@nypl.org to coordinate access.

Has your work benefited from The New York Public Library collections? We’d like to hear about it! Submit news of your exhibition, book, thesis, article, art work—anything—to www.nypl.org/citationtracker

Moon Money: Apollo 11, Advertising, and the Media

NYPL Staff — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 11:03:53 -0400

Mare Humorum: From a study made in 1875. NYPL Digital Collections.

July 20, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. If you are curious about the news and magazine coverage during that summer of 1969 you can explore the hundreds of digitized newspapers and magazines that are accessible to our patrons with their New York Public Library card. However, make sure you don't skip past the advertisements! 1969 was the year of "moon madness". People across the world were obsessed with everything outer space, and this was not lost on the advertising and marketing world. It was almost impossible not to find an advertisement with some reference to NASA, Apollo 11, or the moon. NASA made sure to never endorse specific products, but they freely provided images and never objected to the commodification of this achievement. Through NYPL's magazine databases you can go back to 1969 and take a look at all of the advertisements related to this special time in history.

Product Placement

A large number of corporations contributed their services to the Apollo 11 mission, and they wanted to make sure everyone knew it. The message was, 'if it was good enough for Buzz and Neil it's good enough for you too!'

This Omega ad from Town & Country Magazine showed the company's new tagline,"First watch worn on the moon." Women's Magazine Archive database.

Town & Country, December 1, 1969. Women's Magazine Archive database.

Del Monte hinted that the success of the Apollo 11 mission was in part due to the astronauts munching on their dried fruits. Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Life Magazine, August 8, 1969. Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Stouffer's proudly proclaimed that when you are eating Stouffer's you are eating the same food they ate on the moon! Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Life Magazine, August 8, 1969. Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Beauty

The beauty industry made sure not to miss the moon trend, and women's magazines from 1969 are filled with makeup, jewelry and clothing advertisements letting everyone know that space is "in"!

In the August 1969 issue of Seventeen Magazine this Tussy makeup ad displays all of the necessary products for the perfect "space face". Women's Magazine Archive.

Seventeen Magazine, August, 1969. Women's Magazine Archive database.

Revlon created a new product inspired by the moon, for a "luminesque eye" try Moon Drops. Women's Magazine Archive.

Cosmopolitan, September,1969. Women's Magazine Archive database.

Space Technology

Everyone understood that the Apollo 11 moon landing was a phenomenal technological achievement, therefore companies made sure to highlight any tech that their products shared with NASA's successful mission.

DuPont let consumers know that their home, "can have the same exterior protection as NASA's 'Moon Shot' building..." Women's Magazine Archive.

Good Housekeeping, November, 1969. Women's Magazine Archive.

The technology for Sony's Superscope tape recorders was "out of this world." Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Life Magazine, August 8, 1969. Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Volkswagen shows that looks are not the most important thing with this very creative tagline. Life Magazine Digital Archive.

Life Magazine, August 8, 1969. Life Magazine Digital Archive.

These advertisements are just a small sampling of what you can find by exploring our online resources. If you would like to explore these magazines and papers on your own, just stop by the library and makes sure to get your New York Public Library Card!

Books on the Moon Landing & the Media

Want to learn more about the moon—past, present, and future? Check out moon-related books for all ages in our circulating collection, and take a look at our space-themed summer reading program, too!

The Moon: A History for the Future by Oliver Morton
Did you know that a piece of Earth's surface was lodged in the surface of the moon? Neither did we, before we read about this book. Check it out.

Moon: An Illustrated History by David Warmflash
A richly illustrated art book that presents 100 milestones, from the Moon's formation 4.5 billion years ago to predictions of lunar colonies someday in the future.

Eight Days Gone by Linda McReynolds, illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke
Depicts, in brief verse and illustrations, the 1969 Apollo 11 mission when man first walked on the moon.

Happy Birthday, Moon by Frank Asch
When Bear decides to give the moon a birthday present, he climbs a mountain to get close enough to ask what day is the moon's birthday.

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Librarian Gwen Glazer contributed to this post.

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!

'When They See Us': Researching the Story of the Exonerated 5 and Beyond at The New York Public Library

NYPL Staff — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 09:42:29 -0400

When They See Us, the Netflix miniseries directed by Ava DuVernay, tells the story of the Exonerated 5 (also known as the Central Park 5). Five Black and Latino teenagers from Harlem (Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam) were coerced into providing false confessions and then wrongly convicted of raping Trisha Meili, a white woman who was jogging in New York City’s Central Park in 1989.

James Estrin, The New York Times

The boys served between six and 13 years before a serial rapist, Matias Reyes, admitted to the crime, and his confession was supported by DNA evidence. In 2002 the convictions were vacated, and in 2014 New York City settled with the five for $40 million dollars.

This case is an integral part of New York City history, dominating the news coverage here and across the entire country in 1989. Interest in this story has rekindled, so take some time to explore these resources available to you at The New York Public Library and with your New York Public Library card, via our electronic resources and books in our circulating collection.

Remembering The Scottsboro Boys

Sadly, the story of the Exonerated 5 is not a unique one. However, what happened to the five boys is often compared to the story of The Scottsboro Boys. In 1931, nine Black teenage boys were falsely accused of rape by two white women in Alabama.

Just as with the Central Park 5 in 1989, the 1931 case took the media by storm and many Black periodicals pleaded for a fair trial and justice for the teenagers. Many of those periodicals, such as The Liberator, are accessible in the African American Periodicals, 1825-1995 database (onsite at all NYPL locations). Researchers can also see more coverage by the Black press of the Scottsboro Boys story by accessing our collection of digitized African American historical newspapers. Take a look at, African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 (onsite at all NYPL locations) and ProQuest Historical African American Newspapers (available remotely with your NYPL library card).

The Liberator, April 25, 1931

The New York Times Ad

The story of the Exonerated 5 brought to light the influence of the media on the criminal justice system, but one of the most memorable moments of the case was actually an ad taken out in The New York Times. On May 1, 1989, real estate developer Donald Trump paid $85,000 for a full page ad calling for the death penalty for the five boys prior to their trial. Researchers can see this and other coverage of this case in The New York Times (1980-present) database (available remotely with your NYPL card) and The New York Times (1851-2015) w/ Index database (available onsite at all NYPL locations).

The New York Times, May 1, 1989

Researching the History of Harlem: 19th Century to Gentrification

Before their arrests, McCray, Richardson, Santana, Wise, and Salaam lived in a Harlem very different from the one that exists today. Any researchers interested in understanding the changing demographics of Harlem, or any area of New York City, should try these two databases: SimplyAnalytics (available at all Research Libraries) allows you to create "thematic maps using 100,000+ data variables" including race, income, location of businesses, and more.

The Neighborhood Change Database (NCDB) (available onsite at the Science, Industry and Business Library) allows users to compile and create maps using census tract data from the Long Form results of the US Censuses for 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010. The data includes population, household, and housing characteristics, income, poverty status, education level, employment, housing costs, immigration, and other variables.

To view prints and photographs of Harlem, visit the NYPL Digital Collections.

Bird's eye view of West 125th Street, Harlem, looking west from Seventh Avenue, 1943, NYPL Digital Collections. Image ID: psnypl_scg_649

Books on the Exonerated 5

The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns
This book, sometimes considered the seminal standalone work about the case, was published in 2011. Author Sarah Burns directed and produced the 2012 documentary (also available from the Library on DVD).

Killing with Prejudice by R.J. Maratea
Maratea offers historical context for racism in capital punishment, using the lens of an earlier court case, McCleskey v. Kemp, in which a Black man was put to death for killing a white police officer in Georgia.

The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
In 2012, Alexander created a modern classic with this sobering polemic on mass incarceration, societal discrimination against convicted felons, and the policies that created a new caste-based system in the United States.

'They Can't Kill Us All' by Wesley Lowery
Washington Post reporter Lowery won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the Ferguson protest. This book, subtitled "Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement," details the Black Lives Matter movement and the nationwide response to racially motivated police brutality.

Check our catalog for more books on these topics:

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Librarian Gwen Glazer contributed to this post.

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

NYPL Blogs: Paperless Research

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The Secret Lives of Pantry Staples

The Banana: Empires, Trade Wars, and Globalization by James Wiley (University of Nebraska Press, 2008). Available in Project Muse.

Comfort Food: Meanings and Memories by Michael Owen Jones and Lucy M. Long (University Press of Mississippi, 2017). Available in University Press Scholarship Online.

Creamy and Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food by Jon Krampner (Columbia University Press, 2013). Available in University Press Scholarship Online.

Nature's Perfect Food: How Milk Became America's Drink by E. Melanie DuPuis (NYU Press, 2002). Available in Project Muse.

Baking Powder Wars: The Cut Throat Food Fight that Revolutionized Cooking by Linda Civitello (University of Illinois Press, 2017). Available in Project Muse and University Press Scholarship Online.

The Economics of Beer edited by Johan F.N. Swinnen (Oxford University Press, 2011). Available in University Press Scholarship Online.

Of Sugar and Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making by Geraldine M. Quinzio (University of California Press, 2009). Available in Project Muse.

Research Essentials: Oxford Bibliographies Online

April Fooling With Suffragists a Century Ago—And How to Find Out if Your Ancestors Were Involved With the Suffrage Movement

---> LibGuide: How to Find Your Suffragette Ancestors

"Donde Quiera Que Estés": Selena 25 Years Later

Our Research Librarians Share Some of Their Favorite Online Resources (That You Can Use at Home)

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