Research Guides: Political Cartoons: Newspaper Databases

Modern

Canadian Newsstream [PROQUEST] This link opens in a new window
Full text access to over 400 Canadian newspapers.
Includes the complete available electronic backfile for most newspapers, providing full access to the articles, columns, editorials and features published in each. Some backfiles date as far back as the late 1970s.

Step 1: Click into Canadian Newsstream.
Step 2: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 3: Under Source Type, check off "Editorial Cartoon/Comic" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

International Newsstream [PROQUEST] This link opens in a new window
Full text access to the world's top newspapers.
Includes access to: The Times (London), The Bangkok Post, El Norte, Financial Times, The Guardian, Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post, The Daily Telegraph, Asian Wall Street Journal, and the BBC Monitoring series

Step 1: Click into International Newsstream.
Step 2: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 3: Under Document Type, check off "Editorial Cartoon/Comic" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

News: Gale OneFile [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Access to more than 2,300 major U.S. regional, national, and local newspapers, as well as leading titles from around the world. It also includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.

Step 1: Click into News: Gale OneFile.
Step 2: Click on the Advanced Search link.
Step 3: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 4: Under Search Limiters, select "Document Contains Images." Under By Document Type, check off "Cartoon" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Core interdisciplinary database, contains full-text journal articles, newspaper articles, dissertations, and business and industry profiles.

Step 1: Click into ProQuest Central.
Step 2: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 3: Under Document Type, check off "Editorial Cartoon/Comic" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Sunday Times Historical Archive [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Digital access to The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2006. Access to the complete run of the newspaper up to 2006, including all of its supplements.

Step 1: Click into Sunday Times Digital Archive.
Step 2: Click on the Advanced Search link.
Step 3: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 4: Under By Illustrated Works, check off "Cartoon" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Times Digital Archive [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Digital full-text access to every issue of The Times (London) newspaper from 1785 through 2014, except for Sunday editions (which are available through the Sunday Times Digital Archive).
First published in 1785, The Times of London is widely considered to be the world's 'newspaper of record'. The Times Digital Archive allows users to search over 200 years of this invaluable historical source.

Step 1: Click into Times Digital Archive.
Step 2: Click on the Advanced Search link.
Step 3: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 4: Under By Illustrated Works, check off "Cartoon" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Union Leader / Sunday News (Image Collection) [NEWSBANK] This link opens in a new window
The day's top news and sports stories appearing in the print version of the Union Leader.

Unfortunately, NewsBank does not offer a search filter to find political cartoons in the "Union Leader." The best strategy is to determine from other sources what issues and pages display political cartoons and then search by page number to view them.

US Newsstream [PROQUEST] This link opens in a new window
Collection of full text international, national, and regional newspapers. Titles of note include Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and The Guardian.

Step 1: Click into US Newsstream.
Step 2: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 3: Under Document Type, check off "Editorial Cartoon/Comic" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Historical

African American Newspapers (Series 1, 1827-1998) [READEX/NEWSBANK] This link opens in a new window
Chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience, African American Newspapers, Series 1, features 270 newspapers from 35 states, including many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles. These titles published for or by African Americans constitute valuable primary sources for researchers exploring such diverse disciplines as cultural, literary and social history; ethnic studies and more.
Beginning with Freedoms Journal (NY)the first African American newspaper published in the United Statesthe titles in this groundbreaking series include The Colored Citizen (KS), Arkansas State Press, Rights of All (NY), Wisconsin Afro-American, New York Age, L'Union (LA), Northern Star and Freemans Advocate (NY), Richmond Planet, Cleveland Gazette, The Appeal (MN) and hundreds of others from every region of the U.S.

Step 1: Click into African American Newspapers.
Step 2: Click on the Advanced Search link.
Step 3: Enter an asterisk (*) in the first search box and click the GO! button.
Step 4: On the search result page, in the left menu bar, click "More Options" under Article Type.
Step 5: In the pop-up, check the box next to "Cartoons" and select the Apply button. You now have a complete list of all cartoons in newspapers in this database. Next you need to search for the cartoons you want to find.
Step 6: Click the Add a Row button under the search box with the asterisk (*).
Step 7: In the new search box, type in a keyword associated with the cartoon you seek.
Step 8: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Boston Globe-Historical [PROQUEST] This link opens in a new window
Full-text/PDF page-image of articles published in the Boston Globe from 1872 to 1986.

Step 1: Click into Boston Globe-Historical.
Step 2: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 3: Under Document Type, check off "Comic" and/or "Editorial Cartoon" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Early American Newspapers, Series 1: From Colonies to Nation [READEX/NEWSBANK] This link opens in a new window
Cover-to-cover reproductions of hundreds of historic American newspapers (1690-1876), including 37 from New Hampshire.

Step 1: Click into Early American Newspapers.
Step 2: Click on the Advanced Search link.
Step 3: Enter an asterisk (*) in the first search box and click the GO! button.
Step 4: On the search result page, in the left menu bar, click "More Options" under Article Type.
Step 5: In the pop-up, check the box next to "Cartoons" and select the Apply button. You now have a complete list of all cartoons in newspapers in this database. Next you need to search for the cartoons you want to find.
Step 6: Click the Add a Row button under the search box with the asterisk (*).
Step 7: In the new search box, type in a keyword associated with the cartoon you seek.
Step 8: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

New York Times-Historical with Index [PROQUEST] This link opens in a new window
Full-text/PDF access to the New York Times, from 1851 to four years ago via ProQuest.
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. The Historical New York Times with Index (1851-1993) provides search capability using subject terms and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable full text, full page, and article-level images from the Historical New York Times.
Coverage: 1851-4 years ago

Step 1: Click into New York Times-Historical.
Step 2: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 3: Under Document Type, check off "Editorial Cartoon/Comic" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Digital cover-to-cover images of hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers, providing access to every article, advertisement, and illustration.

Step 1: Click into Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers.
Step 2: Click on the Advanced Search link.
Step 3: Enter the keyword/s related to the cartoon you seek.
Step 4: Under By Illustrated Works, check off "Cartoon" and click the Search button.
Step 4: Review your list of results. The results will include cartoons on pages where the keyword is printed.

Sunday Times Historical Archive [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Digital access to The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2006. Access to the complete run of the newspaper up to 2006, including all of its supplements.

Times Digital Archive [GALE] This link opens in a new window
Digital full-text access to every issue of The Times (London) newspaper from 1785 through 2014, except for Sunday editions (which are available through the Sunday Times Digital Archive).
First published in 1785, The Times of London is widely considered to be the world's 'newspaper of record'. The Times Digital Archive allows users to search over 200 years of this invaluable historical source.

Political Cartoons: Newspaper Databases

If you like the thrill of the hunt, then you will enjoy searching for political cartoons.

Use the descriptions below to determine which databases to search. Then within each database, use the specialized instructions provided below the database description in order to find political cartoons.

Modern

Historical