Agate Type: Adventures in Baseball Archeology

proquest

Written by

Gary Ashwill

Some of you probably know that ProQuest has been busily digitizing African American newspapers, including the Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Los Angeles Sentinel, New York Amsterdam News, and Pittsburgh Courier.  Recently they’ve added the Baltimore Afro-American (also digitally available elsewhere), Cleveland Call & Post, Norfolk Journal & Guide, and Philadelphia Tribune.

An astonishingly useful collection for Negro League research (of course you should always approach digitized microfilm with a certain amount of caution, at least if you rely on the search engine).  But I can’t say I’ve found that very many libraries have actually purchased it.  My own library (which is hardly lacking for money) only has the Atlanta Daily World, having recently dropped the Chicago Defender for some unfathomable reason.  Of course it has the Defender, Courier, and others in microfilm; but it doesn’t have all these papers, and besides, you can’t read microfilm from your home computer.

8 responses

  1. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Gary – Any idea on how much baseball info is in Atlanta Daily World, Los Angeles Sentinel, and New York Amsterdam News?
    Mid-Continent Public Library in KC area, which allows ‘out of area’ library memberships, appears to have added these now.

    Reply
  2. Bill Mullins Avatar
    Bill Mullins

    I sent in an application for the Mid-Continent Public Library a week ago and am awaiting the card. When I get it I’ll report.

    Reply
  3. Bill Mullins Avatar
    Bill Mullins

    Okay, I got the card. Call the geneaology branch of the library and tell them you’d like to get a non-resident card. They’ll mail you an application. Fill it out, send a photocopy of your driver’s license, and a check for $20.
    You get access to:
    Proquest Historical Newspapers as follows:
    New York Times 1851-2005, Wall Street Journal 1889-1990, Washington Post 1877-1991, Christian Science Monitor 1908-1994, Los Angeles Times 1881-1986, Chicago Tribune 1849-1986, Chicago Defender 1910-1975, Hartford Courant 1764-1984, Atlanta Daily World 1931-2003, Boston Globe 1872-1924, Los Angeles Sentinel 1934-2005, New York Amsterdam News 1922-1993, and the Pittsburg Courier 1911-2002 (they don’t yet have Baltimore Afro-American, Cleveland Call & Post, Norfolk Journal & Guide, and Philadelphia Tribune as mentioned above).
    The interface is through their “graphical” page, not the traditional one that was formerly accessed through SABR.
    Also available are 19th Cent Historical Newspapers through Gale; Newspaperarchive; Geneaologybank; Proquest Obituaries; America’s Obituaries & Death Notices (from Newsbank); and Heritage Quest census access.
    Also available are other various and sundry recent news databases (back to 1980 – 1990, depending).
    After checking around a little last night, the Atl, LA and NY Amst papers don’t seem to have as much coverage as the Chicago Defender, but geez, it’s only $20.
    One problem is that if there’s an easy way to browse instead of search through the graphical interface, I’ve not yet found it.

    Reply
  4. Patrick Rock Avatar
    Patrick Rock

    Hot diggity! I’m putting in my application in person tomorrow, living only 10 miles from the nearest branch.
    ProQuest is back! AND with the Negro weeklies!
    Gary, I promise I will STILL get you the Argus pages, although I’m beginning to believe that photocopies might be the faster method.

    Reply
  5. Brian McKenna Avatar
    Brian McKenna

    I’m a little dense guys. I live in Baltimore. Can I apply for this card? If so, do you have the number that I should call?
    Thanks

    Reply
  6. Patrick Rock Avatar
    Patrick Rock

    Brian,
    You can find all you need about the library at this site: http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/
    I got my card today, and was able to immediately gain access to ProQuest (and a lot more) online.
    I’d just like to know how to take the highlighting off the pages. If I search on “Pete Hill”, the name frequently appears highlighted (as the Paper of Record does as well), which does help find it on the page, but can make it difficult to read a printed copy from a non-color printer.

    Reply
  7. Gary Ashwill Avatar
    Gary Ashwill

    OK, I just sent in my application yesterday. Thanks for the tip, Kevin!

    Reply
  8. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Brian:
    The number to call is 816-252-7228. Just ask them to send you a Non-resident Library Card application.

    Reply

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