The following is a list of newspapers available in hard copy and microfilm available at the Trenton Free Public Library. Microfilm also includes selected manuscripts, organizational minutes, and business directories as well as newspapers. Microfilm and current newspapers can be accessed during regular library hours in the Reference Department. Older hard copy newspapers are available and must be used in the Reference Department or Trentoniana Room only.

The library now offers online access to the Trenton Times (1993-current) and Trentonian (1999-current) to library cardholders. We also offer NewsBank, which contains over 12,000 searchable titles that span a wide array of source types, from newspapers to blogs to newswires to videos and more. If you live, work, or go to school in Trenton, or are a military veteran, contact the Circulation Department at ext. 10 to sign up for a free card. Those who do not fall into those categories can get a temporary 30-day card for a $10 fee (payment can be done via PayPal – in the note section, please state “Trentoniana library card”).

Newspapers/Magazines

William C. Wright and Paul A. Stellhorn’s Directory of New Jersey Newspapers, 1765-1970 has been digitized and is now available online via the New Jersey State Library. U.S. newspapers can also be searched on the Library of Congress’ “Chronicling America.” In particular, here is the list of titles of Trenton newspapers.

The New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project can be accessed here. In particular, the list of Trenton newspapers can be found here.

Hard Copy

A list of available hard copy newspapers will be posted as they are inventoried. Click on the newspaper title below to open a list of available issues for that title.

Digitized

The following publications have been digitized from hard copies that are in the Trentoniana Department’s newspaper collection. Most are in brittle condition.

Trenton Tribune

Calling itself “Trenton’s Negro Weekly,” its first issue was published Wednesday, September 27, 1961. The library holds just this one issue so it is unknown how long the newspaper was in publication.

The Sentinel

Weekly African-American newspaper, published in Trenton by R. Henri Herbert 1880-1882. The library also holds hardcopy and microfilm versions of this title.

The Sentinel, 1880-1882

Pride Magazine

Pride was a magazine about and for Black businesses and business owners in Trenton in the early 1970s. The library holds the hard copies and has digitized them below – click on a specific date to open a PDF.

The Observer

The Observer was a Trenton-based newspaper that focused on the concerns of the African-American community in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The library holds the hard copies (not a complete run) and has digitized them below – click on a specific date to open a PDF.

Digitized Periodicals and Databases

Microfilm

“A book as humdrum as an old telephone directory or tax roll may be invaluable to a scholar researching some aspect of the past; when the last known copy crumbles, society loses part of its collective memory” – from “Saving Our Heritage,” The Lamp (Fall 1987).