The Collection

The Periodicals Department houses an enormous collection of popular magazines, with many titles going back to the 19th century:

• News weeklies (such as Time, Newsweek, Life, Harper's Weekly)
• Specialized publications (women's magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Ladies' Home Journal; industry trade journals)
• Complete runs of literary "little magazines" (such as Harriet Monroe's Poetry magazine)

The Historical Newspapers collection on microfilm encompasses:

• Baltimore city papers, including short-lived titles from the 18th-20th centuries
• Specialized newspapers targeted to particular demographic groups (e.g. ethnic, gay, labor, religious)
• Maryland county newspapers, many not archived in local libraries or historical societies

The retrospective collections of the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature (1900-present) and Poole's Index to Periodical Literature are especially useful to those researching popular press coverage of historical events.

State Library Resources

• 150 Years Ago This Week in the Civil War: Get a weekly view of how the Civil War affected the everyday lives of Marylanders.
• Genealogy Resources: Includes guides to doing genealogical research, links to marriage and death indexes to Maryland newspapers, and more!
• Pratt Electronic News Stand:  Find out what newspapers, magazines, and academic journals the library offers. You can search or browse by periodical title, choose a subject of interest, or click through to specific databases for a more customized search.
• Special Collections:  Historical print and microform collections unique to the Department.