AAS Coverage
The AAS database covers materials, held by the American Antiquarian Society, from 1691-1820 with some titles into the late 1870s. This database offers print titles from the colonial period to the late nineteenth century. The collection is searchable across series. However, the coverage is organized by five series that have unique content.
- American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection This link opens in a new window The American Antiquarian Society is the nation's chief repository for newspapers published in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the United States, Canada, and the West Indies. The Society has accumulated over 18,000 newspaper titles. The AAS library today houses the largest and most accessible collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, children's literature, music, and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States, as well as manuscripts and a substantial collection of secondary texts, bibliographies, and digital resources and reference works related to all aspects of American history and culture before the twentieth century. Learn more about this database: https://lib.stmarytx.edu/database_guide/aas
The 5 series included in the AAS database are:
- Series 1 is the first series. The focus is "broad in scope and covers all aspects of American society during this time period."
- Series 2 offers titles from 1821 through 1837. Subjects include the "Jacksonian Democracy era in history ... agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics."
- Series 3 covers titles from 1838 through 1852. The theme is the "rapidly growing young nation, where industrialization, the railroads, regional political differences, and life on the western frontier were daily realities."
- Series 4 presents titles from 1853 through 1865. This series covers the US Civil War and other issues of daily life. "News from the battlefront can be found" as well as other topics.
- Series 5 includes "over 2,500 titles dating from 1866 through 1877." This includes topics such as the impact of the US Civil War on daily life, Reconstruction, "the incorporation of the recently-freed African Americans into American life; a population that rapidly expanded into the Western territories."
image: Courtesy, American Antiquarian Society
AAS Resources
The materials listed in the box gives more information about the AAS database.
- AAS Historical Periodicals Collection BrochureA brochure describing the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection. Detailed information about collection coverage.
- An Overview of the American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 5, 1866-1877Article. "The article provides an overview of the "American Antiquarian Society Historical Periodicals Collection: Series 5, 1866-1877." The period was notable as the time of reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War and the periodicals help provide insights into the American culture of the period and considers topics as diverse as religion, the social and economic roles of women and children, consumption, industry, and agriculture."
Some additional topical articles of interest include:
- Doing Women's History at the American Antiquarian SocietyArticle. "The author discusses her research experience at the American Antiquarian Society. The society has extensive holdings, both manuscript and published, which permit a quick return on research queries and can reward unusual approaches. Cohen intended to investigate the manifestation of sex roles in the increasing public transportation of the early 19th century but found herself diverted into an exploration of the society's resources on the sensational 1836 murder case of New York City prostitute Helen Jewett for its revelations on women's place in society of the time."
- Healing Body and Mind: American Medical Periodicals of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturyArticle. "This essay discusses eighteenth and nineteenth century medical periodicals primarily published in the United States. The author provides an overview of various journals, highlighting subject matter, date ranges for title runs, and authors and editors."
- Worms, Germs, and Sperm: How Agricultural Periodicals Helped the Pioneers SurviveArticle. "This essay discusses eighteenth and nineteenth century agricultural periodicals published in the United States. The author provides an overview of various magazines and almanacs, with subjects that include animal husbandry, adapting crops to various regions, horticulture, and pomology."
Video About AAS from EBSCO
EBSCO covers AAS in this video from from minutes 20:57 to 29:50. The video shows how terms show up in documents, how to download in various formats, and how to look for images. This video is oriented for sales, but it does include helpful content.
- AAS Demonstration Searches (EBSCO)EBSCO also offers written demonstration searches on their website.
- Using the EBSCOhost Digital Archives ViewerTips to using the EBSCO Archives Viewer, the tool used in AAS