Finding Magazine Articles on American City Life, 1800-1930


1) Use one of the following indexes to locate articles in mass-market American magazines.
Poole's Plus. This is the easiest way to search for nineteenth century magazine articles. It is the digital version of Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (described below), plus some other indexes that won't be as useful for this project. If you're at the library or otherwise connected to UConn's system, find it on the "Research Database Locator" page; URL is http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/databases/
 
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906). This is the printed version on which the digital Poole's is based. This index covers both American and British magazines. The abbreviations are explained in a table at the beginning of the volume. Poole's may be found in the reference collection on the first floor of Babbidge Library, in the low book shelves to the left (east) of the reference desk as you face the desk. The call number is Ref. AI 3 P7.
Making of America. In my opinion, this is not the best way to locate magazine articles, partly because it's slow and partly because it's very incomplete. On the bright side, though, you can use this digital collection even when you're not at UConn, and you never even have to get off your seat to load microfilm or open a book. Part of the collection is on the University of Michigan's server (http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moajrnl) and the rest is on Cornell's (http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa)
The Nineteenth Century in Print. This digital collection on the Library of Congress's American Memory website is mostly just a consolidation of the two Making of America sites. Its quicker than searching those two sites separately, but you're still better off with Poole's. The URL is: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/snchome.html

Reader's Guide Retrospective. Part of the "Wilson Web" package, this does for twentieth-century articles what Poole's Plus does for nineteenth-century articles. It covers 1890-1982. If you're at the library or otherwise connected to UConn's system, find it on the "Research Database Locator" page; URL is http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/databases/.

Nineteenth Century Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. If you hate computers, you can use the bound volumes instead of the digital indexes. The Nineteenth Century Reader's Guide, shelved right next to Poole's in the reference collection, only covers the very late nineteenth century. The call number is Ref AI 3 R496

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. Covers the twentieth century. Bound volumes of Readers' Guide are in the reference collection on the first floor of Babbidge, a short distance from the other two indexes. The call number is Ref. AI 3 C84.

 

2) Once you've found some promising citations, figure out what any mysterious abbreviations mean (use the tables at the beginnings of the volumes), and then find the article in the appropriate volume of the magazine. Some magazines can be found in the A-Level basement of the Babbidge Library, while many more can be found on microfilm in the "American Periodical Series" (APS) that is shelved on the first floor of Babbidge, in the middle of the western side of the building. Some magazines can also be found in the Making of America (MOA) collections described above


Some American Magazines with Journalistic Articles on City Life, 1800-1930.
The dates in parentheses are for the volumes at UConn that fall within the 1800-1930 time period. "APS" microfilm is on the first floor of the Babbidge Library. Use the finding aid on a nearby desk to identify the reel number you need. Note: APS I = PER; APS II = PES; APS III = PEA

Early Nineteenth Century (1800-1850)
DeBow's Review. (1846-1867: stacks) (1846-1880: APS) (1846-1869: Michigan MOA). Title varies.
National Police Gazette. (1845-1906: APS) Title varies.
Niles' Weekly Register (1814-1847: stacks) Title varies.
North American Review (1815-1930: stacks) (1815-1900: Cornell MOA)
Saturday Evening Post (1821-1885: APS)
Spirit of the Times (1835-1861: APS)

Late Nineteenth Century (1850-1900)
Appleton's (1869-1881: APS; Michigan MOA)
Arena (1889-1909: stacks and APS)
Atlantic Monthly (1859-1930: stacks) (1857  1901: Cornell MOA)
Century (1881-1930: stacks). (1881-1906: APS) (1881  1899: Cornell MOA)
Current Opinion (1888-1925: APS.).
DeBow's Review. (1846-1867: stacks) (1846-1880 in APS) Title varies.
Forum (1886-1930: stacks and APS)
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper (1856-1869: stacks). Title varies
Frank Leslie's Monthly (1876-1906: APS). Title varies.
Harper's Magazine (1850-1930: stacks). (1850  1899: Cornell MOA) Title varies
Harper's Weekly (1857-1916: stacks).
Lippincott's (1868-1885: APS.)
McClure's (1893-1915: stacks) (1893-1929: APS).
National Police Gazette. (1845-1906: APS) Title varies.
North American Review (1815-1930: stacks) (1815-1900: Cornell MOA)
Outlook (1893, 1895-1908: stacks).
Putnam's Magazine (1853-1870: APS, Cornell MOA)
Saturday Evening Post (1821-1885: APS)
Scribner's Monthly (1870-1881: APS and Cornell MOA)
Scribner's (1887-1930: stacks) (18871896: Cornell MOA)
Spirit of the Times (1835-1861: APS)

 

Early Twentieth Century (1900-1930)

American City (1913-1930: stacks).
Arena (1889-1909: stacks)
Atlantic Monthly (1859-1930: stacks).
Century (1881-1930: stacks). (1881-1906:APS)
Current Opinion (1888-1925: APS).
Charities and the Commons (1907-1908: stacks); continued by Survey.
Forum (1886-1930: stacks and APS)
Harper's Magazine (1850-1930: stacks). (1850  1899: Cornell MOA) Title varies.
Harper's Weekly (1857-1916: stacks).
McClure's (1893-1915: stacks) (1893-1929: APS).
Municipal Journal and Engineer (1909-1920: stacks).
National Police Gazette. (1845-1906: APS) Title varies..
North American Review (1815-1930: stacks)
Outlook (1893, 1895-1908: stacks). Title varies.
Scribner's (1887-1930: stacks)
Survey (1909-1929: stacks)
Survey Graphic (1930: stacks)

Note: Perhaps the best way to use the American Periodical Series is by using ProQuest's new electronic resource, the "American Periodical Series Online." This resource allows full-text searches and PDF retrievals from hundreds of 19th century magazines, and is available at most major research libraries. Unfortunately, it is not available at the University of Connecticut, but students who are willing to make the trip to New Haven can use it at Yale.