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Public Collections of Amateur Journals
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A number of collections of amateur
journals are available for public browsing. Listed here are
collections members of The Fossils are aware of, many of which
have helpful on-line descriptions.
Before visiting these collections in person, contact them to
ensure they will have the materials ready. Materials are often
stored offsite and making them available in the library may
require several days notice.
If you are aware of other amateur journal collections, please
contact The Fossils and share the
information. An excellent aid for finding libraries with amateur
journalism content is the WorldCat search tool; search for the subject "amateur
journalism" or for a specific title.
Major Collections
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University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
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The Special Collections department of the
University of Wisconsin-Madison houses the Library of Amateur
Journalism in Memorial Library. The LAJ
has a rich history dating back to 1896. (From 1916 to
2004, it was controlled by The Fossils.)
The department also has a
British Amateur Journalism collection.
Address: 990 Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin, 728 State Street, Madison, WI 53706;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 608-262-3243.
The Fossils encourages financial
donations to support the LAJ, the most comprehensive
collection of amateur journalism publications and related
material.
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American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts
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This research library of American history, literature, and
culture includes a large Amateur Newspaper collection.
They hold a collection of about 55,000 amateur journalism
items, including a number donated by Truman J. Spencer in the
1940s. (Batchelder-Spencer-Cole Collection).
Although they generally retain only material dated 1900 or
earlier, they hold the Moitoret Family collection (donated
after Victor Moitoret's death in 2005) which is eventually to
be divided between the AAS and the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
There is an on-line
finding aid.
Address: 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, MA 01609-1634;
E-mail: library@americanantiquarian.org;
Phone: 508-755-5221.
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Library of Congress, Washington, District of Columbia
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The Library of Congress has amateur journals in at least two
different areas:
- Four archival boxes of amateur papers and bound volumes
of The Fossil and The National Amateur are
held in the Rare Book stacks.
- Thirty-one of the "X" collections (hundreds of boxes in
off-site storage holding hundreds of folders of short,
pamphlet-type material) are related to amateur journalism.
We have prepared a summary
of the Library of Congress's Amateur Journalism
holdings, with links to more than 6800 images of
amateur journals.
Address: 101 Independence Ave, SE, Washington, DC 20540;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 202-707-5000.
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National Library of New Zealand, Alexander Turnbull Library,
Wellington, New Zealand
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The
Robert G. Barr Collection of Amateur Journalism
consists of over 1000 titles dating from 1880 to 1975.
Address: 70 Molesworth St, Thorndon, Wellington 6011, New Zealand;
E-mail: information@natlib.govt.nz;
Phone: +64 4-474 3000.
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New-York Historical Society, New York, New York
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The Patricia D. Klingenstein Library includes
a collection of amateur periodicals that fills 28 boxes on 12
shelves. The collection is not cataloged, although a listing
undertaken in 2010, starting from "A" and continuing part way
through "S", includes 1500 titles.
Address: 170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street), New York, NY 10024;
E-mail: info@nyhistory.org;
Phone: 212-873-3400.
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New York Public Library, New York, New York
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The library's Amateur Periodical Collection contains
about 8,000 items (3,000 titles). Bertram Adler donated 70 or
so amateur journals in 1906, and another 700 titles were
purchased in 1914, but the bulk of the collection was donated
by Charles W. "Tryout" Smith in 1939-40. In 2013, the library
received a three-year grant to catalog and digitize the
collection.
You can search their catalog for items related to
amateur journalism. The subject "Amateur Journalism --
Periodicals" returned hundreds of items, while keyword "Amateur Press
Association" returned 66.
One of those items, "Index to the amateur periodicals
collection," prepared by the library in 1941 and digitized
in 2015, includes 82 typed pages, with up to 60 lines per
page.
Address: Fifth Ave. and 42nd St., New York, NY 10018;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 917-275-6975.
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Smithsonian Institute National Museum of American History
, Washington, District of Columbia
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The Museum of American History's collection "Kelsey Company Records and Amateur Journalism
Collection, 1873-1964" includes 36 boxes of amateur
journals (for example, issues of National Amateur
published between 1878 and 1963) and other items related to
the National Amateur Press Association and The Fossils.
Address: 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C., 20001;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 202-633-1000.
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University of California, Berkeley, California
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The Bancroft Library purchased the Hyman Bradofsky Collection in 2003. The
collection consists of six boxes of pamphlets (2.5 linear
feet) and twenty-five regular-sized and two oversize boxes of
serials (16.2 linear feet) and contains over 7,000 items, the
majority of which are nineteenth and early twentieth century
American and Canadian imprints, including approximately 1,000
items printed in California. There is also a related one-box
(0.4 linear feet) collection of Bradofsky's own papers, mostly
relating to his own collecting. The Library has a
"preliminary" (although thorough) listing of the four cartons
of serials, and will forward the 140-page Word document upon
request.
In addition to the Bradofsky collection, a UC Berkeley special collections search for "amateur
journalism" lists over 500 results. Some of these have the
notation, "from the library of Frederick Folger Thomas, Jr."
Address: The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-6000;
E-mail: bancref@library.berkeley.edu;
Phone: 510-642-3781.
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University of California, Riverside, California
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The library's Special Collections department includes a few
NAPA titles, but their treasure is the Terry Carr Fanzine
Collection, which contains over 74,000 items. You can search
the Fanzine Collections Database by title or
editor.
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University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
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The Special Collections Department has Zine and Amateur Press Collections,
including the following related to amateur journalism:
Address: 100 Main Library (LIB), 125 West Washington St., Iowa City, IA 52242-1420;
E-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu or
use on-line form;
Phone: 319-335-5921.
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University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming
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The American Heritage Center has five collections related to amateur journalism:
Address: 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY 82071;
E-mail: ahcref@uwyo.edu;
Phone: 307-766-1121.
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Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
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In 1918, Warren J. Brodie donated his collection of
approximately 15,000 papers to the Western Reserve Historical
Society.
Address: 10825 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106;
E-mail: info@wrhs.org;
Phone: 216-721-5722.
Other Collections
The remaining collections are either smaller than the
collections listed above, or The Fossils does not yet have information about their
extent.
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Boston Athenaeum, Boston, Massachusetts
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Holdings include "National Amateur Press Association printing
archive, 1937-1946," consisting of 39 items sent to Charles
A. Austin.
Address: 10½ Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108;
E-mail: reference@bostonathenaeum.org;
Phone: 617-227-0270.
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Center for Brooklyn History
(formerly Brooklyn Historical Society), Brooklyn, New York
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Within the Louis C. Wills papers are items related to
amateur journalism.
Address: 128 Pierrepont Street Brooklyn, NY 11201;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 718-222-4111.
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Chicago History Museum, Chicago, Illinois
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Holdings include 1 folder of United Amateur Press Association
material (call no. PN4826.U5 Z OVERSIZE).
Address: 1601 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60614;
E-mail: Use on-line form;
Phone: 312-642-4600.
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Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, Connecticut
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A search for amateur journals in the
library catalog returns numerous items. The
Glover Snow collection, 1884-1955
includes amateur journals Snow published 1908-1916 as well as
documents related to the Kelsey Company, long-time
manufacturer of table-top printing presses.
Address: One Elizabeth St., Hartford, CT 06105;
E-mail: research_center@chs.org;
Phone: 860-236-5621.
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The Library Company of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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The Amateur Newspaper Collection includes 131
publications (225 issues) from sixteen states, mostly from the
1870s. You can view on-line images of several newspapers in the collection.
Address: 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107;
E-mail: cking@librarycompany.org;
Phone: 215-546-3181.
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The Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Massachusetts
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A search of the MHS Online Catalog (Abigail) using Subject "Amateur
Journalism" turned up six collections that include amateur
journals:
- [Amateur Journals] (call no. AP2.Z9 A6 X-Lg; 1 box)
A collection of 91 titles, mainly from the 1870s and 1880s.
- Bee (Albany, NY) (call no. Coal Bin Serials Bee)
Published by Wm. Augustus Munsell; No. 1 (Mar. 9, 1844) - No. 9 (Apr. 22, 1845).
- The bee: vol. 1, no. 4, March 15, 1858 (call no. Box 1858)
Published by G. C. Mann in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
- The Chrysalis (call nos. Bdses-Sm 1876 Mar and Bdses-Sm 1876 Apr)
Published by John S. Whiting of Charlestown, MA; 2 issues: Mar and Apr 1876.
- Heart of commonwealth: a literary journal (call no. Coal Bin Serials Heart of Commonwealth)
Published in Worcester, MA; Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 1886)-vol. 1, no. 6 (June 1886).
- Scrapbook of newspaper clippings kept by an unidentified compiler, 1840-1850 (call no. Scrapbooks 004 OFFSITE STORAGE SH 12XE 9)
The volume includes three amateur newspapers: Young idea (2 issues), Coon, and Bedford Street Budget.
Address: 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02215;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 617-536-1608.
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McArthur Public Library, Biddeford, Maine
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The Walter Perkins Amateur Newspaper
Collection includes over 130 papers from 25 states and
Canada, collected by Walter E. Perkins who at age 14 published
his own paper The Snow Flake.
Address: 270 Main St., Biddeford, ME 04005; Phone:
207-284-4181.
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Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Among the society's holdings are Frederick Heath Papers, which includes
publications from UAPA and NAPA, and Amateur Press Publications Collection,
which consists of seven bound volumes of miscellaneous
publications and The National Amateur from 1970 to
2015.
Address: 910 N. Old World Third St., Milwaukee, WI 53203-1591;
E-mail: info@milwaukeehistory.net;
Phone: 414-273-8288.
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Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
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A search for the subject "Amateur journalism--Newspapers" in the
Northwestern University Libraries Catalog shows over 100
titles of amateur journals published in the 1880s held at
the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special
Collections.
Location: Level 3, Deering Library, 1970 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208;
E-mail: special.collections@northwestern;
Phone: 847-491-3635.
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Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
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The Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections
Collection of National Amateur Press Association mailings
1889-2006 (call number Mss 239) in 3 boxes and 21
cartons, or 22.5 cubic feet.
Address: 30 Park Place, Athens, OH 45701;
Phone: 740-593-2699.
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Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York
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The Cary Graphic Arts Collection at The Wallace Center has an
Amateur Newspaper Collection with over
1,300 issues of 500 titles covering the mid-1870s to the
mid-1880s. A finding aid (PDF file) includes more
information, including a listing of the newspapers.
Address: 90 Lomb Drive, Rochester, New York 14623-5604;
E-mail: see contact information;
Phone: 585-475-3961.
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San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, California
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The main library holds several
collections of amateur journals.
Address: 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco CA 94102-4733;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 415-557-4400.
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Smith College, Northhampton, Massachusetts.
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The Nielson Library holds the
John Green Oliver Scrapbook 1874-1883, containing
publications and memorabilia related to amateur journalism,
in the Mortimer Rare Book Room Collections.
Address: 7 Neilson Drive, Northampton, MA 01063; E-mail:
neilref@smith.edu; Phone: 413-585-2910.
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Stanford University, Stanford, California
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A search for the subject "Amateur Journalism" in Stanford University libraries using
SearchWorks Catalog turned up two
collections that contain amateur journals:
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Amateur newspaper collection (call no. PN4827 .A43 1872; 4 boxes)
Over 300 amateur newspapers and magazines, largely
published between 1890 and 1919 in the United States.
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Amateur press publications, 1890-1932; Walter Radius, publisher and collector (call no. M1525, 2 boxes)
The bulk of the collection runs from 1892 to 1904. Most
titles are incomplete, with the exception of those created
by Radius himself, The Newsboy and The High School Times.
Location: Field Reading Room, Cecil H. Green Library, Stanford University, Stanford, California;
E-mail: speccollref@stanford.edu;
Phone: 650-725-1022.
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University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
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The Al Andrews Amateur Journalism collection
contains a number of fanzines and related materials
principally to science fiction fantasy subjects; 35 linear
feet.
Address: W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, P.O. Box 870266, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0266;
E-mail: archives@ua.edu;
Phone: 205-348-0500.
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University of California, Irvine, California
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The Frank M. Cushing Collection contains a number
of amateur journals.
Address: Langson Library 5th floor, P.O. Box 19557, Irvine, CA 92623-9557;
E-mail: spcoll@uci.edu;
Phone: 949-824-3947.
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University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
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The
Eugene Richardson Printing Ephemera Collection includes amateur journals.
Address: 184 UCB, 1720 Pleasant Street, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0184;
E-mail: reflib@colorado.edu;
Phone: 303-492-8705.
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University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas
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The Spencer Library holds
National Amateur Press Association bundles dating from 1980,
plus many NAPA publications going back to 1977.
Address: Kenneth Spencer Research Library, 1450 Poplar Lane, Lawrence, Kansas 66045;
E-mail: ksrlref@ku.edu;
Phone: 785-864-8983.
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University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
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A search of
their holdings for the subject "Amateur journalism --
United States -- Periodicals" turns up two items: The
Boxwooder and National Amateur (1933 - 2015).
(Their Amateur Printing Associations Collection,
consisting of 93 boxes of material, likely the extensive
collection of amateur papers donated by William F. Haywood in
the 1990s, was deaccessioned sometime between 2015 and 2019
and given to the University of Tampa.)
Address: 4202 E. Fowler Ave. LIB122, Tampa, FL 33620;
E-mail: visit their contact page;
Phone: 813-974-2731.
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University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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A
search for "Amateur Journalism" shows the Fisher Library
holds copies of 62 amateur journals including American Amateur Journalist (1937 -
1958) and The National Amateur (1878 - present).
Address: Fisher Library, Eastern Avenue F03, Camperdown Campus, University of Sydney, NSW 2006;
E-mail: fisher.library@sydney.edu.au;
Phone: +61 2 +61 2 9351 2993.
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University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio
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The library catalog listings show issues of The National
Amateur dating from 1968, and also NAPA mailings.
Address: William S. Carlson Library, 2801 W. Bancroft, Toledo, OH 43606-3390;
Phone: 419-530-2324.
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University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
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A search of the library catalog for "amateur
journalism" returns over 80 items.
Address: 295 S 1500 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0860;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 801-581-8558.
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University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
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The Special Collections department holds several collections of amateur publications:
Location:
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, 160 McCormick Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903;
Address: P.O. Box 400110, Charlottesville, VA 22904;
E-mail: library@virginia.edu;
Phone: 434-243-1776.
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Worcester Historical Museum,
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The Whipple Collection includes amateur
publications, among other items.
Address: 30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA 01609;
E-mail: info@worcesterhistory.net;
Phone: 508-753-8278.
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Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
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A search of the library catalog for "Amateur
Periodicals" returns over 360 items from 1845 to 1906.
E-mail: askyale@gmail.com;
Phone: 203-432-1775.
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Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio
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The William F. Maag, Jr., library holds
the last 12 issues of The National Amateur.
Address: William F. Maag, Jr. Library, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555;
E-mail: use on-line form;
Phone: 330-941-3686.