Three New Open Access Primary Source Collections Spotlight Voices of Dissent

The Cheng Library has recently added three primary source databases to its collection. Produced by Reveal Digital and hosted on the JSTOR platform, the databases spotlight under-represented 20th-century voices of dissent. They are:

American Prison Newspapers, 1800-2020: Voices from the Inside

On March 24, 1800, "Forlorn Hope" became the first newspaper published within a prison by an incarcerated person. In the intervening 200 years, over 450 prison newspapers have been published from U.S. prisons. Some, like the "Angolite" and the "San Quentin News," are still being published today. American Prison Newspapers is an open access database that brings together hundreds of these periodicals from across the country into one collection that represents penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions. Over 1,790 issues are currently available to search and browse.


Independent Voices Periodical Collection

Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of over 20,000 issues of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.


Student Activism Collection

Student Activism is an open access primary source collection containing items documenting the voices of students across the great range of protest, political actions, and equal-rights advocacy from the 20th and early 21st century United States. The primary sources are broad-based across time, geography, and political viewpoint - from the conservative to the anarchist. The collection contains materials drawn from special collection libraries and archives around the country. These include circulars, leaflets, fliers, pamphlets, newsletters, campaign materials, protest literature, clippings, periodicals, bulletins, letters, press releases, ephemera; and meeting, demonstration, conference, and event documentation. While the collection currently has over 170 items, it will grow to approximately 75,000 pages.

Please contact Richard Kearney, Electronic Resources Librarian, at 973-720-2165 or by email at kearneyr@wpunj.edu if you have any questions about these databases.