This three-part digital series succeeds Early American Newspapers, providing newspapers from across the United States from the early twenties to the end of the Cold War. The 20^th Century American Newspapers series provides, to some extent, “packages of convenience.” Each title included in the packages is already available individually through the American Newspaper Archives series offered by Readex. There does not seem to be a unifying theme to each series, except perhaps regional diversity. Readex notes their selection principles: “these three series were designed to provide broad geographic coverage for this time period, following the model of the parallel series of Early American Newspapers (which end in 1922).” Libraries may want to request their own particular combination of titles.

Holdings and Gaps

A source title list provided by Readex is available in Appendix A.

Holdings appear to be quite comprehensive for the most part, with only scattered issues missing from the extensive runs compiled by Readex. The major exception is the Augusta Chronicle, which (at the time of writing) is missing as many as 2000 issues from its included run of 1923–93.

The following list details the more prominent gaps in coverage for all three series:  

Series 1

• Times-Picayune [New Orleans] – Lacks: Apr 1937; Sep 16-30, 1961; Jan 1-10, 1968; Apr 1-7, 1978;
• Plain Dealer [Cleveland] – Lacks: Nov 1946; Jul 1-15, 1953; Nov 1956; Dec 1962; Jan-Mar 1963; Nov-Dec 1974; Jun 1-15, 1977;
• Oregonian – Lacks: Nov 22-30, 1930; Apr 17-24, 1943; Mar 1-15, 1949; Jun 16-30, 1963; Aug 16-31, 1968; Mar 9-15, Apr 17-30, 1969; Feb 1-15, 1972; Apr 16-30, 1973;

Series 2

• Press-Register [Mobile] – Lacks: Oct 8-13, 1976; Mar 1-15, 1980;
• Seattle Times – Lacks: Nov 1-8, 1944; Nov19-Dec 31, 1945; Jan 1-12, 1946; Aug 1-Oct 18, 1953;
• Trenton Times – Lacks: May 16-31, 1973; Sep 22-26, 1986;

Series 3

• Springfield Republican and Springfield Union – Lacks: May 1-15, 1941; [Sept. 26, 1946-Mar. 6, 1947 missing due to newspaper strike]; Feb 16-28, 1959; Nov 1982; Jun-Dec 1987; Apr 1-10, Jun 1-10, Oct 1-10, 1988
• Dallas Morning News – Lacks: Dec 1923;
• Augusta Chronicle – Lacks: Jun 1924; Dec 21-31, 1924; Sep, Dec 1926; Mar 9-31, 1930; Sep 1930; Mar 10-31, 1931; Jan-Mar 1932; Jul-Dec 1932; Jul 11-26, 1935; Apr 1-10, Jun, Oct-Dec 1937; Dec 1938; Sep 1939; Mar 1940; Mar 1942; Oct-Dec 1943; May 19-Jun 17, 1944; Jan-Mar 1948; Aug 1948; Nov-Dec 1950; Jan-Aug 1951; Dec 1951; Jan 1952; Jul 1954; Nov 17-30, 1954; Jan, Apr 1955; Mar 1957; Sep 1959; Sep 1962; May 1963; Apr 14-30, 1964; Mar 1965; Mar 12-31, May 12-31, 1969; Oct 1970; Oct 1-15, 1972; Jul 1975; Jan-Feb, Apr 1981; May-Jun 1982; Feb 1-15, 1983; Jan, Apr 1984; Jun22-30, 1986; Jan-Feb, Jun, Oct, 1988; Mar 16-31, 1990; Jan 1991; Mar 17-31, 1991; Nov 9-30, 1992; May16-Jul 15, 1993.