Hunter College Libraries

Did you ever wonder what was on the front page of the New York Times the day you were born? Or maybe you want to read what was written about the Titanic before it became an international tragedy. How about the history and rationale behind some subway fare increases in New York? Or images of what was considered “modern” design in different time periods?

You can dig in to all this information at your convenience by searching in the New York Times Historical database, available via the Hunter College Libraries home page under the “Databases” heading.

“The historical New York Times from Proquest has digitally reproduced every page from every issue of The New York Times from 1851 to 2001. The full text of the paper is completely searchable due to underlying ASCII text. The results include all graphics and links to continuations on other pages.”

Did you get that? From 1851! Full text! Every single page! You can search through 150 years of the newspaper, with the capability to find advertisements, stand-alone images, front page stories and more. Here are but a few examples:

News story from 1910 about the inadequacy of New York piers for the new ocean liners like the Titanic.

The 1939 World's Fair caused an increase in subway fares to pay for the extension of what is now the 7 line.

The latest in aerodynamic design, showcased at the 1939 New York World's Fair.