Periodicals report events—from daily news stories, for-sale notices, and reviews of new novels to the proceedings of an academic conference—as or soon after they happen. “Periodical” is a general term for any newspaper, magazine, or journal that is published at regular intervals—once a day, once a week, once a month, once a quarter, or even once a year.
Whether the periodical in question is a newspaper aimed to keep the inhabitants of a city informed about current events or an academic journal designed to keep professionals in a discipline up-to-date on research in the field, periodicals speak to particular audiences at a specific moment in time. Though their news does not stay new for long, their lasting value to historians is in the thorough, idiosyncratic way they give a picture of a particular moment.
Source: Learning to Do Historical Research: Sources - Prowling the Periodicals
During the twentieth century, local history began to appear in one of its most popular and effective forms. Newspaper writers of the 1930s—and continuing to this day—seized on local events as interesting material for feature articles and weekly colmns. Local history had appeared in newspapers before, of course, but mostly in the form of reminiscences, letters and sometimes as the result of interviews with aged or notable people—or survivors of earlier times or startling events. […] The appearance of local history in 1930s newspapers took a slightly new form, however. Journalists who reveled in an anecdote, a joke, or a regional dialect would take a story, polish it, and present it to the paper’s readers. Their interest was in the telling of highly specific tales, developing a form of local-color writing, which they did with verve. —Carol Kammen, On Doing Local History (p.17-18)
When reading periodicals, remember . . .
Source: Learning to Do Historical Research: Sources - Prowling the Periodicals
The first edition of The Sun was four tabloid-sized pages. On Page 2, in a note to readers, Abell laid out what has remained the newspaper’s enduring guiding philosophy and course for the past 175 years:
“We shall give no place to religious controversy, nor to political discussions of merely partisan character. On political principles, and questions involving the interest or honor of the whole country, it will be free, firm and temperate. Our object will be the common good, without regard to that of sects, factions or parties; and for this object we shall labor without fear or partiality. The publication of this paper will be continued for one year at least, and the publishers hope to receive, as they will try to deserve, a liberal support.”
From the History of the Baltimore Sun (2012).
The newspaper was founded in 1892 by a former slave, John H. Murphy, Sr., who merged his church publication, The Sunday School Helper, with two other church publications, The Ledger and The Afro-American. The publication began to rise in prominence when, in 1922, Carl Murphy took control and served as its editor for 45 years.