Georgia African American newspapers digitized and published online with federal grant

After completing digitization, the Digital Library of Georgia announced last week that two historically significant African-American newspapers are now available online with free access.

Archives of the Savannah Tribune and Athens Republique are now available through the Georgia Historic Newspapers (GHN). They will also be accessible in the Library of Congress’ newspaper site, Chronicling America.

The publications’ successful digitalization and open internet accessibility was made possible by a National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The NDNP is a partnership between the NEH and the Library of Congress. It is a continuing endeavor to create a searchable online database of U.S. newspapers that includes detailed information and digitization of historic pages, according to the LOC website.

Meanwhile, the NEH is an independent federal agency and one of the United States’ biggest funders of humanities programs. It aims to convey the lessons of history to all Americans.

“NEH grants help strengthen and sustain American cultural life, in communities, at museums, libraries, and historic sites, and in classrooms,” former NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede said in a statement. “As the nation prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary in 2026, NEH is proud to help lay the foundations for public engagement with America’s past by funding projects that safeguard cultural heritage and advance our understanding of the events, ideas, and people that have shaped our nation.”

The Savannah Tribune was founded in 1875 and is known as “Georgia’s Best Weekly.” Excluding two hiatuses, it is one of the South’s longest-running African American newspapers. The images that have been digitized from this legacy paper are from 1886 to 1888. The newspaper’s images can be found on GHN at this link.

Athens Republique launched in 1919 and closed in 1927. During those years, it served the African American community in Athens and nearby towns. Images from the newspaper are accessible on GHN’s website.

These are not the only two historic African American newspapers published in Georgia that are accessible online. Prior grant-funded projects led to the digitization of other African American newspapers from 1867 to 2018. Such publications can be browsed at this link.