Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers

An Open Access collection sponsored by the Center for Research Libraries

The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a tumultuous time in Mexico’s history. Wars with Spain, France, and the United States taxed the country’s resources and reshaped its territory, while economic depression, regional political movements and increased government repression led to the Mexican Revolution and subsequent regional and inter-regional uprisings. Political, economic, and social uncertainty reigned supreme during this critical period as Mexico struggled to define itself and its relations with the world.

The Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers collection traces the evolution of Mexico during this pivotal period. Comprising nearly 1,000 titles from Mexico’s pre-independence, independence, and revolutionary periods (1807-1929), the newspapers in this collection provide rare documentation of the dramatic events of this era and include coverage of Mexican partisan politics, yellow press, political and social satire, as well as local, regional, national, and international news. While holdings of many of the newspapers in this collection are available only in very short runs, the titles are often unique and in many cases represent the only existing record of a newspaper’s short-lived publication.

The publications that comprise the Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers collection have been made available by the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection of the University of Texas at Austin, and were curated under the leadership of Adán Benavides. Important contributions to this effort were also made by Guillermo Náñez of The Latin American Library of Tulane University.

Open Access to this collection is made possible through the generous support of the Center for Research Libraries and its member institutions.

Open Access

Current Titles

The Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers collection comprises nearly 1,000 titles from Mexico’s pre-independence, independence and revolutionary periods (1807-1929), including:

  • Boletin del Ministerio de Fomento de la Republica Mexicana, Mexico City, 1877-1881
  • Boletin republicano, Mexico City, 1867-1868
  • Diario de la revolucion, Guadalajara, 1833
  • Eco del norte de Tamaulipas, Matamoros, 1845-1846
  • El duende, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, 1896-1897
  • El mensajero, Mexico City, 1871-1880
  • El oriente, Jalapa-Enríquez, 1824-1828
  • El porvenir, Mérida, 1883-1885
  • El procurador del pueblo, Matamoros, 1832
  • El siglo diez y nueve, Guadalajara, 1833
  • La Baja California, La Paz, 1870-1871
  • La brujula, San Cristóbal de las Casas, 1869-1874
  • La voz de Michoacan, Morelia, 1846
  • Le trait d’union (French), Mexico City, 1870-1889
  • Pabellon naciona, Mexico City, 1888-1890
  • Para-rayo, San Cristóbal de las Casas, 1827-1830
  • Semanario patriotico americano, Tlalpujahua, 1812-1813
  • Voz de la patria, Mexico City, 1828-1831

Download the title list below to view the complete list of titles in the Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers collection.

About the GPA CRL Alliance

East View and the Center for Research Libraries have created the GPA CRL Alliance to steer the development of a series of thematically designed databases for East View’s Global Press Archive program to meet the specific needs and priorities of CRL members. Launched in 2019, the charter phase of the GPA CRL Alliance resulted in the creation of nine collections, encompassing hundreds of newspaper titles and totaling over 4.5 million pages, of which 3 million pages are fully Open Access.

The first of these collections – Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers, Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers, Independent and Revolutionary Mexican Newspapers, Imperial Russian Newspapers, Southeast Asian Newspapers, and South Asian Newspapers – are all Open Access collections and are the result of close collaboration between East View and CRL, with CRL advisors selecting and curating the content, and CRL members funding the collections to facilitate global Open Access.

Encouraged by the positive results of Phase 1, a second phase of the GPA CRL Alliance is now underway. The continuation of this highly successful academic-commercial partnership between CRL and East View will serve our shared values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and continue to extend access to global newspaper collections to the widest possible audience. Fundraising for Phase 2 has ended but CRL members are still encouraged to contribute to the program.

Click the link below to learn more about the GPA CRL Alliance, available collections, and plans for the next phase of the Alliance.