Skip to content
Fous
Fous
Log in to Fous

Library of Congress

Educationloc.gov

Digital collections, historic newspapers and newspaper pages

Back to tools

Library of Congress returns searchable digital collections and historic newspaper pages; rights notes may be absent, and newspaper text may contain OCR errors.

Search collections

Search Library of Congress digital collections by keywords, format, and date range. Results follow Library search relevance; rights notes may be unavailable for some records.

Your information

Page of search results, for example 2.

Keywords to search, for example Civil War photographs.

Material format, for example maps; any searches all formats.

Results per page, for example 20.

More options

Latest year, for example 1865.

Earliest year, for example 1861.

1 credit per completed run

The same inputs also work from your code or an AI assistant. See For developers.

Example results

Search results

  • formby, john

  • formby, john

    • Choose an action

    About the Library of Congress tool

    Library of Congress (LOC) searches digital collections by keywords, format, and date range; provide a query, with other inputs optional.

    Search historic newspapers returns newspaper pages matching text, with optional state and issue-year filters; provide a query.

    Built from loc.gov. Last checked Oct 7, 2026.

    Actions

    Search collections

    1 credit

    Search Library of Congress digital collections by keywords, format, and date range. Results follow Library search relevance; rights notes may be unavailable for some records.

    What you provide

    FieldTypeRequiredDescription
    PagepageNumberOptionalPage of search results, for example 2.Example: 2
    QueryqueryTextRequiredKeywords to search, for example Civil War photographs.Example: Civil War maps
    FormatformatTextOptionalMaterial format, for example maps; any searches all formats.Example: Maps
    End Yearend_yearNumberOptionalLatest year, for example 1865.Example: 1865
    Start Yearstart_yearNumberOptionalEarliest year, for example 1861.Example: 1861
    Max Resultsmax_resultsNumberOptionalResults per page, for example 20.Example: 2

    What you get

    FieldTypeDescription
    ResultsresultsListMatching collections and digital items, in Library search order.
    Dateresults[].dateTextExample: 1910
    Titleresults[].titleTextExample: The American Civil War--maps
    Formatresults[].formatTextExample: Map
    Summaryresults[].summaryTextExample: Title from cover. Issued to accompany Formby, John. The American Civil War, a…
    Item Linkresults[].item_linkTextExample: https://www.loc.gov/item/2009581125/
    Rights and Usageresults[].rights_and_usageTextExample: The content of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division digitized…
    Thumbnail Image Linkresults[].thumbnail_image_linkTextExample: https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/gmd/gmd370m/g3701m/g3701sm/gcw006…
    Creators or Contributorsresults[].creators_or_contributorsTextExample: formby, john

    Example result

    For Page: 2, Query: Civil War maps, Format: Maps, Max Results: 2

    JSON
    {
  "results": [
    {
      "date": "1910",
      "title": "The American Civil War--maps",
      "format": "Map",
      "summary": "Title from cover. Issued to accompany Formby, John. The American Civil War, a concise history of its causes, progress, and results (New York, Scribners, 1910). Includes maps of the principal campaigns…",
      "item_link": "https://www.loc.gov/item/2009581125/",
      "rights_and_usage": "The content of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division digitized collections is free to use and reuse unless a Rights Advisory statement is present that indicates otherwise. Credit Line: Li…",
      "thumbnail_image_link": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/gmd/gmd370m/g3701m/g3701sm/gcw0066000/ca000001.gif",
      "creators_or_contributors": "formby, john"
    },
    {
      "date": "1910",
      "title": "The American Civil War--maps",
      "format": "Map",
      "summary": "Title from cover. Issued to accompany Formby, John. The American Civil War, a concise history of its causes, progress, and results (London, John Murray, 1910). Includes maps of the principal campaigns…",
      "item_link": "https://www.loc.gov/item/2009581126/",
      "rights_and_usage": "The content of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division digitized collections is free to use and reuse unless a Rights Advisory statement is present that indicates otherwise. Credit Line: Li…",
      "thumbnail_image_link": "https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/gmd/gmd370m/g3701m/g3701sm/gcw0065000/ca000001.gif",
      "creators_or_contributors": "formby, john"
    }
  ]
}

    Search historic newspapers

    1 credit

    Search historic U.S. newspaper pages by text, with optional state and issue-year filters. Returns relevance-ranked page records with snippets and image links; newspaper OCR may contain transcription errors.

    What you provide

    FieldTypeRequiredDescription
    PagepageNumberOptionalResult page to retrieve, for example 2.Example: 2
    QueryqueryTextRequiredWords to find in newspaper text, for example Titanic.Example: Suffrage
    StatestateTextOptionalUS state name to limit results, for example Montana. Leave blank for all states.Example: New York
    End Yearend_yearNumberOptionalLatest issue year, for example 1913.Example: 1920
    Start Yearstart_yearNumberOptionalEarliest issue year, for example 1912.Example: 1915
    Max Resultsmax_resultsNumberOptionalNumber of page results to return, for example 20.Example: 2

    What you get

    FieldTypeDescription
    Newspaper Pagesnewspaper_pagesListHistoric newspaper pages in search relevance order.
    Citynewspaper_pages[].cityTextCity of publication.Example: New York
    Statenewspaper_pages[].stateTextState of publication.Example: New York
    Snippetnewspaper_pages[].snippetTextShort excerpt of newspaper text around the search words.Example: ... men and women of the suffrage states are practically unanimous on these…
    Page Linknewspaper_pages[].page_linkTextNewspaper page link.Example: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1918-01-09/ed-1/?sp=7&q=suffrage
    Issue Datenewspaper_pages[].issue_dateDateIssue date (YYYY-MM-DD).Example: 1918-01-09
    Page Numbernewspaper_pages[].page_numberNumberPrinted issue page number when known.Example: 7
    Newspaper Titlenewspaper_pages[].newspaper_titleTextNewspaper name.Example: New-york tribune
    Page Image Linknewspaper_pages[].page_image_linkTextPage image link.Example: https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:ndnp:dlc:batch_dlc_brown_ver02…

    Example result

    For Page: 2, Query: Suffrage, State: New York, End Year: 1920, Start Year: 1915, Max Results: 2

    JSON
    {
  "newspaper_pages": [
    {
      "city": "New York",
      "state": "New York",
      "snippet": "... men and women of the suffrage states are practically unanimous on these points. Must Rrcogrcize Fact \"With tlie ovcrwhelming testimony on tlie one hand that woman suffrage in practice is a…",
      "page_link": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1918-01-09/ed-1/?sp=7&q=suffrage",
      "issue_date": "1918-01-09",
      "page_number": 7,
      "newspaper_title": "New-york tribune",
      "page_image_link": "https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:ndnp:dlc:batch_dlc_brown_ver02:data:sn83030214:00206532221:1918010901:0187/full/pct:12.5/0/default.jpg"
    },
    {
      "city": "New York",
      "state": "New York",
      "snippet": "Worn SuffrageOver There and Over Here By MARIE DE MONTALVO Editor The New Citizen SUFFRAGE is still an issueexcept for Canada an allAmerica issue In the United States ten…",
      "page_link": "https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1918-11-03/ed-2/?sp=32&q=suffrage",
      "issue_date": "1918-11-03",
      "page_number": 32,
      "newspaper_title": "New-york tribune",
      "page_image_link": "https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:ndnp:dlc:batch_dlc_allen_ver02:data:sn83030214:00206532324:1918110302:0066/full/pct:12.5/0/default.jpg"
    }
  ]
}

    For developers

    Call it from your code with one request. Change the values in input to run it on new data. To get an API key, open Developers at the bottom of Studio, turn on Developer mode and go to API keys.

    cURL
    curl 'https://api.fous.com/v1/query' \
  --fail-with-body --silent --show-error --max-time 180 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "api": "@library-of-congress",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "search_collections",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "page": 2,
    "query": "Civil War maps",
    "format": "maps",
    "max_results": 2
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}'

    What you can do with it

    Questions about Library of Congress

    Can I run it with my own inputs?

    Yes. Change the inputs in Studio and press Run, or send new inputs from your code, or ask a connected AI assistant.

    Can I call this Library of Congress tool as an API?

    Yes. Send a POST request to /v1/query with your Fous API key and the inputs, and get JSON back.

    How much does it cost?

    Each completed run costs 1 credit. Failed runs without a completed receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted. With pay as you go, a credit costs 1¢. Monthly plans cost less per credit.

    Do I need a Library of Congress account?

    No. You only need a Fous account.

    How current is the data?

    Fous gets the data from loc.gov when you run it. Some results are reused for up to 24 hours, and results that use your account or key are never reused. It was last verified on Oct 7, 2026.

    What digital collections match a topic or date range?

    Search collections finds matching digital collections and items using keywords and optional format and date filters.

    Which historic newspaper pages contain certain words?

    Search historic newspapers finds text matches, with optional state and issue-year filters. Newspaper OCR may contain transcription errors.

    All Education toolsBrowse all tools