About UMD Student Newspapers
The UMD Student Newspapers database is the realization of a long-term goal of the University of Maryland Archives staff, to make all the major student newspapers on campus accessible and searchable online.
This project began with a Launch UMD crowd-funding campaign in spring 2015, led by a team of UMD Libraries and Philip Merrill College of Journalism staff and undergraduates. With funding in place for phase one, the Archives staff began work with the Libraries’ Digital Systems and Stewardship (DSS) division to digitize the early issues of the paper known today as The Diamondback. Once the digital files were returned to the UMD Libraries, the DSS staff undertook the design of the user interface for the UMD Student Newspapers database that you are using today.
At present, the UMD Student Newspapers database includes issues of The Diamondback and its predecessors that appeared in hard copy from January 1, 1910, through December 15, 2014. Additional issues of The Diamondback are being digitized and will be added to the database as soon as they are available. Fundraising continues to fund the digitization of The Diamondback through the present, as well as to digitize other student newspapers.
Keyword searching
Enter your keyword(s) in the box on the Search pages. You can then limit your search by decade, year, month, and day to narrow your results.
Click on a search result to be taken to the page containing your keyword(s). The keyword(s) you searched will be highlighted in yellow on the page. You can turn the highlighting off and on by clicking the Toggle Highlights icon.
Browsing
Browse UMD Student Newspapers by publication title, component (article, page, or issue), or decade. Decade can be further limited by year, month, and day or filtered by newspaper title or component. The calendar on the Browse page can also be used to select a specific issue date to review (e.g., January 1, 1910, to locate the first issue of The Triangle); dates for issues that appear in the database are highlighted on the calendar.
Display Features
Moving and Zooming Move and zoom icons
Icons that allow you to move around the newspaper viewer and zoom in and out are located in the lower right corner of the screen.
The plus and minus icons allow you to zoom in and out, making the image on the screen appear larger or smaller.
The directional arrows that appear around the house icon allow you to move around the screen. You can also move around the screen by clicking anywhere within the newspaper viewer, holding, and dragging the image to the desired area.
Clicking the house icon will reset the image to its original position.
Views
Views icon
Views menu expanded
Image View displays one page of the paper at a time.
Book View displays two pages simultaneously.
Scroll View allows you to use your mouse to move the pages of the issue from side-to-side.
Gallery View facilitates selection of individual pages of each issue.
Information Information icon
Clicking on the "i" information icon displays basic information, or metadata, about each issue.
Fullscreen Fullscreen icon
The diagonal arrows at the top right of the screen allow you to toggle back and forth between the fullscreen view of the newspaper viewer.
Selection Text Side Panel Icon
Hovering your mouse over an article will highlight it green. Click on the article to open the article text in a pane on the left of side of the screen. You can highlight and copy the article text from this pane. Toggle the side panel open and closed by clicking the side panel icon.
Image Manipulation Image manipulation icon
Image manipulation menu expanded
The icon second down from the top left of the screen allows you to rotate the image 90 degrees to the left or right; adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation; toggle grayscale; change background colors from light to dark; and automatically reset the image.
Clipping Tool Clipping icon
Portions of individual pages may be downloaded and saved for later reference by using the clipping tool, the third icon down from the top left of the screen. Click on this icon, then click and drag on the portion of the page you wish to save. Dragging will create a box around the area of the page that will be downloaded. You can readjust the size and position of the box if needed. Once the box is in the desired position, click the checkmark to save your selection as a .jpg file. If you wish to cancel your selection, click on the X to get rid of the box and start over.
The University of Maryland holds the copyright to the issues of The Diamondback and its predecessors from 1910 until the formation of Maryland Media Inc. in October 1971. The Nyumburu Cultural Center owns all rights to the Black Explosion newspaper. To simplify the process of seeking permission to reprint an article from either paper, all queries should be directed to askhornbake@umd.edu for routing to the appropriate body.
Questions regarding this project can be directed to askhornbake@umd.edu.
View a list of additional University of Maryland publications that have been digitized.
Publication Histories
The Diamondback began publication on January 1, 1910, under the name The Triangle. The title of the paper went through a series of changes until it finally became The Diamondback on June 9, 1921:
- Triangle, January 1, 1910 – October 14, 1914
- M.A.C. Weekly, October 21, 1914 – May 31, 1916
- Maryland State Weekly, September 1916 – January 30, 1919 (variant titles M. S. Weekly and M. S. C. Weekly during this time)
- Maryland State Review, February 6, 1919 – June 10, 1920
- University Review, October 7, 1920 – May 1921
- The Diamondback, June 9, 1921 – present
Publication frequency has varied over the years. Initially, the paper appeared biweekly, before moving to a weekly and then daily format on weekdays during the academic year. In March 2020, The Diamondback ceased publication of a print edition. Current issues of The Diamondback can be found online at DBKnews.com.
The Black Explosion began circa 1969 as an independent publication of The Black Student Union, with the intention of serving as the Black voice on campus and bringing attention to issues that affect UMD’s Black community. Its founding editor and architect, Patricia Wheeler (class of ‘73), was driven to create the paper because she saw a pressing need for Black students to tell their own stories (to hear Wheeler’s story in her own words, listen to her oral history here). It became an “official” UMD student publication under the umbrella of Maryland Media Inc. in 1972 and remained so until Fall 1985, when the Nyumburu Cultural Center took over sponsorship of the paper. From Fall 1978 - March 1979, the paper was known simply as The Explosion, before resuming the name it bears today.
Publication frequency varied in the paper’s early days from monthly to bi-weekly to weekly, before returning to a bi-monthly schedule in 1974. Ultimately, in early 2016, The Black Explosion became an online-only publication at blackexplosionnews.com/.
Ha-Koach began appearing monthly in 1976 as UMD’s first Jewish student newspaper. Funded in part by Maryland Media Inc. and the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation, it also maintained a close connection to the Jewish Student Union and covered news relating to Israel, Soviet Jewry, and issues and events of interest to UMD’s Jewish community.
Publication frequency varied in the early years, but its monthly schedule was solidified in 1980 when it was accepted as a full member of Maryland Media Inc. Concerns about the lack of a dedicated staff and lack of support from the Jewish community surfaced in the early 1980s, and the paper ceased to publish in the spring of 1983. Ha-Koach was succeeded by Mitzpeh in Fall 1983.
Mitzpeh–Hebrew for “place from where one can look out”–succeeded Ha-Koach as UMD’s Jewish student newspaper on September 14, 1983. According to an editorial in the inaugural issue, the paper’s goal was “to help students and faculty of this campus better understand Jewish life at the school and to report on events affecting the Jewish population here.” Throughout its publication history, the paper also had various subtitles, including The Jewish View, The Outlook, News and Views from the Jewish Community, and The Jewish Observer.
In 2000, Mitzpeh created its own website and the position of webmaster on its staff, thus beginning a gradual transition to the online-only format it maintains today. The number of analog issues shrank annually until November 2015, when the paper ceased to publish in hard copy. Today, readers can find Mitzpeh at http://umdmitzpeh.com/.
The Eclipse began publication on September 16, 1985, and was designed to succeed The Black Explosion. Its development was considered somewhat controversial, since many members of UMD’s Black community felt that the name change was unnecessary and continued to support publication of The Black Explosion when the Nyumburu Cultural Center took over responsibility for it in 1985. Although there were repeated calls for the unification of the two publications throughout the life of The Eclipse, a merger never materialized.
Initially published biweekly by Maryland Media Inc., its publication frequency varied before ultimately becoming a monthly paper. Its last issue was published in May 2013.
Expression began in the late 1980s as a publication of UMD’s Chinese Student Association (CSA). Lasting until the early 1990s, the paper was funded entirely by the CSA and extensively covered CSA activities and events as well as topics of interest to the greater Chinese community. As with other papers published by Asian student groups during this period, Expression often called for Asian solidarity on campus and the establishment of an Asian American Studies program at UMD.
Hanoori began in November 1990 as a publication of UMD’s Korean Student Association (KSA) and covered topics such as: the history and activities of the Korean Student Association; profiles of faculty, administrators, and students; protests against the war in Iraq; issues of concern to the KSA and the organization’s annual song contest; and love life advice in letters to ‘Mr. UM.’ Publication occurred once a semester and the paper often included articles in Korean. University Archives holds six issues from 1990 - 1992.
The Asian Voice began publication on September 13, 1991 and was closely associated with UMD’s Asian Student Union (ASU) throughout its three year run. It had various subtitles during this time–including Asian Student Newsletter, Asian Student Union Newspaper, Asian Pacific Islander Student Union Newspaper, and Asian Pacific American Newspaper–and reported on the club’s activities and role on campus. The paper also examined Asian American stereotypes and culture, Asian campus relations and interactions with UMD administration, underrepresentation of Asian faculty and staff, and the fight to establish an Asian American studies program.
14% and 15% were published in 1995, partly in reaction to The Asian Voice. Its editors sought to portray the diversity of the Asian community at UMD and stated that Asians did not speak with one voice. The titles of the two papers represented the percentage of Asian Americans enrolled at the university at that time. While they were also closely associated with the Asian Student Union (ASU), 14% and 15% emphasized the breadth of the Asian community and reported on the activities of various Asian student groups across campus rather than focusing on a single one. The papers also reported on: the progress to establish an Asian American studies program and other student activism; the work of the Asian, Hispanic, and Native American Task Force; and various issues of concern to Asian Americans.
The Public Asian, which began publication circa 1995 as a product of the Asian American Student Union (AASU), is the longest-running Asian-centered student newspaper held by the University Archives, with issues spanning April 1996 to October 2013. The frequency of publication appears to have varied throughout its run, but the paper was often published on a monthly basis during the academic year. Although it was distributed primarily on UMD’s campus, issues beginning in 2010 note that the newspaper was also available in the Asian American Reading Room at the Library of Congress.
Similar to other Asian American student papers on campus, it provided extensive coverage of: student organizations and their activities; campus events, such as Asian Pacific American Month; the establishment and development of the Asian American Studies Program; profiles of UMD students, faculty, and staff; commentary and opinions from students; restaurant reviews and recipes; and calendars of events. What differentiated The Public Asian from the other Asian American student papers was its significant focus on national and international figures in the Asian Pacific American community and issues of importance beyond the campus’ borders.
La Voz Latina began as a physical paper in 1987 and continued to be irregularly published in various formats until their blog went on hiatus in 2017, before being officially revitalized in 2022 by editor-in-chief Alexa Figueroa (class of ‘24). A bilingual paper by and for the UMD Latinx community, La Voz was a forum for Latino students to speak out on a variety of issues and to share news, events, poetry, and recipes. During the majority of its run, it was not affiliated with any particular student organization on campus and had only a brief relationship with Maryland Media, Inc., which produced the first four issues of the paper in 1987.
University Archives holds 28 issues from September 1987 through April 2011, but there are large gaps in our holdings. La Voz Latina can be accessed in its current iteration at www.lavozlatina.org.