The Historical Media Publications Collection provides researcher access to the Library's vast holdings of publications related to the burgeoning development of the moving image and broadcasting industries in the early to mid-20th century. From industry publications to fan magazines and standalone monographs on film censorship and theater management, these reference materials support and contextualize the film, television, radio and other sound recordings held at the Library's National Audio-Visual Conservation Center.

The Historical Media Publications Collection is a collaborative project between the Library's Digital Collections Management and Services Division and the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The goal of the project is to provide the widest possible audience with improved issue-level access to this valuable historical content.

The scanning of these rare print resources held by the Library of Congress stemmed from a project initiated by the Media History Digital Library in 2011. The initiative sought to increase digital access to trade papers and other periodicals related to film and broadcasting, which had previously only been available as low quality and, in some cases, incomplete microfilm facsimiles. The Internet Archive served as the digitization vendor on the project and the scans are available on the Internet Archive at the volume level. Much of the content is also available via UW-Madison’s Lantern search platform.

These selections are presented as part of the record of the past. They are historical documents which reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these publications, which may contain content offensive to users.