Chronicling America Search API

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: Chronicling America Batches Search API
  description: Chronicling America is a Library of Congress initiative providing free public access to a searchable database of historic American newspaper pages from 1770 to 1963. The platform hosts over 20 million digitized newspaper pages from hundreds of US newspapers contributed by institutions in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). The API exposes search, title, issue, batch, and OCR text endpoints with no authentication required, returning responses in JSON and Atom feed formats.
  version: 1.0.0
  contact:
    name: Library of Congress
    url: https://www.loc.gov/about/contact-us/
  termsOfService: https://www.loc.gov/legal/
  license:
    name: Public Domain
    url: https://www.loc.gov/legal/
servers:
- url: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
  description: Chronicling America production server
tags:
- name: Search
  description: Full-text search endpoints for newspaper pages and titles.
paths:
  /search/pages/results/:
    get:
      operationId: searchPages
      summary: Search newspaper pages
      description: Full-text search across over 20 million historic American newspaper pages digitized under the National Digital Newspaper Program. Supports keyword search, date range filtering, state filtering, and newspaper title (LCCN) filtering. Responses are available in JSON or Atom format.
      tags:
      - Search
      parameters:
      - name: andtext
        in: query
        description: Words to search for (AND logic). All words must appear in the page.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: civil war
      - name: phrasetext
        in: query
        description: Exact phrase to search for.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: battle of gettysburg
      - name: ortext
        in: query
        description: Words to search for (OR logic). Any word may appear in the page.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: nottext
        in: query
        description: Words that must NOT appear in the page.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format. Use json for JSON or atom for Atom feed.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - atom
        example: json
      - name: language
        in: query
        description: Limit results to pages in a specific language.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - eng
          - spa
          - fre
          - ger
          - ita
          - por
          - cze
          - pol
          - hun
          - dan
          - nor
          - swe
          - fin
      - name: lccn
        in: query
        description: Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) of a specific newspaper title.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: sn84026749
      - name: state
        in: query
        description: US state name to filter results.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: Montana
      - name: date1
        in: query
        description: Start date for search range (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: '1900-01-01'
      - name: date2
        in: query
        description: End date for search range (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: '1910-12-31'
      - name: dateFilterType
        in: query
        description: How to apply the date filter.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - range
          - yearRange
      - name: rows
        in: query
        description: Number of results to return per page (default 20, max 100).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          maximum: 100
          default: 20
        example: 20
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number for paginated results (1-based).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          default: 1
        example: 1
      - name: sort
        in: query
        description: Sort order for results.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - relevance
          - date
          - title
          - state
      - name: sequence
        in: query
        description: Page sequence number within an issue.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful search results
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchPagesResponse'
            application/atom+xml:
              schema:
                type: string
                description: Atom feed of search results
  /search/titles/results/:
    get:
      operationId: searchTitles
      summary: Search newspaper titles
      description: Search for newspaper titles in the Chronicling America collection by name, location, LCCN, language, and date range. Returns bibliographic metadata for matching titles.
      tags:
      - Search
      parameters:
      - name: terms
        in: query
        description: Search terms for the title name.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: New York Tribune
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - atom
        example: json
      - name: state
        in: query
        description: State where the newspaper was published.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: New York
      - name: county
        in: query
        description: County where the newspaper was published.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: city
        in: query
        description: City where the newspaper was published.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: language
        in: query
        description: Language of the newspaper.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: ethnicity
        in: query
        description: Ethnicity the newspaper was targeted at.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: labor
        in: query
        description: Labor or union affiliation of the newspaper.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: material_type
        in: query
        description: Type of material (e.g., newspaper).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: date1
        in: query
        description: Start year for publication range.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
        example: 1900
      - name: date2
        in: query
        description: End year for publication range.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
        example: 1920
      - name: rows
        in: query
        description: Number of results per page.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          maximum: 100
          default: 20
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number for paginated results.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          default: 1
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful title search results
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchTitlesResponse'
components:
  schemas:
    TitleSummary:
      type: object
      description: Summary record for a newspaper title.
      properties:
        lccn:
          type: string
          description: Library of Congress Control Number.
          example: sn84026749
        title:
          type: string
          description: Name of the newspaper.
          example: Chicago Tribune
        url:
          type: string
          description: URL to the full title JSON record.
          example: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749.json
        state:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: State(s) where the newspaper was published.
        county:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: County or counties of publication.
        city:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: City or cities of publication.
        start_year:
          type: string
          description: First year of publication.
          example: '1849'
        end_year:
          type: string
          description: Last year of publication (or "present" if ongoing).
          example: '1920'
    PageSearchResult:
      type: object
      description: A single newspaper page result from a search query.
      properties:
        sequence:
          type: integer
          description: Page sequence number within the issue.
          example: 1
        county:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: County or counties where the newspaper was published.
          example:
          - Cook
        edition_label:
          type: string
          description: Human-readable edition label.
          example: Morning edition
        frequency:
          type: string
          description: Publication frequency (e.g., Daily, Weekly).
          example: Daily
        id:
          type: string
          description: Unique identifier path for this page.
          example: /lccn/sn84026749/1900-01-01/ed-1/seq-1/
        subject:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Subject headings for the newspaper title.
        city:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: City or cities where the newspaper was published.
          example:
          - Chicago
        date:
          type: string
          description: Publication date in YYYYMMDD format.
          example: '19000101'
        title:
          type: string
          description: Name of the newspaper title.
          example: Chicago Tribune
        end_year:
          type: integer
          description: Last year the newspaper was published.
          example: 1920
        note:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Bibliographic notes.
        state:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: State(s) where the newspaper was published.
          example:
          - Illinois
        section_label:
          type: string
          description: Section label for the page.
        type:
          type: string
          description: Type of item (always "page" for page results).
          example: page
        place_of_publication:
          type: string
          description: Place of publication string.
          example: Chicago, Ill.
        start_year:
          type: integer
          description: First year the newspaper was published.
          example: 1849
        edition:
          type: integer
          description: Edition number.
          example: 1
        publisher:
          type: string
          description: Publisher name.
        language:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Language(s) of the newspaper.
          example:
          - English
        alt_title:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Alternative titles for the newspaper.
        lccn:
          type: string
          description: Library of Congress Control Number.
          example: sn84026749
        country:
          type: string
          description: Country of publication.
          example: Illinois
        ocr_eng:
          type: string
          description: OCR text extracted from the page in English.
        batch:
          type: string
          description: Batch identifier.
          example: batch_dlc_jamaica_ver01
        title_normal:
          type: string
          description: Normalized title for sorting.
          example: chicago tribune
        url:
          type: string
          description: URL to the page JSON record.
          example: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1900-01-01/ed-1/seq-1.json
        place:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Place names associated with the newspaper.
        page:
          type: string
          description: Page label or number within the issue.
    SearchPagesResponse:
      type: object
      description: Paginated search results for newspaper pages.
      properties:
        totalItems:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of matching pages across all pages of results.
          example: 42317
        endIndex:
          type: integer
          description: Index of the last result on the current page.
          example: 20
        startIndex:
          type: integer
          description: Index of the first result on the current page.
          example: 1
        itemsPerPage:
          type: integer
          description: Number of results per page.
          example: 20
        items:
          type: array
          description: Array of matching newspaper page records.
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/PageSearchResult'
    SearchTitlesResponse:
      type: object
      description: Paginated search results for newspaper titles.
      properties:
        totalItems:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of matching titles.
        endIndex:
          type: integer
          description: Index of the last result on the current page.
        startIndex:
          type: integer
          description: Index of the first result on the current page.
        itemsPerPage:
          type: integer
          description: Number of results per page.
        items:
          type: array
          description: Array of matching newspaper title records.
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/TitleSummary'
externalDocs:
  description: Chronicling America API Documentation
  url: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/about/api/