I made a major find in Infotrac's U.S. Nineteenth Century Newspapers (available with a membership in Godfrey Memorial Library -- godfrey.org -- or at some public and university libraries). The Methodist publication The Southwestern Christian Advocate is indexed and digitized there. In 1886 it was described as "the most influential religious paper circulated among the colored people in America." It was managed and edited by African Americans. It not only had religious news, but news of wide interest.

My husband found a series of 18 letters sent from 1893-94 by William L. Bulkley, an African American who was touring and studying in Europe. The Southwestern Christian Advocate was published in New Orleans, but Bulkley was from South Carolina. The letters describe not only what he was doing and seeing (Rotterdam, Cologne, Heidelberg, Strassburg, etc.), but his thoughts on the racial situation in the US and in Europe. They were even accompanied by a bio that gave me information about his life until that time!

So, you never know what you will find (or how helpful your spouse might be). By limiting my search to SC publications or overlooking the importance of the religious press, I would have missed these gems.