Amherst College students have been recording their news, literary endeavors and witticisms from the earliest years of the institution. The first student publication on record is a handwritten review in five issues penned in 1829, a mere 8 years after the founding of the College. Its first printed publications were (1832-1832) and (1832-1833), which contained original essays, stories, and poetry as well as reprinted material from other publications. (1847-1840) and the (1853-1862, named after the College's celebrated collection of fossilized footprints) were other early publications in the same vein. The mid-nineteenth century saw the origin of some of Amherst's longest-running publications: , its yearbook, first appeared in 1855 and continues today. The , its student newspaper, has run nearly continuously since its first printing in 1868, weekly and in some periods more frequently. , a political and humor magazine, ran from 1849-1851 and was revived in 1996. Curiosities of the late 19th century include, among others, a single issue publication entitled (1878), printed and duplicated using Thomas Edison's eponymous device.

The , later the , and then, ran from 1886 until 1932 and was Amherst's longest-running literary magazine. The was resurrected 1955 and remained in publication until 1973. In the first decades of the 20th century, other publications at Amherst were mostly short-running humor magazines; many did not make it past the first edition. They included (1908 and a product of its era) and (1912-1913). revived the humor and campus-interest genre in 1920, running until 1935. (For selections from publications during the mid-20th century, see )

, an illustrated magazine (1936-1949) chronicled the activities of the college's diminished student body during the war years, as did (1943-1944) and (1944-1946). continued the humor and photography of in themed editions, running intermittently between 1956 and 2001. The 1950s also saw the advent of , a collection of student reviews and rankings of professors, which continues in website form today. , later , another long-running literary publication, began in 1958 and ran with some gaps through 2005.

The 1960s and 1970s saw several experiments in creative and literary magazines, including one called (1963); the most prominent were (1965-1967) and (1965-1974). The advent of the internet has brought easier access to outside publications and has brought the focus of the remaining student publications more squarely on campus life and student literary and artistic work.