Dumbarton Oaks has published a a succession of news bulletins that date back to 1941. The current newsletter is The Oaks News: A Monthly Bulletin from Dumbarton Oaks, which had its first digital issue in February 2012 and is published monthly for staff, alumni, and friends of the institution.
The earliest newsletter, the Underworld Courier, was a private publication produced by Dumbarton Oaks staff to keep the founders, Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, then residing in California, abreast of developments and happenings at the nascent research library and museum. Twenty-one issues were printed between January and November 1941.
- Vol. I, No. 1 (January 11, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 2 (January 18, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 3 (January 25, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 4 (February 1, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 5 (February 8, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 6 (February 15, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 7 (February 24, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 8 (March 3, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 9 (March 10, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 10 (March 19, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 12 (April 3, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 13 (April 19, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 15 (May 13, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 16 (May 23, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 17 (June 5, 1941)
- Vol. I, No. 19 (June 24, 1941)
- Vol. II, No. 1 (July 3, 1941)
- Vol. II, No. 2 (July 21, 1941)
- Vol. II, No. 3 (September 12, 1941)
- Vol. II, No. 4 (September 25, 1941)
- Vol. II, No. 5 (November 1, 1941)
Between January 1979 and May 1982, nine issues of the Dumbarton Oaks Newsletter were produced in photocopy typescript for Dumbarton Oaks staff. Each issue summarized the major events at the institution during an approximately three-month period, usually excluding the summer months.
- Vol. I, No. 1 (January-February-March 1979)
- Vol. I, No. 2 (May-June-July 1979)
- Vol. I, No. 3 (October-November-December 1979)
- Vol. II, No. 1 (February-March-April-May 1980)
- Vol. II, No. 2 (June-July-August 1980)
- Vol. II, No. 3 (November-December 1980 January 1981)
- Vol. III, No. 1 (April-May 1981)
- Vol. III, No. 2 (June-July-August 1981)
- Vol. IV, No. 1 (April-May 1982)
A hiatus in newsletter production occurred between 1982 and 1994, at which time the Byzantine Studies program began publishing its own digital newsletter. Similarly, the Garden and Landscape Studies program initiated Landscape Matters: News from GLS @ Dumbarton Oaks in 2008. This annual digital publication occurs each fall. The Pre-Columbian Studies program began a digital newsletter in 2019.
In July 2009, a new institutional digital newsletter, In the Know at D.O., was launched for Dumbarton Oaks staff and was issued monthly until February 2013.