Little Rock is the Pulaski County seat and state capital in central Arkansas. In 1863, during the Civil War, the city fell to Union forces, and the Confederate capital moved to Washington, Arkansas. Arkansas's capital returned to Little Rock at the end of the war in 1865. That same year the city hosted the Convention of Colored Citizens, a meeting of Black residents who strived for more civil rights after emancipation, including suffrage and education. This was the first of many Black operated businesses and associations opening in Little Rock during Reconstruction. Arkansas's first governor elected during Reconstruction was Powell Clayton, a Union general who moved to Arkansas after the war.

John E. Bush was born enslaved in Moscow, Tennessee in 1856. As Federal soldiers advanced through Tennessee at the end of the Civil War, Bush's enslaver fled the state, taking Bush and his mother with him to Arkansas. After emancipation, Bush settled in Little Rock. He graduated from Little Rock High School with honors in 1876. In the 1880s, he entered politics, rising to the position of secretary of the Pulaski County Republican Party in 1892. In the factious Republican Party, he was loyal to former governor and senator Powell Clayton. In 1883, John E. Bush and businessperson Chester W. Keatts, concerned about the lack of affordable insurance for Black Americans, founded a fraternal organization designed to provide insurance for members of the Black community. They named the organization the Mosaic Templars of America. Soon, there were chapters across the country, with the headquarters in Little Rock.

Needing a way to promote the organization, Bush started the American Guide newspaper in 1885. This newspaper was published on Little Rock's Ninth Street, a business district that catered to a largely Black clientele. In addition to covering the activities of the organization, Bush's paper advocated for the Republican Party. He appointed David G. Hill to serve as editor of the paper. A weekly paper, it struggled to stay in business. Bush closed the paper from 1886 to 1888. He reopened the paper in 1889, printing the reopening date on the newspaper's masthead as the establishment date, despite the earlier publications. In 1896, the Guide promoted ad space to potential advertisers by printing a note that it had a city circulation "equal to that of any weekly paper published in Little Rock and has double that of any Negro paper published in the city."

In 1898, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Bush to the position of Receiver of the General Land Office. With new responsibilities, Bush had little time to run his newspaper and he sold it to W.A. Singfield, with David G. Hill continuing as editor. By 1904, Singfield renamed the paper the Mosaic Guide (18??-19??) to reflect its purpose as the official organ of the Mosaic Templars of America. The newspaper continued until the 1930s when the Little Rock headquarters of the Mosaic Templars of America closed.

As of this writing, there are few surviving issues of the Guide. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025496/.

Little Rock is the center of Arkansas geographically as well as politically, serving as the state capital and county seat of Pulaski County. It is on the southern side of the Arkansas River and extends to the foothills of the Ozark Plateau, the Delta leading to the Mississippi River, and the plains stretching into Texas. In 1821, the territorial capital moved to Little Rock from Arkansas Post. Little Rock was incorporated in 1831 as a town in Arkansas Territory and incorporated as a city in 1835. The next year, Arkansas became the 25th state in the United States with Little Rock as the capital.

The Arkansas Advocate was the second paper published in Arkansas Territory, beginning in Little Rock in March 1830. Charles Pierre Bertrand was the founder and editor of the paper, which he published weekly. Robert Crittenden, first Territorial Secretary and acting Governor, contributed many articles to The Arkansas Advocate. A month after starting the Advocate, Bertrand married Crittenden's sister-in-law and they later named their son after Robert Crittenden.

Bertrand studied law under Crittenden and went on to hold several political offices, including State Treasurer, member of the House of Representatives, and Little Rock Mayor. Bertrand opposed secession from the United States and some historians credit him with delaying the start of the Civil War by dissuading Arkansans from attacking the Federal Arsenal in Little Rock.

Bertrand intended for the Advocate to be politically and religiously neutral, but in actual practice, it supported the politics of the editors. Early Advocate issues backed the Republican party, which soon became the National Republication party and then the Whig party. It was the first paper to suggest Arkansas become a state, as Benjamin Desha wrote an article supporting statehood in 1831. Democrats at the time opposed statehood, concerned that taxes would be too high for the small Arkansas population.

At first, Bertrand was friendly with the Democratic The Arkansas Gazette (1819-1836), the first newspaper in Arkansas. Bertrand previously worked for William Edward Woodruff, the paper's founder and editor. However, in 1830, Woodruff published an editorial from someone using the name "Jaw-Bone" that maligned Bertrand, after which the newspapers were hostile and published pointed articles about the other newspapers' editors.

Albert Pike wrote letters for the Advocate, and Bertrand sent prominent Whigs Crittenden and Jesse Turner to bring him to Little Rock to work at the Advocate. Pike became associate editor and in 1835 purchased the paper from Bertrand. Pike used the Advocate to promote Whig Party politics.

Charles E. Rice and Archibald Coulter ran the paper for several years under Pike. Coulter became Pike's partner in 1837. That same year, the Advocate merged with The Arkansas Weekly Times (1836-1837) to become the Arkansas Times and Advocate (1837-1844). After the merger, John Reed ran the newspaper with Pike contributing some articles.

After changing ownership and politics multiple times over the years, including a brief stint as a Democratic newspaper, the Times and Advocate was discontinued in 1844.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062070/. 

Little Rock, in central Arkansas, is the county seat of Pulaski County and the capital city. Pulaski County, one of the first five counties in Arkansas, was established in 1818. The county includes the Ouachita Mountains, Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and Coastal Plain. Little Rock was incorporated as a city in 1835 and was a hub of activity early in the state's history. Construction on the statehouse building began in 1833 along the banks of the Arkansas River. Both the county government and state government worked in the statehouse until 1883.

In 1843, Democrats in Little Rock needed a new newspaper, as the Arkansas State Gazette (1836-1850) shifted its affiliation from Democratic to Whig after an ownership change. The Arkansas Banner was founded by Archibald Yell in 1843 to be the voice of the Democrats, under the publishing name the Democratic Central Committee of the State of Arkansas. Dr. Solon Borland worked as editor with Elbert Hartwell English, who was also his associate at their joint law firm. Borland had writing experience from working at several newspapers in Memphis, Tennessee. The Banner soon changed publisher names to Borland & Farley, with Borland still working as editor.

Borland quickly began writing pointed articles about the Gazette editor, Benjamin John Borden. These jabs led to physical fights and finally a pistol duel between the two. Borland won the duel by shooting Borden. Since Borland was a doctor, he proceeded to patch Borden's gunshot wound. This led to a great friendship between the two.

Borland worked at the Banner until the start of the Mexican American War in 1845, at which time he was elected major of the Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regiment and left for Mexico.

Archibald Hamilton Rutherford took charge of the Banner next, and he ran it until 1846. Since the Banner was the voice of the Democrats, Rutherford was carefully chosen by the Democratic Party to run the paper. He had been a county judge in Clark County and clerk of the circuit court. Later he was elected to the Arkansas State Legislature for several terms and appointed deputy clerk of the United States court at Little Rock.

After Rutherford left in 1846, Lambert Jeffrey Reardon took over. He hired Lambert A. Whitely as junior editor. Reardon and Whitely were also involved in editorial and physical fights over personal insults with other newspaper editors. In one such physical fight, Borland, one of the previous Banner editors, happened to be passing by and joined in to prevent Reardon from shooting his opponent. Apparently, Borland did not want that fight to have the same outcome as his own newspaper duel.

Whitely eventually took control of the Banner, and in 1851 he added "Democratic" to the masthead, creating the Arkansas Democratic Banner. The next year he sold the paper and the name changed to The True Democrat (1852-1857) under publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes.

Little Rock, in central Arkansas, is the county seat of Pulaski County and the capital city. Pulaski County, one of the first five counties in Arkansas, was established in 1818. The county includes the Ouachita Mountains, Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and Coastal Plain. Little Rock was incorporated as a city in 1835 and was a hub of activity early in the state's history. Construction on the statehouse building began in 1833 along the banks of the Arkansas River. Both the county government and state government worked in the statehouse until 1883.

In 1843, Democrats in Little Rock needed a new newspaper, as the Arkansas State Gazette (1836-1850) shifted its affiliation from Democratic to Whig after an ownership change. The Arkansas Banner was founded by Archibald Yell in 1843 to be the voice of the Democrats, under the publishing name the Democratic Central Committee of the State of Arkansas. Dr. Solon Borland worked as editor with Elbert Hartwell English, who was also his associate at their joint law firm. Borland had writing experience from working at several newspapers in Memphis, Tennessee. The Banner soon changed publisher names to Borland & Farley, with Borland still working as editor.

Borland quickly began writing pointed articles about the Gazette editor, Benjamin John Borden. These jabs led to physical fights and finally a pistol duel between the two. Borland won the duel by shooting Borden. Since Borland was a doctor, he proceeded to patch Borden's gunshot wound. This led to a great friendship between the two.

Borland worked at the Banner until the start of the Mexican American War in 1845, at which time he was elected major of the Arkansas Mounted Infantry Regiment and left for Mexico.

Archibald Hamilton Rutherford took charge of the Banner next, and he ran it until 1846. Since the Banner was the voice of the Democrats, Rutherford was carefully chosen by the Democratic Party to run the paper. He had been a county judge in Clark County and clerk of the circuit court. Later he was elected to the Arkansas State Legislature for several terms and appointed deputy clerk of the United States court at Little Rock.

After Rutherford left in 1846, Lambert Jeffrey Reardon took over. He hired Lambert A. Whitely as junior editor. Reardon and Whitely were also involved in editorial and physical fights over personal insults with other newspaper editors. In one such physical fight, Borland, one of the previous Banner editors, happened to be passing by and joined in to prevent Reardon from shooting his opponent. Apparently, Borland did not want that fight to have the same outcome as his own newspaper duel.

Whitely eventually took control of the Banner, and in 1851 he added "Democratic" to the masthead, creating the Arkansas Democratic Banner. The next year he sold the paper and the name changed to The True Democrat (1852-1857) under publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes.

The Arkansas Echo, an all-German language newspaper, began publication in 1891. It was published in Little Rock under the Arkansas Echo Publishing Company, composed of John Kaufman, Adolph Arnold, Andrew Rust, Father Bonaventure Binzegger, Friedrich "Fred" Hohenschutz, Herman Lensing, Charles "Carl" Meurer, J. P. Moser, and Nic Peay. The Echo publishers purchased an existing newspaper plant from Der Logan County Anzeiger (Logan County Gazette), run by Conrad Elsken in Paris, Arkansas. At the time of purchase, the Anzeiger had a circulation of 400 in Logan County, but on the direction of a Catholic priest in Little Rock, the newspaper plant was moved to Little Rock to reach a wider audience. In Little Rock, the paper was renamed the Arkansas Echo and the Anzeiger's subscribers were shifted over. The Echo was a Democratic, eight-page paper, originally published on Fridays with a circulation of 850 subscribers. Over the years, the paper grew to 1,300 subscribers.

The Echo had an unsteady start as their inaugural issue was sabotaged. Before the papers could be printed, someone broke into the Echo's newspaper office and destroyed the forms laid out for printing. Instead of their planned eight-page issue, the Echo's first issue was a half-sheet page on December 31, 1891. In that issue, the Echo blamed the sabotage on Philip Dietzgen, editor of the other German newspaper in Little Rock, the Arkansas Staats-Zeitung (1869-1917). The Echo related to its readers that the saboteur had cut themselves when destroying the Echo's office and left a trail of blood drops to the Zeitung's office. This event spurred a year-long newspaper war involving fistfights, threats, and lawsuits, making national news. The impetus for the rivalry seemed to be competition for German customers, as the Staats-Zeitung had been publishing in Little Rock since 1869.

In spite of anti-German sentiments during World War I, the Echo persisted in publishing the news for German readers in Arkansas. Unlike other German newspapers across the U.S., the Echo survived and continued printing in German, even as many German businesses shifted away from avowing their German heritage.

The driving force behind the Echo was Carl Meurer, a German Catholic who immigrated in 1881. By 1892, he was the sole editor of the paper. Meurer worked at the Echo until he died in the newspaper office in 1930. Meurer's headstone is inscribed: "His life's work: editor of 'Arkansas Echo.' Motto 'For truth and justice will be remembered throughout the years.'"

After Meurer's death, the Echo Publishing Co. appointed Meurer's son, Carl J. Meurer, Jr., as his successor. Despite staying in the family, the Echo ceased publication just two years later.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88084068/. 

Little Rock is the center of Arkansas both geographically and politically. It hosts the state capitol and Pulaski County seat along the south bank of the Arkansas River. The capital briefly withdrew from the city during the Civil War, but Little Rock quickly regained the governing seat after the war. Despite the resolution of the war, the political and social turmoil continued in the late 1800s during Reconstruction. Black Arkansans struggled to gain a foothold in society after the abolition of slavery. In 1868, Arkansas was the first Confederate state to allow Black men to vote. This contributed to the tumultuous political scene, as white voters worked to prevent Black men from utilizing their newly acquired voting rights.

Arkansas's first Black newspaper, the Arkansas Freeman began publication in 1869 amid this political instability. Leading up to the founding of the Freeman, Reconstruction policies enacted by U.S. Congress caused major political changes in Arkansas. These policies resulted in the political disenfranchisement of former Confederate officials and allowed Black men to vote. In 1868, new leadership was brought to the state, and Powell Clayton, a Pennsylvania Civil War soldier, was elected governor of Arkansas. A wave of political violence followed as former Confederates and the Ku Klux Klan tried to intimidate Black Republican voters from exercising their political rights. Nevertheless, by 1869, the political turmoil halted after Clayton declared martial law and organized state militias to stem the violence. The Morning Republican (1868-1872), a white owned newspaper and mouthpiece of the Powell regime, was widely read by Republicans throughout the state.

However, factions developed within the Republican Party as the turmoil of 1868 began to die down. One of the fissures was between white Republicans and Black Republicans. Even though former enslaved men in Arkansas made up a large percentage of the Republican vote in Arkansas, there were no state-wide Black officeholders and no Black-owned newspaper. In June 1869, a group of Black businesspeople and clergy met at City Hall in Little Rock to discuss opening their own newspaper to fill the gap. At first, the owners of the Morning Republican applauded the move. The Weekly Arkansas Gazette (1866-19??) joined in the acclaim, writing that it hoped that the new paper would separate Black voters from their devotion to the Powell administration. The organizers named the paper the Arkansas Freeman, designating it the first Black-owned newspaper in Arkansas.

The Freeman founders chose Tabbs Gross, a formerly enslaved man and later minister from Kentucky, newly arrived in Arkansas, to run the new newspaper. Gross purchased his freedom before the Civil War and traveled to Ohio to assist the efforts in freeing enslaved people via the Underground Railroad. After the war, he settled in Arkansas, working to assist newly freed men gain their political rights. He felt that Arkansas's Black population had little voice within the Radical faction of the Republican Party.

The paper launched in August of 1869 under Gross's declaration that it supported an end to disenfranchisement of former Confederates, universal male suffrage, and amnesty for Confederates. These issues were at odds with the Clayton administration. Soon, a war of words erupted between the Arkansas Freeman and the Morning Republican. In the first issue of the paper, Gross declared that the Arkansas Freeman stood for an end to disenfranchisement of Southern whites, "who are unjustly deprived of many of the rights and privileges we enjoy." Additionally, he advised Black voters should end their "blind loyalty" to the Radical position and forge a new path based on political rights for all Arkansans. Further, he emphasized that Black citizens in Little Rock made up 90 percent of the party, yet Black Republicans held no offices in city government. In response, editors of the Morning Republican replied that Gross was a traitor. His political standing with the Republican Party began to fail. As a result, readership declined and the paper closed in the summer of 1870, after less than a year of publication.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Freeman. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025492/.

In January 1842, Francis M. Van Horne and Thomas Sterne moved to Van Buren, the Crawford County seat, and founded the Arkansas Intelligencer. Van Buren was close to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), just five miles from the border, near Fort Smith in Northwest Arkansas. The Intelligencer was the first newspaper in Arkansas west of Little Rock. The editors boasted that the paper would "go East from a point farther West than was ever paper printed in the United States." Van Horne and Sterne wrote that their paper was politically neutral, with the slogan "let every freeman speak his thoughts." The Intelligencer was published every Saturday. It included advertisements from steamboats traveling the Arkansas River that stopped at Van Buren on their way to New Orleans, Louisiana and Cincinnati, Ohio. Despite the port in town, river travel was uncertain in the mid-1800s, and some of the Intelligencer issues were published on small sheets of paper with an editor note that they had not yet received their shipment of newsprint.

Before Van Horne and Sterne founded the Intelligencer, they lived in Little Rock where they were involved in several types of printing jobs. In 1839, Little Rock businessperson and gang leader Samuel G. Trowbridge directed his gang to create counterfeit bank notes. He hired Van Horne, who worked at the Arkansas State Gazette (1836-1850), to print the notes. In 1841, Trowbridge again had Van Horne create counterfeit notes. At that time, Van Horne worked at the Arkansas Times and Advocate (1837-1844), where he stole pieces of type from the newspaper office to print the banknotes. Sterne, another printer in the Trowbridge gang, also helped produce the notes. The following year, Van Horne and Sterne moved to Van Buren to begin their paper.

Back in Little Rock, Trowbridge became the mayor in May 1842. Soon after taking office, Trowbridge's wife was caught using stolen bank notes. This led to the arrest of Trowbridge, Van Horne, and other gang members for their involvement in the criminal activities. After serving only 8 months as mayor, Trowbridge left office to serve jailtime, where he earned a reduced sentence of five years in exchange for providing information on gang members and the location of the counterfeiting equipment. Van Horne was sentenced to six and a half years in the state penitentiary.

Sterne avoided jailtime and continued working at the Intelligencer. In 1842, he hired John Foster Wheeler to replace Van Horne as editor. Wheeler previously worked in Georgia, where he was the printer for the first Native American newspaper in a native language, the Cherokee Phoenix (1828-1829). From there, Wheeler moved to Indian Territory, where he printed many works in Cherokee, Creek, and Choctaw. Wheeler left Indian Territory after encountering tribal infighting and moved to Van Buren where he joined the Intelligencer. The Intelligencer included news segments from Indian Territory, which had no newspapers at the time. Wheeler left the Intelligencer in 1843 and returned to Indian Territory and resumed printing works in Native languages. He eventually settled in Fort Smith, where he founded the first newspaper in the city, the Fort Smith Herald (1847-18??).

In 1843, George Washington Clarke joined the Intelligencer. In 1844, Sterne left, and Clarke assumed control, changing the Intelligencer from neutral to Democratic. This incited Sterne to begin a rival newspaper, the  Western Frontier Whig (1844-1846), and hire John S. Logan as editor. What followed were "warm controversies" between the two papers stemming from the editors' political rivalry and opposing personalities. Clarke was described as brilliant, but impulsive and forceful. After the men turned to personal insults, with Clark calling Logan "Big Mush," who returned the insult with "Toady Clarke," they agreed to duel. In 1844, Logan and Clarke held their rifle duel in Indian Territory. At 60 paces they fired and missed their marks, and the "smell of powder and bad marksmanship led to reconciliation." In 1845, the Intelligencer included the following caveat for ads they would allow: "No advertisements of a gross, abusive, personal nature, will be published at any price." Later that year Clarke left the Intelligencer, and the following year the Whig folded.

From 1845 to 1847, Josiah Woodward Washbourne and Cornelius David Pryor ran the Intelligencer. Washbourne was the older brother of Edward Payson Washbourne, who created the famous Arkansas Traveler painting around 1855.

In 1847, Clarke returned to the Intelligencer and ran it alone until 1853. His issues had strong guest contributors, including one writing under the name "Clementine," who was said to be a 13-year-old girl living in Fayetteville. During this time Clarke served in the Arkansas House and Senate. In 1853, he left the Intelligencer for the final time, along with his position as Senator, after being appointed Indian Agent for the Pottawatomie Indians in Kansas Territory. Once there, Clarke became notorious during the Bleeding Kansas era as a ruthless proslavery leader. After the Civil War ended, Clarke moved to Mexico City, Mexico where he started the Dos Republicas ("Two Republics") newspaper.

Anslem Clarke, George Clarke's brother, took over the Intelligencer in 1853 when George left. He was described as a "frank, sincere, warm-hearted man" and a "brilliant writer." Anslem ran the paper until his death in 1859, and the Intelligencer folded. The Intelligencer newspaper plant was purchased by William Henry Mayers and moved to Fort Smith, where he used it to start the Democratic Thirty-Fifth Parallel (1859-1861), which ran until the Civil War.

In late-nineteenth-century Arkansas, women's voting rights gained traction as one of the leading political issues. Little Rock quickly became the hub of the state's suffrage movement, since it was the state capital and Pulaski County seat, making it the center of the state both politically and geographically. The first major publication to advocate for women's suffrage in Arkansas was the Ladies' Little Rock Journal, started by Mary Ann Webster Loughborough in 1884. The Journal was also the first Arkansas newspaper started by a woman and written for a female audience.

Before launching her newspaper, Mary Ann Loughborough had published a popular book of her first-hand experience at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War. Her husband, James Moore Loughborough, served as a major in the Confederate Army, and Mary Ann and their daughter Jean moved with him to his various duty stations. Mary Ann kept a diary during the Vicksburg siege, which she later turned into the book My Cave Life in Vicksburg, published in 1864. After the Civil War, the Loughboroughs moved to Little Rock, where James died in 1876.

In 1884 Mary Ann Loughborough launched her newspaper, first publishing the Ladies' Little Rock Journal as part of another local newspaper, the Rural and Workman (1884-1???), a paper for farmers, mechanics, and workmen. By August 1884, she moved to publishing the Journal as a stand-alone paper, rearranging the title to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal. The Journal was a lengthy publication, typically running at 12 or more pages, issued every Saturday. Loughborough had several women writing for the paper, including her daughter, Jean Moore Loughborough, and Ellen Maria Harrell Cantrell. The Journal was unique among newspapers in the South for focusing not only on women's concerns, but also advocating for political issues like women's suffrage at a time when many were against women's voting rights.

The Journal's name changes over the years reflected its growth and increased reach, progressing from the Ladies' Little Rock Journal to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal to the Arkansas Ladies' Journal, and finally the Southern Ladies' Journal. Along with the expanded coverage indicated by the name change to the Southern Ladies' Journal in 1886, Loughborough planned to expand the paper itself by increasing the number of pages while publishing it twice a month rather than every week. However, the Journal's run ended unexpectedly in 1887 after her sudden illness and death.

Despite its early end, Loughborough's newspaper inspired the opening of the Woman's Chronicle (1888-1???), the next year. Catherine Campbell Cuningham, Mary Burt Brooks, and Haryot Holt Cahoon created the Chronicle to continue Loughborough's work for the women of the state. In its inaugural issue, it reported that the Journal had died with Loughborough, and they hoped to fill the void left behind so that the "daughters of Arkansas … should have and take pride in a paper all their own." The Chronicle, like the Journal, was a strong supporter of women's suffrage. Unfortunately, like the Southern Ladies' Journal, the Chronicle lasted less than five years before it ceased publication due to Cuningham's ill health.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050096/. 

In the 1950s, Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, became the center of national attention during a desegregation crisis at Central High School. The events were covered extensively by the Arkansas State Press, a local newspaper started in 1941 by a Black civil rights activist couple, Lucius Christopher Bates and Daisy Lee Gatson Bates.

In 1941, the Bateses purchased the newspaper plant from the Twin City Press (193?-1940) [LCCN: sn92050007], a paper in Little Rock that had served the Black community in that city, Pulaski County, and Pine Bluff in Jefferson County. The Bateses renamed the paper the Arkansas State Press. Lucius Bates was the editor and manager, Daisy Bates worked as co-publisher, and Earl Davy served as photographer. The Press was an 8-page paper published every week on Thursday. It circulated in Little Rock and other Arkansas towns with significant Black populations, including Pine Bluff, Hot Springs, Helena, Forrest City, Jonesboro, and Texarkana. It was the largest Black newspaper in Arkansas during its run. The Press was unique, even among Black newspapers, in its strong campaign for civil rights. The paper endorsed political policies and candidates who worked toward equality in Arkansas. It also highlighted the achievements of Black Arkansans, along with social, religious, political, and sports news relevant to the Black community.

One of the major racially motivated events covered by the Press was the murder of a Black soldier by a white soldier in 1942 on the same street as the Press's newspaper office. This incident, which was underreported elsewhere, boosted distribution of the Press and earned it a reputation as the source for Black civil rights news and a voice for change. Another major cause during the paper's run was the desegregation of public schools, and the Press was the only paper in Arkansas to push for integration. For years the Bateses, who served as leaders in the Little Rock branch of the NAACP, pushed for racial integration in public schools despite pushback from white Arkansans and many Black Arkansans. In 1954, the Press celebrated the decision of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas to end segregation in schools. To put the law into action, Daisy mentored the Little Rock Nine, the first Black students to integrate into the formerly white Central High School in 1957.

The backlash from protestors of desegregation ended the Press's 8-year run. Though the paper had support from many in the Black community, its progressive views had long upset white advertisers, who stopped running ads in the Press. Although the newspaper reached a subscriber base of 20,000 and received supplemental support from the NAACP, it struggled to remain operational. The intimidation of Black news carriers during the desegregation protests, combined with the advertisers' boycott, forced the Press to close in 1959.

Daisy Bates revived the Arkansas State Press (1984-1998) [LCCN: sn90050043] in 1984—it ran through 1998—and dedicated the paper to the memory of her late husband, Lucius.

For more information about this title, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025840/.

By the early 1900s, Black Arkansans in Little Rock had created a "city within a city" along West 9^th Street comprised of Black businesses, churches, and social halls. Due to Jim Crow laws, Black Arkansans had to run their own businesses, newspapers, and schools. The Mosaic Templars of America (MTA) was one such business founded on 9^th Street. This Black fraternal organization offered services like insurance, loans, publishing, schools, and a hospital. By the 1920s, the MTA was one of the largest Black businesses in the United States. As with the rest of the South, Little Rock went through major contested changes during the civil rights movement and in the 1950s; became the center of national attention during the Desegregation of Central High School.

Across the South, segregation meant Black communities had to produce their own newspapers as well, since white papers rarely covered news written for a Black audience. William Alexander Scott, a Black newspaper entrepreneur in Atlanta, Georgia found success publishing advertisement flyers in the city and in 1928, he established the Atlanta World (192?-1932), (later the Atlanta Daily World (1932-current)). Unlike the other national Black newspaper at that time, the Chicago Defender (1906-1966), which had a more militant stance, the Atlanta Daily World was more moderate in its outlook, advocating for basic rights for Black Americans, but stopping short of calling for racial equality.

After the Atlanta World was successfully established, Scott devised the idea of a chain of Black newspapers covering the American South from his base in Atlanta. Knowing the cost of running a newspaper was prohibitive, his plan encouraged the creation of newspapers in small towns by printing the chain newspapers in Atlanta and distributing them to each syndicate member. Members would write local news for their paper and supplement it with stories from the World. In 1931, his plan came to fruition with the creation of the Southern News Syndicate (later also referred to as the Scott Newspaper Syndicate). In 1934, in the midst of growing his successful Syndicate, Scott was murdered on his doorstep in Atlanta. After a brief void in the Syndicate's leadership, members of Scott's family took over to keep the Newspaper Syndicate running. Thanks to the Syndicate, several Black newspapers were able to operate out of Little Rock, including the Arkansas Survey-Journal and the Arkansas World.

While some newspapers were explicitly created as part of the Syndicate, many had already been in publication for years before joining. The Arkansas Survey is an example of one such newspaper. Percy Lipton Dorman, a Black educator, was appointed by Governor Charles Hillman Brough to oversee Arkansas's Black schools in 1917. In 1923, Dorman established the Arkansas Survey in part to advocate for Arkansas's Black schools. The one issue that survives from the Survey on September 20, 1924, called for better facilities for Black students. Dorman was a moderate when it came to the civil rights struggle. Acting as Supervisor of Negro Schools in Arkansas, he was expected to keep the racial status quo, which fit with the Syndicate's overall racial outlook at the time. During his time at the Survey, Dorman also worked at the Mosaic Templars of America. After leaving the Survey, he served as editor for the Arkansas World.

The Survey's financial struggles prompted it to later join the Syndicate in 1935, when it was renamed to the Arkansas Survey-Journal. The Survey-Journal retained its base in Little Rock but had offices in Pine Bluff and Helena as well, towns with large Black communities. By 1940, the paper's business and circulation managers were George W. Scott and Thomas Watson respectively. The rest of the staff were women, several of whom served as the editors. These include Mrs. E. W. Dawson, Alice Young, Sallie Buchanan, Mrs. Ludy Clinkscales, Mrs. F. E. Doles, and Louise Thornton.

Also in 1940, Augustus G. Shields, Jr. created the Arkansas World with Dorman as contributing editor. Shields was an entrepreneur and cofounder of the National Negro Publishers Association. In the one existing issue of the Arkansas World, Shields wrote that the paper was "non-sectarian and non-partisan … supporting those things it believes to the interest of its readers and opposing those things against the interest of its readers."

Though Syndicate members maintained a moderate political and social stance, as the 1940s progressed and Black Americans became more vocal about voting rights, the Atlanta Daily World began to call for equality. Other Syndicate papers soon followed this new editorial policy. The Syndicate remained strong until the mid-1950s when many of the smaller papers began to close. In Arkansas, the Arkansas World closed in 1957 and the Survey-Journal also closed sometime in the 1950s.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Survey and World. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

 For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92050012/.

By the early 1900s, Black Arkansans in Little Rock had created a "city within a city" along West 9^th Street comprised of Black businesses, churches, and social halls. Due to Jim Crow laws, Black Arkansans had to run their own businesses, newspapers, and schools. The Mosaic Templars of America (MTA) was one such business founded on 9^th Street. This Black fraternal organization offered services like insurance, loans, publishing, schools, and a hospital. By the 1920s, the MTA was one of the largest Black businesses in the United States. As with the rest of the South, Little Rock went through major contested changes during the civil rights movement and in the 1950s; became the center of national attention during the Desegregation of Central High School.

Across the South, segregation meant Black communities had to produce their own newspapers as well, since white papers rarely covered news written for a Black audience. William Alexander Scott, a Black newspaper entrepreneur in Atlanta, Georgia found success publishing advertisement flyers in the city and in 1928, he established the Atlanta World (192?-1932), (later the Atlanta Daily World (1932-current)). Unlike the other national Black newspaper at that time, the Chicago Defender (1906-1966), which had a more militant stance, the Atlanta Daily World was more moderate in its outlook, advocating for basic rights for Black Americans, but stopping short of calling for racial equality.

After the Atlanta World was successfully established, Scott devised the idea of a chain of Black newspapers covering the American South from his base in Atlanta. Knowing the cost of running a newspaper was prohibitive, his plan encouraged the creation of newspapers in small towns by printing the chain newspapers in Atlanta and distributing them to each syndicate member. Members would write local news for their paper and supplement it with stories from the World. In 1931, his plan came to fruition with the creation of the Southern News Syndicate (later also referred to as the Scott Newspaper Syndicate). In 1934, in the midst of growing his successful Syndicate, Scott was murdered on his doorstep in Atlanta. After a brief void in the Syndicate's leadership, members of Scott's family took over to keep the Newspaper Syndicate running. Thanks to the Syndicate, several Black newspapers were able to operate out of Little Rock, including the Arkansas Survey-Journal and the Arkansas World.

While some newspapers were explicitly created as part of the Syndicate, many had already been in publication for years before joining. The Arkansas Survey is an example of one such newspaper. Percy Lipton Dorman, a Black educator, was appointed by Governor Charles Hillman Brough to oversee Arkansas's Black schools in 1917. In 1923, Dorman established the Arkansas Survey in part to advocate for Arkansas's Black schools. The one issue that survives from the Survey on September 20, 1924, called for better facilities for Black students. Dorman was a moderate when it came to the civil rights struggle. Acting as Supervisor of Negro Schools in Arkansas, he was expected to keep the racial status quo, which fit with the Syndicate's overall racial outlook at the time. During his time at the Survey, Dorman also worked at the Mosaic Templars of America. After leaving the Survey, he served as editor for the Arkansas World.

The Survey's financial struggles prompted it to later join the Syndicate in 1935, when it was renamed to the Arkansas Survey-Journal. The Survey-Journal retained its base in Little Rock but had offices in Pine Bluff and Helena as well, towns with large Black communities. By 1940, the paper's business and circulation managers were George W. Scott and Thomas Watson respectively. The rest of the staff were women, several of whom served as the editors. These include Mrs. E. W. Dawson, Alice Young, Sallie Buchanan, Mrs. Ludy Clinkscales, Mrs. F. E. Doles, and Louise Thornton.

Also in 1940, Augustus G. Shields, Jr. created the Arkansas World with Dorman as contributing editor. Shields was an entrepreneur and cofounder of the National Negro Publishers Association. In the one existing issue of the Arkansas World, Shields wrote that the paper was "non-sectarian and non-partisan … supporting those things it believes to the interest of its readers and opposing those things against the interest of its readers."

Though Syndicate members maintained a moderate political and social stance, as the 1940s progressed and Black Americans became more vocal about voting rights, the Atlanta Daily World began to call for equality. Other Syndicate papers soon followed this new editorial policy. The Syndicate remained strong until the mid-1950s when many of the smaller papers began to close. In Arkansas, the Arkansas World closed in 1957 and the Survey-Journal also closed sometime in the 1950s.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Survey and World. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

 For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92050011/.

Located in central Arkansas, Little Rock is the state capital as well as the county seat of Pulaski County. Early European settlers arrived in the Little Rock area by the 1820s. The city grew quickly and by the late 1800s, Little Rock had a telephone exchange, electricity, paved cobblestone streets, and sewer lines. The population in Pulaski County surged in the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially in Little Rock.

In 1882, Opie Percival Read and his brother-in-law Philo Dayton Benham started The Arkansaw Traveler in Little Rock. They published the paper every Saturday, with Read working as editor and Benham managing the business. Read chose to name the paper after the Arkansas Traveler folktale, with the paper masthead including an image of a traveler, sheet music, a squatter, and his hut. According to the folktale, which dates as far back as at least 1840, a lost traveler in rural Arkansas asks a squatter for directions. The squatter is unhelpful until the Traveler plays the second half of the tune the squatter had begun on his fiddle. Learning the second part of the song makes the squatter so happy that he offers his hospitality and finally gives the Traveler directions. Read published this story in the first issue of the Traveler.

Read, who had a droll sense of humor, created the Traveler as a humorous literary paper. The Traveler was so popular that it gained national fame for its humor, especially the character sketches, standing out from other general news and political papers. While paper sales increased, some people took offense at Read's humor, which focused on life in the South. Eventually the newspaper lost its popularity as the quality of the writing declined. Read moved to Chicago, and in 1887, The Arkansaw Traveler began publishing out of Chicago as well as Little Rock.

Read wrote several novels and in 1888, he started publishing chapters of his novels in weekly installments in the Traveler. Read's novels included Mrs. Annie Green, Len Gansett, and A Kentucky Colonel. All three of his novels were popular and in early 1892, Read left the Traveler to work on his other literary pursuits. In 1902, The Monticellonian (1870-1920) reported that Read was in New York working as a playwright.

In 1896, the Traveler changed to a monthly publication. The last editor recorded for The Arkansaw Traveler was Harry Stephen Keeler. Keeler was a Chicago native who wrote numerous mystery and science fiction novels. While he published The Arkansaw Traveler, it was listed as a fiction newspaper. By the late 1910s, the Traveler had ceased publication in either city.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050009/.

The "True Democrat" (1852-57) was first printed on September 7, 1852, in Little Rock, Arkansas by owners and publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes, with Johnson serving as editor. Its preceding title, the Arkansas Democratic Banner (1851-52), was changed to the "True Democrat" for political reasons. The new publishers described the reason for the name change as "renewed assurances of fidelity to the noble principles of our party... we unfurl to our patrons and the public--'THE TRUE DEMOCRAT.'" The "True Democrat" and its successors--"Arkansas True Democrat" (1857-62) and "True Democrat" (1862-63)--were published as weeklies. Daily editions were published for a short time, including the "Daily True Democrat" (1861) and the "True Democrat Bulletin" (1862-?), but these editions ended due to financial constraints and lack of support.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014282/.

Little Rock is the Pulaski County seat and capital city of Arkansas, founded on the Arkansas River banks in the center of the state. After the Civil War, many Black residents settled on West Ninth Street (originally West Hazel Street), where the Union Army had built houses for the newly freed. Black businesses also centered on Ninth Street, in part because of Jim Crow laws enforcing segregation. Newspapers were one of the business avenues opened to Black citizens after the Civil War, and numerous Black-owned papers were founded in the capital city in the late 1800s.

After the Arkansas Freeman (1869-18??) closed in the 1860s, there were no Black-owned newspapers in Little Rock. It was not until August 7, 1880 that another Black-owned paper would appear. Coney O. Jacko (later styling himself as W. C. O. Jacques) was an artist who taught music in Little Rock. In 1880, he turned to the literary arts and founded the Arkansas Weekly Mansion, a 4-page Republican paper published every Saturday. The name of the paper was chosen by Mollie E. Harris, though it is not known why she chose Mansion for the title. The Mansion was sometimes incorrectly cited as the first Black publication in Arkansas, but the Freeman preceded the Mansion by a decade.

Jacko was a supporter of the Greenback Party, which supported greenback money that was not backed by gold. This money, greenback supporters argued, was better for farmers because it helped prevent inflation when money supply increased. Jacko used the Mansion to support Greenback candidates, giving the paper a populist slant. This was unique among other Black publications in Arkansas during the late 1800s, as most focused on arguing for greater civil rights for Black Americans.

After publishing a few issues, Jacko partnered with Henry K. Pittmore, a local businessman, for funding to help run the paper. Later, he and Pittmore decided to split the paper in two, with Jacko running the Mansion, and Pittmore running another Black newspaper whose name is lost to history. The Mansion continued to struggle, and Jacko brought in more investors, including H. H. Jackson, to shore up the mounting debts. However, by the end of 1881, Jacko sold the newspaper to investor D. I. Berry, who took over publishing duties.

The Mansion remained financially insolvent, leading Berry to bring in J. A. Jarrett and Henry Simkens as investors and staff. Simkens, a Canadian citizen who had recently moved to Arkansas, took over as editor and business manager. Simkens stood out among other Black editors in the United States because he took a less progressive stance and used the Mansion to oppose civil rights legislation.

Continuing financial struggles led stockholders to suggest Berry sell to I. B. Atkinson. Atkinson kept the paper running with Simkens as editor for a few months, but eventually stopped paying the staff and suspended the Mansion. Atkinson substituted his new paper, the Reformer. Meanwhile, Jacko bought printing materials from Jarrett and started a rival newspaper titled the Independent, which only lasted a few issues before it closed. Jacko sold the materials back to Berry and moved to Camden. Simkens and Berry organized the Mansion Publishing Company, commencing business on January 1, 1882, with Berry as president and Simkens the editor and business manager.

Despite its financial struggles, within the first few years the Mansion claimed a readership of 1,500 subscribers. It peaked at 2,000 readers in 1883 and 1884, with ads for the Mansion claiming to have the largest circulation of any weekly Black newspaper in the South. In 1883, the Mansion printed accounts of the Howard County Race Riot from several people who lived in the area. The paper went on to provide updates about the Black men who were arrested and charged with murder after the riot.

In the early part of 1884, Simkens wrote disparaging articles about the editors of another Black publication in Little Rock, the Arkansas Herald (established in 1881, publishing on Fridays). In the February 9, 1884 issue, Simkens addressed the Herald Company editors as "those maniacs, whoever they are, that control the columns of the Herald" and claimed that they were "trying to run a newspaper at the expense of their competitors."

By late 1884 the Mansion had combined with the Herald. The two publishing companies combined into the Herald-Mansion Publishing Company to print the combined paper of the Herald-Mansion, with Julian Talbot Bailey from the Herald elected as editor. The Herald-Mansion continued the Mansion's publishing schedule, releasing on Saturdays. Bailey worked at the Herald-Mansion for just a few months before taking a professorship at the Philander Smith University in Little Rock. Despite his short tenure at the Herald-Mansion, Goodspeed's History of Pulaski County said that when Bailey was elected as the Herald-Mansion's editor, the paper "was at once regarded as one of the leading negro journals of the country." In 1885 Bailey joined Edward Allen Fulton's newspaper, the Sun in Little Rock. Fulton had also previously been an editor at the Herald.

After Bailey left the Herald-Mansion, William M. Buford came on as editor. Buford previously worked as a teacher. By November 1885, the Mansion split from the Herald and resumed publication again under the Mansion Publishing Company. Berry returned as president, and in his reintroduction of the paper in the November 21, 1885 issue, claimed the Mansion to be "on a firmer basis than ever before." The Mansion acquired a new office but returned to its roots and brought back the founder of the paper, Jacko, as the editor. In the same issue, Jacko pledged to provide a "newsy paper" that advanced the "cause of education and industry to our race." B. F. Rowan was employed as the printer, with Benjamin Jarrett as general agent to canvass the state, and Mrs. B. F. Fry (whose husband, H. B. Fry, had been an editor at the Herald) as news agent in Texas.

In an 1885 issue, the Mansion rented out space for a page of the Mosaic Guide newspaper, a semi-monthly paper published by Pittmore. The Guide was the official organ of the Mosaic Templars of America (MTA), a Black fraternal organization founded in Little Rock (this Mosaic Guide was a separate publication from the later Mosaic Guide (18??-19??) newspaper for the MTA that began as the American Guide (1889-1???).

In 1886, Jacko served as president of the Colored Press Association. In 1887 the Mansion halted publication for the last time. The Mansion's printing plant was sold to Buford, which he used to start the Arkansas Dispatch. Jacko, under the name Jacques, went on to become a traveling artist and lecturer.

As of this writing, there are few surviving issues of the Mansion and other Black newspapers published in Little Rock around that time. Past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community's written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title visit, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84020670/.

By the early 1900s, Black Arkansans in Little Rock had created a "city within a city" along West 9^th Street comprised of Black businesses, churches, and social halls. Due to Jim Crow laws, Black Arkansans had to run their own businesses, newspapers, and schools. The Mosaic Templars of America (MTA) was one such business founded on 9^th Street. This Black fraternal organization offered services like insurance, loans, publishing, schools, and a hospital. By the 1920s, the MTA was one of the largest Black businesses in the United States. As with the rest of the South, Little Rock went through major contested changes during the civil rights movement and in the 1950s; became the center of national attention during the Desegregation of Central High School.

Across the South, segregation meant Black communities had to produce their own newspapers as well, since white papers rarely covered news written for a Black audience. William Alexander Scott, a Black newspaper entrepreneur in Atlanta, Georgia found success publishing advertisement flyers in the city and in 1928, he established the Atlanta World (192?-1932), (later the Atlanta Daily World (1932-current)). Unlike the other national Black newspaper at that time, the Chicago Defender (1906-1966), which had a more militant stance, the Atlanta Daily World was more moderate in its outlook, advocating for basic rights for Black Americans, but stopping short of calling for racial equality.

After the Atlanta World was successfully established, Scott devised the idea of a chain of Black newspapers covering the American South from his base in Atlanta. Knowing the cost of running a newspaper was prohibitive, his plan encouraged the creation of newspapers in small towns by printing the chain newspapers in Atlanta and distributing them to each syndicate member. Members would write local news for their paper and supplement it with stories from the World. In 1931, his plan came to fruition with the creation of the Southern News Syndicate (later also referred to as the Scott Newspaper Syndicate). In 1934, in the midst of growing his successful Syndicate, Scott was murdered on his doorstep in Atlanta. After a brief void in the Syndicate's leadership, members of Scott's family took over to keep the Newspaper Syndicate running. Thanks to the Syndicate, several Black newspapers were able to operate out of Little Rock, including the Arkansas Survey-Journal and the Arkansas World.

While some newspapers were explicitly created as part of the Syndicate, many had already been in publication for years before joining. The Arkansas Survey is an example of one such newspaper. Percy Lipton Dorman, a Black educator, was appointed by Governor Charles Hillman Brough to oversee Arkansas's Black schools in 1917. In 1923, Dorman established the Arkansas Survey in part to advocate for Arkansas's Black schools. The one issue that survives from the Survey on September 20, 1924, called for better facilities for Black students. Dorman was a moderate when it came to the civil rights struggle. Acting as Supervisor of Negro Schools in Arkansas, he was expected to keep the racial status quo, which fit with the Syndicate's overall racial outlook at the time. During his time at the Survey, Dorman also worked at the Mosaic Templars of America. After leaving the Survey, he served as editor for the Arkansas World.

The Survey's financial struggles prompted it to later join the Syndicate in 1935, when it was renamed to the Arkansas Survey-Journal. The Survey-Journal retained its base in Little Rock but had offices in Pine Bluff and Helena as well, towns with large Black communities. By 1940, the paper's business and circulation managers were George W. Scott and Thomas Watson respectively. The rest of the staff were women, several of whom served as the editors. These include Mrs. E. W. Dawson, Alice Young, Sallie Buchanan, Mrs. Ludy Clinkscales, Mrs. F. E. Doles, and Louise Thornton.

Also in 1940, Augustus G. Shields, Jr. created the Arkansas World with Dorman as contributing editor. Shields was an entrepreneur and cofounder of the National Negro Publishers Association. In the one existing issue of the Arkansas World, Shields wrote that the paper was "non-sectarian and non-partisan … supporting those things it believes to the interest of its readers and opposing those things against the interest of its readers."

Though Syndicate members maintained a moderate political and social stance, as the 1940s progressed and Black Americans became more vocal about voting rights, the Atlanta Daily World began to call for equality. Other Syndicate papers soon followed this new editorial policy. The Syndicate remained strong until the mid-1950s when many of the smaller papers began to close. In Arkansas, the Arkansas World closed in 1957 and the Survey-Journal also closed sometime in the 1950s.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Survey and World. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92050010/. 

Batesville is the Independence County seat in northeastern Arkansas. Located on the White River, the town developed from a major mercantile port to the cultural center of the region by the mid-1800s. However, the Civil War devastated the town with several military actions occurring there and occupation changing between sides multiple times. Elisha Baxter, previously Batesville's mayor, became Arkansas's last Republican governor during Reconstruction. In the late 1800s, railroad lines were built through town, largely replacing the river traffic. Batesville had a vibrant newspaper industry, producing many newspapers for every variety of political affiliation, from Know-Nothings to Republicans. Enterprising Batesville newspeople regularly created, combined, and transferred between newspapers in town during their careers.

In 1877, at the end of Reconstruction, Franklin Desha Denton started the Batesville Guard. Denton was a Batesville native who served in the Confederate Army. Postwar, he was elected county sheriff, and after several unsuccessful mercantile ventures, he founded the Guard. This four-page, Democratic paper was published once a week and had a circulation of over 500 people. In 1880, Denton brought on Walter Robert Joblin as associate editor, but Joblin died the next year at 35 years old.

A fire on February 20, 1880, destroyed the Guard's office, along with several other buildings on Main Street in Batesville. The fire was suspected to be arson, with reports that an incendiary under the floor of E. W. Clapp & Co.'s store started the fire. A rival newspaper in town, the North Arkansas Pilot (1879-1888), helped the Guard recover. Denton bought new supplies from New Orleans, Louisiana, and the paper resumed weekly publication on April 1, 1880, missing just five issues.

Denton sold the Guard in 1885 to go work as the Batesville Postmaster. In the 1890s, Denton established the Batesville Weekly Bee (1892-189?), but by 1900 he quit the papers and moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

Milton Y. Todisman took over the Guard in 1885 and ran it for a few years. John L. Tullis bought the paper next and worked as editor until 1890, when Edgar L. Givens purchased the paper. Givens had previously published the Washington Press (1883-1???) in Washington, Arkansas. He then temporarily moved to Washington, D.C. to work as secretary for Arkansas Senator James Kimbrough Jones. In 1893, after working for a few years at the Guard, Givens moved to Little Rock to help publish the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991) after the editor, Daniel Armod Brower, left due to ill health. Givens returned to Batesville a few years later to resume working at the Guard. In 1905, he added a daily edition of the Guard in addition to the weekly edition. In later years, the Guard printed a twice-a-week version as well.

Under Givens, a stock publishing company for the Guard was formed, the Batesville Printing Company. In 1907, the company brought on George Harris Trevathan to act as the Guard's manager and editor. Trevathan's newspaper career began in his teens when he worked at the North Arkansas Pilot under William Wilson Byers. In 1890, Trevathan married Nellie Hunt of Melbourne. In 1892, Trevathan started the Democrat in Melbourne, which he ran for a few years before moving back to Batesville. In Batesville, he took over the Progress (1889-18??) from Todisman, who had moved to the Progress after working at the Guard previously. Trevathan later moved to Mammoth Springs and combined two papers into the Banner=Nugget (1???-190?), later renaming it the Salem Banner (190?-1924). Trevathan worked as journal clerk for the House of Representatives, secretary of the State Senate, and bookkeeper in the State Treasurer's office. In 1905, he returned to the newspaper business in Batesville, purchasing the Weekly Bee (189?-1905) and renaming it the Independence County News (1905-1907). In 1907, when Trevathan joined the Guard, he consolidated the Independence County News into the Guard. In the 1910s, Trevathan's health took him away from the Guard at various points, leaving the state several times with his family in attempts to recover his health. During these periods, other editors were brought on for short stints at the Guard.

At first Trevathan claimed retirement due to his health, selling his interest in the paper in 1910 to Gainer Owen Duffey, who became editor and business manager. In 1911, however, Trevathan returned to Batesville and bought out Duffey. Dene Hamilton Coleman, former Batesville mayor and state representative, came on as editor from 1911 to 1912.

In 1913, Robert Presley Robbins joined Trevathan and together they bought out Givens's stock. Givens died a few months later. Robbins was active in newspaper publishing, founding and working at newspapers around Arkansas and Tennessee. After editing the Guard for a year, Robbins left in 1914 to run the Arkansawyer (190?-1915) in Stuttgart.

From 1913 to 1914, Trevathan used the Guard to speak against Congressperson William Allan Oldfield's reelection campaign. Oldfield had practiced law in Batesville before his first election to Congress in 1908. Trevathan said he was Oldfield's best friend but had some complaints about how he handled the appointment for the postmaster position. Oldfield published his rebuttal in other newspapers across the state, claiming the Guard was printing falsehoods and slander because Trevathan was upset he was not given the Batesville postmaster position. Despite the back and forth, voters reelected Oldfield to Congress. He remained in Congress until his death in 1928. His wife, Fannie Pearl Peden Oldfield, was elected to take his place, becoming the first Arkansas Congresswoman.

In 1914, Claude Lee Coger bought Trevathan's interest in the Guard. Coger had previously owned and edited the Sharp County Record (1877-1976) for 20 years. Coger hired his nephew, Austin Coger Wilkerson, as associate editor of the Guard. Wilkerson had also worked with his uncle at the Record. Coger ran the Guard for a few months before returning to the Record, and Wilkerson took charge as editor. Wilkerson stayed on until 1916, when he left to work at other newspapers, and Trevathan resumed his duties at the Guard.

In 1917, Trevathan's ill health again sent him away. This time he remained in state, going to the Booneville Sanatorium to treat his tuberculosis. However, he died from the disease several months later. His wife, Nellie Trevathan, and son Joseph "Allen" Trevathan stepped up to run the Guard, with Allen working as business manager and Nellie as editor. Allen died the following year at 26 years old from influenza that developed into pneumonia. He left behind two children and a pregnant wife. The Trevathan's other son, Jared Edwin Trevathan, was serving in World War I. He was given an honorable discharge from the American Expeditionary Forces to return home to help his mother. Jared filled his brother's position as the Guard's business manager. By this point, the paper had a circulation of over 2,000, and Jared and Nellie ran the paper together until 1931. While at the Guard, Nellie also wrote articles for papers around the state, including the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991). She served as poet laureate of the Arkansas Press Association and was active in many civic organizations and charity work. She died in 1942 in Little Rock.

In 1932 Oscar Eve Jones and wife Josephine Phillips Carroll Jones bought out the Trevathans and took over the Guard. The Jones' also owned the Batesville Record (1915-1982). During his time at the Guard, Oscar served as president of the Arkansas Press Association and state senator.

The Guard continues to publish in Batesville today. It is the only newspaper that has maintained its run in Batesville since the 1880s, despite the many other papers printing there over the years.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050268/.

Batesville is the Independence County seat in northeastern Arkansas. Located on the White River, the town developed from a major mercantile port to the cultural center of the region by the mid-1800s. However, the Civil War devastated the town with several military actions occurring there and occupation changing between sides multiple times. Elisha Baxter, previously Batesville's mayor, became Arkansas's last Republican governor during Reconstruction. In the late 1800s, railroad lines were built through town, largely replacing the river traffic. Batesville had a vibrant newspaper industry, producing many newspapers for every variety of political affiliation, from Know-Nothings to Republicans. Enterprising Batesville newspeople regularly created, combined, and transferred between newspapers in town during their careers.

In 1877, at the end of Reconstruction, Franklin Desha Denton started the Batesville Guard. Denton was a Batesville native who served in the Confederate Army. Postwar, he was elected county sheriff, and after several unsuccessful mercantile ventures, he founded the Guard. This four-page, Democratic paper was published once a week and had a circulation of over 500 people. In 1880, Denton brought on Walter Robert Joblin as associate editor, but Joblin died the next year at 35 years old.

A fire on February 20, 1880, destroyed the Guard's office, along with several other buildings on Main Street in Batesville. The fire was suspected to be arson, with reports that an incendiary under the floor of E. W. Clapp & Co.'s store started the fire. A rival newspaper in town, the North Arkansas Pilot (1879-1888), helped the Guard recover. Denton bought new supplies from New Orleans, Louisiana, and the paper resumed weekly publication on April 1, 1880, missing just five issues.

Denton sold the Guard in 1885 to go work as the Batesville Postmaster. In the 1890s, Denton established the Batesville Weekly Bee (1892-189?), but by 1900 he quit the papers and moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

Milton Y. Todisman took over the Guard in 1885 and ran it for a few years. John L. Tullis bought the paper next and worked as editor until 1890, when Edgar L. Givens purchased the paper. Givens had previously published the Washington Press (1883-1???) in Washington, Arkansas. He then temporarily moved to Washington, D.C. to work as secretary for Arkansas Senator James Kimbrough Jones. In 1893, after working for a few years at the Guard, Givens moved to Little Rock to help publish the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991) after the editor, Daniel Armod Brower, left due to ill health. Givens returned to Batesville a few years later to resume working at the Guard. In 1905, he added a daily edition of the Guard in addition to the weekly edition. In later years, the Guard printed a twice-a-week version as well.

Under Givens, a stock publishing company for the Guard was formed, the Batesville Printing Company. In 1907, the company brought on George Harris Trevathan to act as the Guard's manager and editor. Trevathan's newspaper career began in his teens when he worked at the North Arkansas Pilot under William Wilson Byers. In 1890, Trevathan married Nellie Hunt of Melbourne. In 1892, Trevathan started the Democrat in Melbourne, which he ran for a few years before moving back to Batesville. In Batesville, he took over the Progress (1889-18??) from Todisman, who had moved to the Progress after working at the Guard previously. Trevathan later moved to Mammoth Springs and combined two papers into the Banner=Nugget (1???-190?), later renaming it the Salem Banner (190?-1924). Trevathan worked as journal clerk for the House of Representatives, secretary of the State Senate, and bookkeeper in the State Treasurer's office. In 1905, he returned to the newspaper business in Batesville, purchasing the Weekly Bee (189?-1905) and renaming it the Independence County News (1905-1907). In 1907, when Trevathan joined the Guard, he consolidated the Independence County News into the Guard. In the 1910s, Trevathan's health took him away from the Guard at various points, leaving the state several times with his family in attempts to recover his health. During these periods, other editors were brought on for short stints at the Guard.

At first Trevathan claimed retirement due to his health, selling his interest in the paper in 1910 to Gainer Owen Duffey, who became editor and business manager. In 1911, however, Trevathan returned to Batesville and bought out Duffey. Dene Hamilton Coleman, former Batesville mayor and state representative, came on as editor from 1911 to 1912.

In 1913, Robert Presley Robbins joined Trevathan and together they bought out Givens's stock. Givens died a few months later. Robbins was active in newspaper publishing, founding and working at newspapers around Arkansas and Tennessee. After editing the Guard for a year, Robbins left in 1914 to run the Arkansawyer (190?-1915) in Stuttgart.

From 1913 to 1914, Trevathan used the Guard to speak against Congressperson William Allan Oldfield's reelection campaign. Oldfield had practiced law in Batesville before his first election to Congress in 1908. Trevathan said he was Oldfield's best friend but had some complaints about how he handled the appointment for the postmaster position. Oldfield published his rebuttal in other newspapers across the state, claiming the Guard was printing falsehoods and slander because Trevathan was upset he was not given the Batesville postmaster position. Despite the back and forth, voters reelected Oldfield to Congress. He remained in Congress until his death in 1928. His wife, Fannie Pearl Peden Oldfield, was elected to take his place, becoming the first Arkansas Congresswoman.

In 1914, Claude Lee Coger bought Trevathan's interest in the Guard. Coger had previously owned and edited the Sharp County Record (1877-1976) for 20 years. Coger hired his nephew, Austin Coger Wilkerson, as associate editor of the Guard. Wilkerson had also worked with his uncle at the Record. Coger ran the Guard for a few months before returning to the Record, and Wilkerson took charge as editor. Wilkerson stayed on until 1916, when he left to work at other newspapers, and Trevathan resumed his duties at the Guard.

In 1917, Trevathan's ill health again sent him away. This time he remained in state, going to the Booneville Sanatorium to treat his tuberculosis. However, he died from the disease several months later. His wife, Nellie Trevathan, and son Joseph "Allen" Trevathan stepped up to run the Guard, with Allen working as business manager and Nellie as editor. Allen died the following year at 26 years old from influenza that developed into pneumonia. He left behind two children and a pregnant wife. The Trevathan's other son, Jared Edwin Trevathan, was serving in World War I. He was given an honorable discharge from the American Expeditionary Forces to return home to help his mother. Jared filled his brother's position as the Guard's business manager. By this point, the paper had a circulation of over 2,000, and Jared and Nellie ran the paper together until 1931. While at the Guard, Nellie also wrote articles for papers around the state, including the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991). She served as poet laureate of the Arkansas Press Association and was active in many civic organizations and charity work. She died in 1942 in Little Rock.

In 1932 Oscar Eve Jones and wife Josephine Phillips Carroll Jones bought out the Trevathans and took over the Guard. The Jones' also owned the Batesville Record (1915-1982). During his time at the Guard, Oscar served as president of the Arkansas Press Association and state senator.

The Guard continues to publish in Batesville today. It is the only newspaper that has maintained its run in Batesville since the 1880s, despite the many other papers printing there over the years.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050272/.

Batesville is the Independence County seat in northeastern Arkansas. Located on the White River, the town developed from a major mercantile port to the cultural center of the region by the mid-1800s. However, the Civil War devastated the town with several military actions occurring there and occupation changing between sides multiple times. Elisha Baxter, previously Batesville's mayor, became Arkansas's last Republican governor during Reconstruction. In the late 1800s, railroad lines were built through town, largely replacing the river traffic. Batesville had a vibrant newspaper industry, producing many newspapers for every variety of political affiliation, from Know-Nothings to Republicans. Enterprising Batesville newspeople regularly created, combined, and transferred between newspapers in town during their careers.

In 1877, at the end of Reconstruction, Franklin Desha Denton started the Batesville Guard. Denton was a Batesville native who served in the Confederate Army. Postwar, he was elected county sheriff, and after several unsuccessful mercantile ventures, he founded the Guard. This four-page, Democratic paper was published once a week and had a circulation of over 500 people. In 1880, Denton brought on Walter Robert Joblin as associate editor, but Joblin died the next year at 35 years old.

A fire on February 20, 1880, destroyed the Guard's office, along with several other buildings on Main Street in Batesville. The fire was suspected to be arson, with reports that an incendiary under the floor of E. W. Clapp & Co.'s store started the fire. A rival newspaper in town, the North Arkansas Pilot (1879-1888), helped the Guard recover. Denton bought new supplies from New Orleans, Louisiana, and the paper resumed weekly publication on April 1, 1880, missing just five issues.

Denton sold the Guard in 1885 to go work as the Batesville Postmaster. In the 1890s, Denton established the Batesville Weekly Bee (1892-189?), but by 1900 he quit the papers and moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

Milton Y. Todisman took over the Guard in 1885 and ran it for a few years. John L. Tullis bought the paper next and worked as editor until 1890, when Edgar L. Givens purchased the paper. Givens had previously published the Washington Press (1883-1???) in Washington, Arkansas. He then temporarily moved to Washington, D.C. to work as secretary for Arkansas Senator James Kimbrough Jones. In 1893, after working for a few years at the Guard, Givens moved to Little Rock to help publish the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991) after the editor, Daniel Armod Brower, left due to ill health. Givens returned to Batesville a few years later to resume working at the Guard. In 1905, he added a daily edition of the Guard in addition to the weekly edition. In later years, the Guard printed a twice-a-week version as well.

Under Givens, a stock publishing company for the Guard was formed, the Batesville Printing Company. In 1907, the company brought on George Harris Trevathan to act as the Guard's manager and editor. Trevathan's newspaper career began in his teens when he worked at the North Arkansas Pilot under William Wilson Byers. In 1890, Trevathan married Nellie Hunt of Melbourne. In 1892, Trevathan started the Democrat in Melbourne, which he ran for a few years before moving back to Batesville. In Batesville, he took over the Progress (1889-18??) from Todisman, who had moved to the Progress after working at the Guard previously. Trevathan later moved to Mammoth Springs and combined two papers into the Banner=Nugget (1???-190?), later renaming it the Salem Banner (190?-1924). Trevathan worked as journal clerk for the House of Representatives, secretary of the State Senate, and bookkeeper in the State Treasurer's office. In 1905, he returned to the newspaper business in Batesville, purchasing the Weekly Bee (189?-1905) and renaming it the Independence County News (1905-1907). In 1907, when Trevathan joined the Guard, he consolidated the Independence County News into the Guard. In the 1910s, Trevathan's health took him away from the Guard at various points, leaving the state several times with his family in attempts to recover his health. During these periods, other editors were brought on for short stints at the Guard.

At first Trevathan claimed retirement due to his health, selling his interest in the paper in 1910 to Gainer Owen Duffey, who became editor and business manager. In 1911, however, Trevathan returned to Batesville and bought out Duffey. Dene Hamilton Coleman, former Batesville mayor and state representative, came on as editor from 1911 to 1912.

In 1913, Robert Presley Robbins joined Trevathan and together they bought out Givens's stock. Givens died a few months later. Robbins was active in newspaper publishing, founding and working at newspapers around Arkansas and Tennessee. After editing the Guard for a year, Robbins left in 1914 to run the Arkansawyer (190?-1915) in Stuttgart.

From 1913 to 1914, Trevathan used the Guard to speak against Congressperson William Allan Oldfield's reelection campaign. Oldfield had practiced law in Batesville before his first election to Congress in 1908. Trevathan said he was Oldfield's best friend but had some complaints about how he handled the appointment for the postmaster position. Oldfield published his rebuttal in other newspapers across the state, claiming the Guard was printing falsehoods and slander because Trevathan was upset he was not given the Batesville postmaster position. Despite the back and forth, voters reelected Oldfield to Congress. He remained in Congress until his death in 1928. His wife, Fannie Pearl Peden Oldfield, was elected to take his place, becoming the first Arkansas Congresswoman.

In 1914, Claude Lee Coger bought Trevathan's interest in the Guard. Coger had previously owned and edited the Sharp County Record (1877-1976) for 20 years. Coger hired his nephew, Austin Coger Wilkerson, as associate editor of the Guard. Wilkerson had also worked with his uncle at the Record. Coger ran the Guard for a few months before returning to the Record, and Wilkerson took charge as editor. Wilkerson stayed on until 1916, when he left to work at other newspapers, and Trevathan resumed his duties at the Guard.

In 1917, Trevathan's ill health again sent him away. This time he remained in state, going to the Booneville Sanatorium to treat his tuberculosis. However, he died from the disease several months later. His wife, Nellie Trevathan, and son Joseph "Allen" Trevathan stepped up to run the Guard, with Allen working as business manager and Nellie as editor. Allen died the following year at 26 years old from influenza that developed into pneumonia. He left behind two children and a pregnant wife. The Trevathan's other son, Jared Edwin Trevathan, was serving in World War I. He was given an honorable discharge from the American Expeditionary Forces to return home to help his mother. Jared filled his brother's position as the Guard's business manager. By this point, the paper had a circulation of over 2,000, and Jared and Nellie ran the paper together until 1931. While at the Guard, Nellie also wrote articles for papers around the state, including the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991). She served as poet laureate of the Arkansas Press Association and was active in many civic organizations and charity work. She died in 1942 in Little Rock.

In 1932 Oscar Eve Jones and wife Josephine Phillips Carroll Jones bought out the Trevathans and took over the Guard. The Jones' also owned the Batesville Record (1915-1982). During his time at the Guard, Oscar served as president of the Arkansas Press Association and state senator.

The Guard continues to publish in Batesville today. It is the only newspaper that has maintained its run in Batesville since the 1880s, despite the many other papers printing there over the years.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050273/. 

Brinkley, Arkansas, located on the White River in northern Monroe County in the Delta region, was named after the president of the Little Rock & Memphis Railroad, Robert Campbell Brinkley. Incorporated in 1872, the town grew from a camp used by railroad workers as the rail line between Little Rock and Memphis, Tennessee, was completed. Recognizing the strategic location of Brinkley, early settlers quickly established mills and manufacturing plants in the town.

On May 5, 1883, J.C. McKetham and the brothers B.F. Kelley and Robert J. Kelley created the Brinkley Argus (1883-current) and served as the paper's proprietors and editors. Robert J. Kelley sold his interest to J.C. McKetham, and eight years later, in 1891, William Blount Folsom purchased the newspaper. William Folsom, serving as editor, published the paper with his wife, Harriette M. Doty "H.M. Folsom," who served as the paper's business manager. Published weekly, the four- to eight-page newspaper advertised itself as having the largest circulation in Monroe County in the 1890s. In 1921, the Arkansas Press Association awarded the Brinkley Argus several times: second prize in the best all round county paper; first prize in the best displays of ten samples of general printing; first prize in the best display of ten samples of commercial printing; and first prize in the best display of ten samples of social and fancy printing.

The Brinkley Argus focused on local news in Brinkley and Monroe County. The paper regularly published service schedules and Bible lessons for local churches. The Folsoms advertised the positive aspects of Brinkley and Arkansas as a whole. In 1898, the paper included a recurring advertisement titled "Brinkley Has" detailing a list of positive facts about the town. In 1910, William Folsom organized an advertisement train called "Arkansas on Wheels" advertising Arkansas throughout the country. This form of advertising was so successful that the "Arkansas on Wheels" train continued yearly through 1916.

On Monday March 8, 1909, a tornado hit Brinkley and the surrounding area and caused extensive damage: 35 people were killed and hundreds were injured. The newspaper managed to publish an issue five days later on Friday March 12, 1909, and the next couple of issues went into great detail on the destruction of Brinkley. During the First World War, there were occasional updates until 1917 when the United States entered the war and articles about the war's impact on the local community became more frequent.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn91050004/. 

Carlisle, in Lonoke County, is slightly east of Little Rock. In the 1870s, fertile soil and plentiful water attracted the first European settlers. A small residential community, it was incorporated in 1878. Carlisle was the first place rice was grown on the Grand Prairie, and rice continues to be a cornerstone of the Carlisle economy. In addition to farming, dairy production was another early industry, with several milk and creamery factories in operation. The Memphis and Little Rock Railroad (later the Rock Island Railroad), ran down Main Street to stop at passenger and freight depots and to ship out the farming and dairy products to other parts of the country.

The Carlisle Independent, the first and only newspaper based in Carlisle, began in 1905 under Thomas P. Young. Young worked as publisher and editor, issuing the paper once a week on Thursdays. For the first few years the Independent ran as a non-political paper, printing news about Carlisle and the surrounding communities in Fulton and Sharp Counties. In 1907, Ernest Ellis took over the Independent, changing it to a Democratic paper.

Jewel Lester Matthews, Sr. took over in 1914 and ran the Independent for two years before turning it over to Clifford R. Griffin. Griffin also ran the paper for two years and then sold it to Edward M. Williams in 1918. Williams stayed with the Independent for several years, using his extensive newspaper experience to promote the welfare of Carlisle.

Williams's father, M. R. Williams, was also a newspaper publisher. He ran the Salisbury Press-Spectator (1881-current) in Missouri, where Edward and his brothers C. C. Williams and Thomas Williams learned the newspaper business. After learning the trade, Edward moved to Arkansas City, Arkansas and published the New Enterprise (18??-19??) with John W. Davis. Edward's next paper was in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) at Afton, where he founded the Afton Advance (1896-1???) with C. C. Williams. Edward moved back to Missouri and founded another newspaper before returning to Arkansas. Edward first lived in Stuttgart, where he published the Free Press (1889-192?) with his other brother Thomas Williams. Edward worked on that paper for several years before moving to Carlisle and buying the Independent. Circulation of the Independent increased under Edward, who was a progressive man.

In 1963, Cone Magie and Betty Magie purchased the Independent. The Magie family owned several newspapers in the area, operating under Magie Enterprises, Inc. In 2006 they sold their company, including the Carlisle Independent, to the Stephens Media Group.

In 2017, the Carlisle Independent merged with the Cabot Star-Herald (1956-current) and the Lonoke Democrat (1914-current) to become the Lonoke County Democrat. In 2018 the Lonoke County Democrat ceased publication.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92050006/. 

Rison is the Cleveland County seat in southeastern Arkansas. The county, created in 1873, was originally called Dorsey County. It became Cleveland County in 1885 after a change in the reputation of U.S. Senator Stephen Dorsey due to the Star Route scandal. It was renamed after the popular President Grover Cleveland.

Samuel Wesley Fordyce, surveyor for the Texas and St. Louis Railroad, chose the location and town name of Rison. The town was incorporated in 1890 and the next year people voted in a special election to move the county seat to Rison from Toledo after a fire destroyed the courthouse there. The Cleveland County Courthouse was built in Rison in 1911. The railroad's presence continued to be critical for the town, as the economy was based on selling cotton and lumber down the railroad line. Eventually, cotton and other large-scale farming declined in the area because of the ways that they deplete the soil of nutrients.

In 1888, George H. Tisdale started the Cleveland County Herald at Rison. It was a Democratic paper published on Thursdays. Sallie Irene Robinson worked briefly as editor for Tisdale, and by 1893 had purchased the paper.

Robinson learned the newspaper business from her uncle, Leon Roussan, who ran the Osecola Times (1870-current) in Osecola, Arkansas. Robinson moved to Rison in 1892 or 1893 and quickly took over the Herald. In 1895, she married lawyer William "Billie" Joseph Stanfield, to become Sallie Robinson-Stanfield. She is the first recorded woman in Arkansas to hyphenate her last name after marriage. Together they had five children and Robinson-Stanfield taught them all the newspaper business. In 1897 Stanfield took over managing the newspaper while Robinson-Stanfield focused on raising their children. In 1906 William died suddenly, likely from tuberculosis. Robinson-Stanfield briefly resumed running the Herald, then sold it to James Monroe Raines. Raines leased the paper to various editors.

In 1912 Sallie Robinson-Stanfield bought the paper back and again worked as manager and editor. In 1915 she married John Clayton Riley, editor of the Blade (1???-1929) in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. At this point, she changed her name to Sallie Riley. She sold the paper for a final time to Henry Burgess Dixon, Sr. in 1915 and moved up to Walnut Ridge.

Dixon ran the Herald for a few years but died in the 1918 influenza pandemic. Annie L. Hughes Dixon, his widow, sold the paper to local businessmen, who published the paper under the News Publishing Company. Ethel M. Sumerow worked as editor until her death in 1922.

Calvin Alpheus Stanfield, son of Sallie Riley, ran the paper for a year before selling it to Guy Mack Sadler and Harold Davis Sadler in 1923. The Sadlers sold their interest to Leland Callaway Ackerman by 1929, but in 1933 Guy Sadler bought the paper back. The Sadler family (Guy Sadler, William "Bill" Sadler, Stan Sadler) ran the Herald until 2002, when they sold it to Britt Talent. Stan Sadler continues to work as editor. The Herald is the longest-running newspaper in Cleveland County.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050296/.

Des Arc, the first town established in Prairie County, is located on the White River in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Antebellum Des Arc acted as a gateway between Memphis, Tennessee and the rest of Arkansas, and as a principal distribution center for produce and lumber. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran through Des Arc in the late 1850s, which increased the number of people traveling through the area.

The Des Arc Citizen (1854-186?) was the first newspaper in Prairie County, established in September 1854 by John C. Morrill. Published weekly, issues were four pages long and focused on state politics, the Methodist Episcopal Church, agriculture, development projects for railroads and river levees, and news from Memphis. In 1861, a new twice-weekly edition, the Des Arc Semi-Weekly Citizen, was published simultaneously. The new edition was short-lived, and later that same year the newspaper returned to a singular weekly edition called the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (186?-1).

In the lead up to the Civil War, the Des Arc Citizen supported leaving the Union. Disagreeing with secessionist views, Weston H. Rhea created the Constitutional Union (1860-1) in Des Arc and served as both proprietor and editor. The Constitutional Union, whose masthead stated, "The Constitution, the Union, and the Enforcement of the Laws," supported staying in the Union. This four-page weekly paper focused on state and national politics, with articles discussing international opinions on American politics. Recurring features included "Poetical" and "Telegraphic!" sections. The Constitutional Union was short lived, ending after only five months. During the Civil War, Union Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis captured Des Arc, and the town was partially destroyed. TheCitizen suspended publication due to the war.

During the Reconstruction era, the Citizen (1866-7) resumed publication in 1866 with Elijah H. Poe and James H. Balding as proprietors and N.B. Gair as editor. In its first issue on February 20, 1866, the newspaper encouraged the rebuilding of Des Arc and praised the last six months of progress. The newspaper stated, "Many of her old citizens, scattered to the four winds of heaven by the fortunes or misfortunes of the war, are returning to Des Arc, bankrupt as to means, but willing, and anxious to contribute their mite [sic] in rebuilding this once pleasant and lovely town...." In June 1866, the partnership between Poe and Balding was dissolved, and Poe served as sole proprietor until January 1867 when he partnered with Allen C. Mathews. Balding continued as publisher until the end of 1866. In February 1867, the newspaper's name changed to the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (1867-7?).

For more information about this title visit: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87090585/

The Conway Log Cabin (189?-1901) and succeeding Log Cabin Democrat (1901-82) were printed in Conway, the county seat of Faulkner County in central Arkansas. Faulkner County was formed in 1873 as one of nine counties established during Reconstruction. Named after Colonel Sanford Faulkner, composer of "The Arkansas Traveler," the county consists of river valleys, hills, and prairie lands in the north.

The Log Cabin (1879-8?) was created by Abel F. Livingston in 1879, and named after the Whig political party symbol. In the 1880s and 1890s, the newspaper changed ownership several times before John W. Underhill resumed full control of the paper in the late 1890s and changed its name to the Conway Log Cabin (189?-1901). The Cabin, along with other local Conway newspapers, was published by the Underhill's Conway Printing Company. Originally Republican in its political views, the newspaper had become Democratic when Underhill first took control of it in the 1880s. The Conway Log Cabin focused on local and national news with a "News of the World" section, and covered the placement of the cornerstone of the new state capitol on November 17, 1900. On June 19, 1900, a fire destroyed the Conway Printing Company plant, including the equipment used to publish the Conway Log Cabin and the Conway Democrat (1888-1901). The publishing company recovered quickly and bought new supplies in St. Louis, Missouri.

In September 1901, the Conway Log Cabin and the Conway Democrat consolidated into the weekly Log Cabin Democrat (1901-82). After Underhill died in 1906, his stepson Francis Edward "Frank" Robins, Sr. became the editor and later bought the plant. The Robins family was involved with the newspaper for five generations. A daily edition of the Log Cabin Democrat (1908-current) was established on September 14, 1908, and is published to this day. Both the weekly and daily editions focused on national and international news. The paper covered the First World War in great detail, and published articles of interest such as "From a Nurse in Warring Germany." The newspapers also kept up with local and state news, such as the debate over wet and dry counties. The colleges in Conway were of particular interest, including the Arkansas State Normal College, now the University of Central Arkansas; Hendrix College; and the Central Baptist College for Women, now Central Baptist College.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051194/.

The Courier-Index, located in Marianna, is a consolidation of two well-established papers in Lee County, the Marianna Index and The Lee County Courier. Located along the L'Anguille River in the delta, the city's economy was based in agriculture, particularly cotton production. Marianna had an early influx of people, many coming from the Carolinas, but the county's population ceased to grow as rapidly with the onset of the Civil War.

L. M. Benham founded the Marianna Index, the older of the two papers, on a Saturday in August 1874. Benham published the paper using hand-set type and a hand-fed press. The debut issue stated, "We intend to have a paper that the people of our county will not be ashamed of, and that all, someday, may feel proud of it." After only a few months of publication, Benham sold the paper to Hutton, Anderson & Co., and H. N. Hutton became the publisher. It was sold several more times before the final transfer in 1917 to H. M Jackson, who purchased both the Marianna Index and the Lee County Courier, combining them two years later to form the Courier-Index.

The Marianna Index covered a wide range of topics on a seven-column layout that included poetry, editorials, and general essays, as well as national news. Subscriptions to the paper were advertised at $2.50/year and the general mission of the paper was to "defend the truth, support what is right…oppose all cliques, clan or leagues, or anything else that tends to corrupt the ballot box." The city of Marianna faced many trials during the time of the Index's print run, including intermittent outbreaks of yellow fever and smallpox and fires that gutted the city. An article covering the first yellow fever scare stated, "till  it could be ascertained whether the rumor was true that there were several cases in that town, guards were posted on all roads leading into Marianna and the City Marshall, John Russell, was allowed $6.00 a day for guard expense. The quarantine cost the town $52.00 for guard duty and $2.39 for telegrams."

While the Civil War impeded the town's growth, the end of the war brought an economic resurgence as the city adjusted to life in peacetime. New businesses were established and there was a great deal of new construction. As a result of the town's growth, in 1904, seventeen years after the Marianna Index was founded, Colonel James Wood, a farmer with an interest in politics, started a rival paper, the Lee County Courier. On September 4, 1897, the Lee County Courier boasted,"public improvements...kept pace with and often outstripped the growth of the town. Its several miles of sidewalks, made of two-inch plank, are kept in perfect repair, make it possible to go all over the town in rainy weather without a lady's slippers being soiled…." Wood and his nephew, T. E. Wood, edited the Lee County Courier for 27 years before selling it to H. M. Jackson in 1917. Jackson continued to publish the two rival papers separately until he combined them in 1919 as the Courier-Index.

In The Courier-Index, A. G Samuel, W. G. Hoyle, and Editor H. M. Jackson wrote front page columns about life in the city. When Jackson died in 1934, his wife and son took over the business until 1937 when they sold the paper to John B. Howse who became publisher, with Howard Hicks as editor from 1937-39. Mrs. Jackson regained the paper in 1939. The paper changed hands in the 1940s, again the 1980s, and most recently in 2016, when it was purchased by Argent Arkansas News Media and incorporated into the existing Times-Herald.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051338/.

Batesville is the Independence County seat in northeastern Arkansas. Located on the White River, the town developed from a major mercantile port to the cultural center of the region by the mid-1800s. However, the Civil War devastated the town with several military actions occurring there and occupation changing between sides multiple times. Elisha Baxter, previously Batesville's mayor, became Arkansas's last Republican governor during Reconstruction. In the late 1800s, railroad lines were built through town, largely replacing the river traffic. Batesville had a vibrant newspaper industry, producing many newspapers for every variety of political affiliation, from Know-Nothings to Republicans. Enterprising Batesville newspeople regularly created, combined, and transferred between newspapers in town during their careers.

In 1877, at the end of Reconstruction, Franklin Desha Denton started the Batesville Guard. Denton was a Batesville native who served in the Confederate Army. Postwar, he was elected county sheriff, and after several unsuccessful mercantile ventures, he founded the Guard. This four-page, Democratic paper was published once a week and had a circulation of over 500 people. In 1880, Denton brought on Walter Robert Joblin as associate editor, but Joblin died the next year at 35 years old.

A fire on February 20, 1880, destroyed the Guard's office, along with several other buildings on Main Street in Batesville. The fire was suspected to be arson, with reports that an incendiary under the floor of E. W. Clapp & Co.'s store started the fire. A rival newspaper in town, the North Arkansas Pilot (1879-1888), helped the Guard recover. Denton bought new supplies from New Orleans, Louisiana, and the paper resumed weekly publication on April 1, 1880, missing just five issues.

Denton sold the Guard in 1885 to go work as the Batesville Postmaster. In the 1890s, Denton established the Batesville Weekly Bee (1892-189?), but by 1900 he quit the papers and moved to Memphis, Tennessee.

Milton Y. Todisman took over the Guard in 1885 and ran it for a few years. John L. Tullis bought the paper next and worked as editor until 1890, when Edgar L. Givens purchased the paper. Givens had previously published the Washington Press (1883-1???) in Washington, Arkansas. He then temporarily moved to Washington, D.C. to work as secretary for Arkansas Senator James Kimbrough Jones. In 1893, after working for a few years at the Guard, Givens moved to Little Rock to help publish the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991) after the editor, Daniel Armod Brower, left due to ill health. Givens returned to Batesville a few years later to resume working at the Guard. In 1905, he added a daily edition of the Guard in addition to the weekly edition. In later years, the Guard printed a twice-a-week version as well.

Under Givens, a stock publishing company for the Guard was formed, the Batesville Printing Company. In 1907, the company brought on George Harris Trevathan to act as the Guard's manager and editor. Trevathan's newspaper career began in his teens when he worked at the North Arkansas Pilot under William Wilson Byers. In 1890, Trevathan married Nellie Hunt of Melbourne. In 1892, Trevathan started the Democrat in Melbourne, which he ran for a few years before moving back to Batesville. In Batesville, he took over the Progress (1889-18??) from Todisman, who had moved to the Progress after working at the Guard previously. Trevathan later moved to Mammoth Springs and combined two papers into the Banner=Nugget (1???-190?), later renaming it the Salem Banner (190?-1924). Trevathan worked as journal clerk for the House of Representatives, secretary of the State Senate, and bookkeeper in the State Treasurer's office. In 1905, he returned to the newspaper business in Batesville, purchasing the Weekly Bee (189?-1905) and renaming it the Independence County News (1905-1907). In 1907, when Trevathan joined the Guard, he consolidated the Independence County News into the Guard. In the 1910s, Trevathan's health took him away from the Guard at various points, leaving the state several times with his family in attempts to recover his health. During these periods, other editors were brought on for short stints at the Guard.

At first Trevathan claimed retirement due to his health, selling his interest in the paper in 1910 to Gainer Owen Duffey, who became editor and business manager. In 1911, however, Trevathan returned to Batesville and bought out Duffey. Dene Hamilton Coleman, former Batesville mayor and state representative, came on as editor from 1911 to 1912.

In 1913, Robert Presley Robbins joined Trevathan and together they bought out Givens's stock. Givens died a few months later. Robbins was active in newspaper publishing, founding and working at newspapers around Arkansas and Tennessee. After editing the Guard for a year, Robbins left in 1914 to run the Arkansawyer (190?-1915) in Stuttgart.

From 1913 to 1914, Trevathan used the Guard to speak against Congressperson William Allan Oldfield's reelection campaign. Oldfield had practiced law in Batesville before his first election to Congress in 1908. Trevathan said he was Oldfield's best friend but had some complaints about how he handled the appointment for the postmaster position. Oldfield published his rebuttal in other newspapers across the state, claiming the Guard was printing falsehoods and slander because Trevathan was upset he was not given the Batesville postmaster position. Despite the back and forth, voters reelected Oldfield to Congress. He remained in Congress until his death in 1928. His wife, Fannie Pearl Peden Oldfield, was elected to take his place, becoming the first Arkansas Congresswoman.

In 1914, Claude Lee Coger bought Trevathan's interest in the Guard. Coger had previously owned and edited the Sharp County Record (1877-1976) for 20 years. Coger hired his nephew, Austin Coger Wilkerson, as associate editor of the Guard. Wilkerson had also worked with his uncle at the Record. Coger ran the Guard for a few months before returning to the Record, and Wilkerson took charge as editor. Wilkerson stayed on until 1916, when he left to work at other newspapers, and Trevathan resumed his duties at the Guard.

In 1917, Trevathan's ill health again sent him away. This time he remained in state, going to the Booneville Sanatorium to treat his tuberculosis. However, he died from the disease several months later. His wife, Nellie Trevathan, and son Joseph "Allen" Trevathan stepped up to run the Guard, with Allen working as business manager and Nellie as editor. Allen died the following year at 26 years old from influenza that developed into pneumonia. He left behind two children and a pregnant wife. The Trevathan's other son, Jared Edwin Trevathan, was serving in World War I. He was given an honorable discharge from the American Expeditionary Forces to return home to help his mother. Jared filled his brother's position as the Guard's business manager. By this point, the paper had a circulation of over 2,000, and Jared and Nellie ran the paper together until 1931. While at the Guard, Nellie also wrote articles for papers around the state, including the Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991). She served as poet laureate of the Arkansas Press Association and was active in many civic organizations and charity work. She died in 1942 in Little Rock.

In 1932 Oscar Eve Jones and wife Josephine Phillips Carroll Jones bought out the Trevathans and took over the Guard. The Jones' also owned the Batesville Record (1915-1982). During his time at the Guard, Oscar served as president of the Arkansas Press Association and state senator.

The Guard continues to publish in Batesville today. It is the only newspaper that has maintained its run in Batesville since the 1880s, despite the many other papers printing there over the years.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050267/.

Before the Iron Mountain Railway reached Southwest Arkansas, Nevada County was primarily a sparsely populated agricultural settlement near the Little Missouri River. It was the 63^rd county in Arkansas, formed during Reconstruction from lands previously in Hempstead, Ouachita, and Columbia counties. Prescott, the county seat, is 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The first post office opened in Prescott in November 1873. Two years later, The Prescott Banner, Nevada County's first newspaper, was established by brothers, Eugene E. and W. B. White. Over the next two years, the paper's name changed three times, from The Prescott Banner to the Prescott Clipper. Eugene E. White also opened the Nevada Picayune on February 14, 1878 as editor. He remained until he left for Hot Springs in 1883 to open the Daily Herald. At that point, his brother, W. B. White, took over the paper.

The Nevada Picayune was both a democratic and populist paper over its tenure. It had a seven-column folio and was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In January 1906, editor C. B. Andrews lost everything in a fire that destroyed the newspaper office. Employing the honor system, Andrews asked all subscribers and debtors to contact him. He reopened the Picayune in the Brooks building on East Front Street.

The most notable Picayune employee was Fredrick W. Allsopp. He worked for free at the Nevada County Picayune for thirteen weeks in the printing department before moving to Little Rock to begin his 40-year career at The Arkansas Gazette. From the mailroom, Allsopp worked his way up to Secretary and Business Manager of the statewide newspaper before building a hotel, opening a bookstore, and publishing five books.

The Nevada Picayune closed its doors in September 2018, after 140 years of publication.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051256/.

Paragould, Arkansas is situated just across the Missouri border in the northeastern region of the state in Greene County. At the time of settlement, it had few roads and many obstructions, including swampland and an abundance of timber. Sitting atop Crowley's Ridge, early pioneers took advantage of the lush terrain and uncommon hardwood trees to create a booming timber industry. As the railroad moved in, so did the people, flocking to town to work in timber mills and factories.

As a result of the booming economy, in late 1886 J. R. Taylor founded the Paragould Press. After successfully working on newspapers in Jackson and Memphis, Tennessee, Taylor settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1883, where he became editor and part-owner of the Jonesboro Democrat, followed by a stint as mayor. After resigning from politics and selling off his interest in the Jonesboro Democrat (later to become The Jonesboro Sun), Taylor moved to Paragould. There, he owned the paper until 1888 when he sold it to W. A. H. McDaniel in order to, once again, run for and return to the state senate. Only a short time later, after pulling out of his run for senate, Taylor went into competition with McDaniel when he established The Greene County Record in 1889. During this time period, according to historian Myrl Rhine Mueller in A History of Green County, Arkansas, "there was a succession of small newspapers published in Paragould. So fast did they rise and fall, exchange publishers and editors, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sort them out chronologically." The News-Letter, edited by Charles E. Stewart, eventually combined with McDaniel's paper.

In 1893, Greene County mill owner and farmer Ross Coffman went into business with editor W. P. Adams and together they formed The Daily Soliphone. Adams invented the word soliphone by combining the Latin word for sun (sol) and the Greek word for phonics (phone) and joining them with an "i," making "soliphone." Despite its unique title, the paper was poorly managed and lacked sufficient funding. In order to raise capital, Adams mortgaged the publishing equipment with his rival, McDaniel. Later the two came into conflict and McDaniel foreclosed on the mortgage. Adams's paper was left without a press. With no ability to produce the paper, McDaniel sought the help of local Paragould businessman and bank official, M. F. Collier. With financial backing, he was able to continue publication, under the editorship of P. W. Moss until, despite his best efforts, McDaniel was forced to sell the paper. The paper was once again purchased by Taylor and was subsequently turned into two separate papers – The Paragould Daily Press, sent daily to city subscribers, and The Weekly Soliphone, which had a weekly rural circulation.

After Taylor's death in 1917, Griffin Smith became the very well-respected and successful editor of both papers. Upon his retirement, Smith said, "I have been in the newspaper business almost twenty-five years; during that period no successive six months have passed by during which my papers have not engaged in a fight of some kind." The papers continued to change hands and on July 1, 1959 the paper consolidated with the Paragould Daily Press and was subsequently issued as the Paragould Daily Press-Soliphone, a morning rural edition. The Paragould Daily Press was then issued concurrently as an afternoon, city edition.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051437/.

Texarkana, established in 1873, extends across the state line into Arkansas and Texas. The area was first surveyed by railroad companies, and by the time Texarkana was founded, lines from the Cairo and Fulton Railroad connected Texarkana to the other end of Arkansas. The city's motto is "Twice as Nice."

In Arkansas, Texarkana serves as the Miller County seat, with the first courthouse completed in 1893. At that time, the city had a population of over 6,000. It was the terminus for several railroads, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, and Trans-Continental railroads. Other industries in town included machinery and car shops, streetcar lines, gas works, as well as an electric light plant, ice factory, oil mill, cotton compress, and telephone service. Industries in the surrounding area included timber harvesting, mineral extraction, and agriculture.

G. H. Wooten and his sons, Francis G. "Pete" and Jack Wooten, established the Texarkana Democrat in 1875 on the Arkansas side of Texarkana. It was a weekly paper published on Saturdays. The Wootens sold the paper in 1882 to Dayton B. Hayes and Ed A. Church, who added an afternoon daily edition in 1883. In 1884, Joe E. Cook and J. V. Scott bought the paper, but they quickly sold to E. A. Warren, editor, and Charles E. Mitchell that same year. The new owners changed the name of both editions to the Texarkana Independent and used the paper to promote Judge Mitchell as an independent candidate for Congress, though unsuccessfully. In 1890, Warren returned to the Democratic party, and changed the paper back to the Democrat.

In 1892, John W. Gardner bought the paper and later renamed it the Texarkanian. He was a strong advocate of prohibition and used the Texarkanian to denounce alcohol. The weekly edition was published on Thursdays, and the daily came out every evening except Sundays. W. H. Ward worked as the editor for Gardner during his first decade at the Texarkanian. For the latter half, "Pete" Wooten returned as editor. Wooten was described as one of the most popular newspaper people in Texarkana.

In 1902, Gardner retired from the Texarkanian due to failing eyesight, ending his 28-year newspaper career. Gardner sold the paper to George S. Valliant. Augustus Bryant Sholars worked as editor until 1904, when he was succeeded by W. B. Weeks. Weeks left in 1910.

In 1913, James Lafayette Wadley, Sr. bought the Texarkanian, and ran it with his two sons, Archer Francis Wadley and James Linton Wadley, Jr., under the Texarkana Publishing Company. At that point, the daily and weekly editions each had a circulation of around 2,000. Previously, Wadley, Sr. had worked at the Hot Springs Daily News (1884-1913) for 29 years and had served in Congress.

During the Wadley's tenure at the Texarkanian, they reported on the racial violence and lynching of the Black population in Texarkana. On February 21, 1922, an armed mob of four white men took over the Texarkanian newspaper office and forced the Wadleys, under armed threat, to print a note that the men were the ones who had lynched a Black Texarkanian, P. Norman. The note said the men were citizens of Texarkana and intended to stay there, but it denied they were the KKK. Many in Texarkana denounced the lynching. The Texarkanian continued to report on this incident as well as further violent episodes and the response of local citizens, though there were no more hostage situations.

The Wadleys sold the paper in 1926 to D. W. Stevick, who also purchased the Four States Press (1919-1926) and the Texarkana Journal from Clyde E. Palmer. Stevick consolidated those with the Daily Texarkanian into the Texarkana Gazette (1926-current), a daily morning paper. He then established the Texarkana Evening News as a companion to the Gazette. In 1929, he renamed the Evening News to the Texarkana Daily News (1929-1978). In 1933, Palmer bought the Gazette back from Stevick, along with the Daily News, under Texarkana Newspapers Inc. Henry Humphrey worked as the editor and Palmer as publisher. The Gazette continues today, and is read in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051301/.

Texarkana, established in 1873, extends across the state line into Arkansas and Texas. The area was first surveyed by railroad companies, and by the time Texarkana was founded, lines from the Cairo and Fulton Railroad connected Texarkana to the other end of Arkansas. The city's motto is "Twice as Nice."

In Arkansas, Texarkana serves as the Miller County seat, with the first courthouse completed in 1893. At that time, the city had a population of over 6,000. It was the terminus for several railroads, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern, and Trans-Continental railroads. Other industries in town included machinery and car shops, streetcar lines, gas works, as well as an electric light plant, ice factory, oil mill, cotton compress, and telephone service. Industries in the surrounding area included timber harvesting, mineral extraction, and agriculture.

G. H. Wooten and his sons, Francis G. "Pete" and Jack Wooten, established the Texarkana Democrat in 1875 on the Arkansas side of Texarkana. It was a weekly paper published on Saturdays. The Wootens sold the paper in 1882 to Dayton B. Hayes and Ed A. Church, who added an afternoon daily edition in 1883. In 1884, Joe E. Cook and J. V. Scott bought the paper, but they quickly sold to E. A. Warren, editor, and Charles E. Mitchell that same year. The new owners changed the name of both editions to the Texarkana Independent and used the paper to promote Judge Mitchell as an independent candidate for Congress, though unsuccessfully. In 1890, Warren returned to the Democratic party, and changed the paper back to the Democrat.

In 1892, John W. Gardner bought the paper and later renamed it the Texarkanian. He was a strong advocate of prohibition and used the Texarkanian to denounce alcohol. The weekly edition was published on Thursdays, and the daily came out every evening except Sundays. W. H. Ward worked as the editor for Gardner during his first decade at the Texarkanian. For the latter half, "Pete" Wooten returned as editor. Wooten was described as one of the most popular newspaper people in Texarkana.

In 1902, Gardner retired from the Texarkanian due to failing eyesight, ending his 28-year newspaper career. Gardner sold the paper to George S. Valliant. Augustus Bryant Sholars worked as editor until 1904, when he was succeeded by W. B. Weeks. Weeks left in 1910.

In 1913, James Lafayette Wadley, Sr. bought the Texarkanian, and ran it with his two sons, Archer Francis Wadley and James Linton Wadley, Jr., under the Texarkana Publishing Company. At that point, the daily and weekly editions each had a circulation of around 2,000. Previously, Wadley, Sr. had worked at the Hot Springs Daily News (1884-1913) for 29 years and had served in Congress.

During the Wadley's tenure at the Texarkanian, they reported on the racial violence and lynching of the Black population in Texarkana. On February 21, 1922, an armed mob of four white men took over the Texarkanian newspaper office and forced the Wadleys, under armed threat, to print a note that the men were the ones who had lynched a Black Texarkanian, P. Norman. The note said the men were citizens of Texarkana and intended to stay there, but it denied they were the KKK. Many in Texarkana denounced the lynching. The Texarkanian continued to report on this incident as well as further violent episodes and the response of local citizens, though there were no more hostage situations.

The Wadleys sold the paper in 1926 to D. W. Stevick, who also purchased the Four States Press (1919-1926) and the Texarkana Journal from Clyde E. Palmer. Stevick consolidated those with the Daily Texarkanian into the Texarkana Gazette (1926-current), a daily morning paper. He then established the Texarkana Evening News as a companion to the Gazette. In 1929, he renamed the Evening News to the Texarkana Daily News (1929-1978). In 1933, Palmer bought the Gazette back from Stevick, along with the Daily News, under Texarkana Newspapers Inc. Henry Humphrey worked as the editor and Palmer as publisher. The Gazette continues today, and is read in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86090500/. 

The True Democrat (1852-7) was first printed on September 7, 1852, in Little Rock, Arkansas by owners and publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes, with Johnson serving as editor. Its preceding title, the Arkansas Democratic Banner (1851-2), was changed to the True Democrat for political reasons. The new publishers described the reason for the name change as "renewed assurances of fidelity to the noble principles of our party... we unfurl to our patrons and the public--'THE TRUE DEMOCRAT.'" The True Democrat and its successors--Arkansas True Democrat (1857-62) and True Democrat (1862-3)--were published as weeklies. Daily editions were published for a short time, including the Daily True Democrat (1861) and the True Democrat Bulletin (1862-?), but these editions ended due to financial constraints and lack of support.

Like most antebellum newspapers in Little Rock, the True Democrat focused on politics. It supported the Democratic Party, and during the 1860 elections supported former editor Johnson for Governor and John Cabell Breckinridge for President. Both candidates lost, and Johnson returned to his position as editor after the elections. When political events escalated into the Civil War, Arkansas officially seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861, to join the Confederate States of America. In early 1862, Johnson published relatively up-to-date information on the war by coordinating with and receiving reports from soldiers in various Arkansas regiments. This arrangement ended when military officials ordered soldiers to cease disclosing military activities. Johnson reported that "our military leaders wisely keep their own counsels, and we content ourself [sic] with chronicling the result when it happens, instead of the intentions which may be lost by a premature disclosure."

Throughout the Civil War, newspapers in Arkansas struggled to overcome shortages of personnel and paper. On April 3, 1862, Johnson calculated that "by issuing on a half-sheet we will have paper enough for twelve months." For the True Democrat, the paper shortage was compounded by financial difficulties caused by the high number of delinquent subscribers. In July 1863, the number of True Democrat readers was estimated at 20,000 with only 10,000 subscribers. The publishers attempted to save the newspaper by using a paper supplier in Georgia, but this plan failed when shipments could no longer cross the Mississippi River due to the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. The True Democrat ran out of paper, and on July 8, 1863, the True Democrat published its last issue on wrapping paper. The newspaper did not resume after the war.

Dermott is located in Chicot County, which is in the southeastern corner of Arkansas bordering Louisiana. The town was founded in a bayou in the 1840s and grew in the 1870s and 80s when railroads began passing through. In the early 20^th century, Dermott's economy focused on timber and agriculture, and the town was thriving. It remained a major economic center until the Great Depression, and flourished again during World War II, with several mills and gins operating in the area. The town started declining in the 1950s when timber mills left and farms began mechanizing.

Dermott did not have its own newspaper until decades after it was founded. In 1910 J. A. Watkins created a local newspaper, the Dermott News. The Dermott News had many different publishers during its almost 70-year run. In 1911 alone, the paper changed hands several times. The next year, Gilbert Earle Kinney purchased it, bringing stability to the paper. He remained editor and publisher until his death in 1938.

In 1939 Joe W. Sitlington purchased the paper and worked as the publisher until 1946. The paper changed hands rapidly again, from the Dermott News Publishing Company to W. W. Mundy in 1947. Mundy stayed with the paper until 1958, when he sold it to F. N. Carnahan. In 1961, LeRoy Tyson and his wife purchased the paper, and Tyson worked as the editor.

Another local Dermott paper began in 1909, the Dermott Industrial Chronicle (1909-1921). This was an African American paper started by A. R. Raiford and later published by I. J. Bailey. In 1914, the Dermott News office was destroyed in a fire, but the paper remained in publication thanks to the Chronicle. The Chronicle allowed the Dermott News to use its offices for publishing until it assembled a new office. Fires were common at the time, and the Chronicle's offices burned in 1921. Unlike the Dermott News, the Chronicle ceased to exist after its disastrous fire.

The Dermott News published every Thursday about local and state news, as well as national and international events. Local news included updates about people traveling, moving to the area, and attending activities like the theatre. One page of the paper had a new chapter of a novel for readers to follow every week. The Dermott News supported its local community by hosting contests and offering prizes, such as a Meyer & Sons piano. It had advertisements for wider events, such as the Chicot County Fair and Arkansas State Fair. Editors were vocal about supporting the temperance movement and keeping alcohol out of Arkansas. The paper supported the Democratic Party and even helped collect money for the Wilson-Marshall presidential campaign. The Dermott News also kept its readers informed about important international events, including World War I.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050260/.

In 1897 Arthur Edward Stilwell founded the town of De Queen in southwestern Arkansas. He established it along his railroad line though Sevier County. Stilwell's railroad was funded by Dutch coffee merchant Jan de Goeijen. To honor his financier, Stilwell named the town after him, modifying the name for English speakers to "De Queen," much to de Goeijen's displeasure. Thanks to the railroad, De Queen was a hub for exporting local agricultural products, and the town soon grew into the county's largest city. In 1905 De Queen became the Sevier County seat.

The De Queen Bee was De Queen's first newspaper, beginning publication on June 4, 1897, a day after the town was incorporated. Walter A. Boyd and J. W. Bishop created the Bee as an 8-page, Democratic paper issued every Friday. Boyd and Bishop printed just three issues before selling to E. C. Winford, who later brought on A. T. Evans to help edit and publish the paper.

In October 1897, De Queen welcomed some special visitors: Stilwell, Jan de Goeijen and his wife Mena, and several other stockholders in Stilwell's railroad company. The Bee reported that the town was especially pleased to welcome "Mr. De Queen" and that the newspaper was indebted to him, as during his visit de Goeijen "transformed the Bee from a local to an international Journel [sic], he left $26 with us and had the Bee sent to quite a number in France, Germany, Holland and England." The editors also welcomed Stilwell as a kindred spirit, remarking that he had "been a typo in days gone by and drew his chair to the case and proceeded to stick type in a manner that was conclusive proof that he had been an expert at the business." The railroad party finished their visit with Mena de Goeijen buying 4 large Texas cowboy hats as curiosities.

In 1897, the Bee published three issues with articles in Choctaw (and translated in English) on the front page. De Queen was about ten miles from the Choctaw Nation's land in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). On October 8 and 15, the "Choctaw Items" column had dispatches from Eagletown, which was about 5 miles into Indian Territory. On November 5, the Choctaw column was titled "Choctaw Council," with news from Tushka Homa (now Tuskahoma), the Choctaw Nation's capital. Council member James Dyer reported that a timber company was attempting to buy up the timberlands in Choctaw Territory and monopolize the industry.In addition to the articles written in Choctaw, the Bee frequently published Choctaw related news in English.

There was another article published in Choctaw and English more than a decade later, on January 6, 1911, giving updates on the local social happenings in Eagletown.

In 1898, Evans and Winford sold the paper to James L. Cannon and Othello Thomas Graves, who reduced the Bee to four pages. In October 1899, a fire destroyed most of the businesses in downtown De Queen, including the newspaper office. The next morning Cannon and Graves posted a sign where their office had stood, stating, "The Bee will appear this week, as usual." And the Bee was published that week, but not as usual. Cannon and Graves traveled to the nearest printing office in Winthrop, about 20 miles south, where they set the type and printed the Bee using a Washington hand press. On the way back to De Queen, they folded the papers as they waited on the train depot platform and addressed the mailing list while riding on the freight train's caboose. In De Queen they were able to mail the newspapers at an interim post office. By the end of the year, the Bee had built a new printing plant in De Queen to produce the paper locally again.

Soon after the fire, Graves moved to Lockesburg to work for The Lockesburg Enterprise (1???-19??) and Luke Alden Pearre took Graves's place at the Bee. Cannon and Pearre published together for about 15 years, returning to printing an 8-page paper. During this period, the Bee had about 1,000 subscribers in a town of 1,200. In 1909 Cannon and Pearre added a daily edition of the Bee, the De Queen Daily Bee, a 4-page paper released every day except Sundays. The Daily Bee ran concurrently with the De Queen Bee until it was discontinued in 1914. In 1915, Cannon left to serve as the De Queen postmaster, leaving Pearre to run the paper alone for 11 years. In 1926, Pearre, who was in his 60s, sold the Bee to a company composed of Virgil W. St. John, Ernest Warner St. John (publishers of The Mena Star (1898-1904)), D. D. Clement, and E. B. Smith. Smith took over as editor of the Bee.

In 1933, Ray Kimball and Almon Lonzo Kimball purchased the Bee and combined it with their paper, the Sevier County Citizen (which had just absorbed The Horatio Times (1910-19??)), keeping the De Queen Bee name for the weekly paper, and adding the DeQueen Daily Citizen (1933-1942) as a daily paper. Other papers briefly published in De Queen, but the Bee was the only successful, long-running paper, and it is still published today.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051293/.

Des Arc, the first town established in Prairie County, is located on the White River in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Antebellum Des Arc acted as a gateway between Memphis, Tennessee and the rest of Arkansas, and as a principal distribution center for produce and lumber. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran through Des Arc in the late 1850s, which increased the number of people traveling through the area.

The Des Arc Citizen (1854-186?) was the first newspaper in Prairie County, established in September 1854 by John C. Morrill. Published weekly, issues were four pages long and focused on state politics, the Methodist Episcopal Church, agriculture, development projects for railroads and river levees, and news from Memphis. In 1861, a new twice-weekly edition, the Des Arc Semi-Weekly Citizen, was published simultaneously. The new edition was short-lived, and later that same year the newspaper returned to a singular weekly edition called the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (186?-1).

In the lead up to the Civil War, the Des Arc Citizen supported leaving the Union. Disagreeing with secessionist views, Weston H. Rhea created the Constitutional Union (1860-1) in Des Arc and served as both proprietor and editor. The Constitutional Union, whose masthead stated, "The Constitution, the Union, and the Enforcement of the Laws," supported staying in the Union. This four-page weekly paper focused on state and national politics, with articles discussing international opinions on American politics. Recurring features included "Poetical" and "Telegraphic!" sections. The Constitutional Union was short lived, ending after only five months. During the Civil War, Union Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis captured Des Arc, and the town was partially destroyed. TheCitizen suspended publication due to the war.

During the Reconstruction era, the Citizen (1866-7) resumed publication in 1866 with Elijah H. Poe and James H. Balding as proprietors and N.B. Gair as editor. In its first issue on February 20, 1866, the newspaper encouraged the rebuilding of Des Arc and praised the last six months of progress. The newspaper stated, "Many of her old citizens, scattered to the four winds of heaven by the fortunes or misfortunes of the war, are returning to Des Arc, bankrupt as to means, but willing, and anxious to contribute their mite [sic] in rebuilding this once pleasant and lovely town...." In June 1866, the partnership between Poe and Balding was dissolved, and Poe served as sole proprietor until January 1867 when he partnered with Allen C. Mathews. Balding continued as publisher until the end of 1866. In February 1867, the newspaper's name changed to the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (1867-7?).

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87090585/.

Des Arc, the first town established in Prairie County, is located on the White River in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Antebellum Des Arc acted as a gateway between Memphis, Tennessee and the rest of Arkansas, and as a principal distribution center for produce and lumber. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran through Des Arc in the late 1850s, which increased the number of people traveling through the area.

The Des Arc Citizen (1854-186?) was the first newspaper in Prairie County, established in September 1854 by John C. Morrill. Published weekly, issues were four pages long and focused on state politics, the Methodist Episcopal Church, agriculture, development projects for railroads and river levees, and news from Memphis. In 1861, a new twice-weekly edition, the Des Arc Semi-Weekly Citizen, was published simultaneously. The new edition was short-lived, and later that same year the newspaper returned to a singular weekly edition called the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (186?-1).

In the lead up to the Civil War, the Des Arc Citizen supported leaving the Union. Disagreeing with secessionist views, Weston H. Rhea created the Constitutional Union (1860-1) in Des Arc and served as both proprietor and editor. The Constitutional Union, whose masthead stated, "The Constitution, the Union, and the Enforcement of the Laws," supported staying in the Union. This four-page weekly paper focused on state and national politics, with articles discussing international opinions on American politics. Recurring features included "Poetical" and "Telegraphic!" sections. The Constitutional Union was short lived, ending after only five months. During the Civil War, Union Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis captured Des Arc, and the town was partially destroyed. TheCitizen suspended publication due to the war.

During the Reconstruction era, the Citizen (1866-7) resumed publication in 1866 with Elijah H. Poe and James H. Balding as proprietors and N.B. Gair as editor. In its first issue on February 20, 1866, the newspaper encouraged the rebuilding of Des Arc and praised the last six months of progress. The newspaper stated, "Many of her old citizens, scattered to the four winds of heaven by the fortunes or misfortunes of the war, are returning to Des Arc, bankrupt as to means, but willing, and anxious to contribute their mite [sic] in rebuilding this once pleasant and lovely town...." In June 1866, the partnership between Poe and Balding was dissolved, and Poe served as sole proprietor until January 1867 when he partnered with Allen C. Mathews. Balding continued as publisher until the end of 1866. In February 1867, the newspaper's name changed to the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (1867-7?).

Des Arc, the first town established in Prairie County, is located on the White River in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Antebellum Des Arc acted as a gateway between Memphis, Tennessee and the rest of Arkansas, and as a principal distribution center for produce and lumber. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran through Des Arc in the late 1850s, which increased the number of people traveling through the area.

The Des Arc Citizen (1854-186?) was the first newspaper in Prairie County, established in September 1854 by John C. Morrill. Published weekly, issues were four pages long and focused on state politics, the Methodist Episcopal Church, agriculture, development projects for railroads and river levees, and news from Memphis. In 1861, a new twice-weekly edition, the Des Arc Semi-Weekly Citizen, was published simultaneously. The new edition was short-lived, and later that same year the newspaper returned to a singular weekly edition called the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (186?-1).

In the lead up to the Civil War, the Des Arc Citizen supported leaving the Union. Disagreeing with secessionist views, Weston H. Rhea created the Constitutional Union (1860-1) in Des Arc and served as both proprietor and editor. The Constitutional Union, whose masthead stated, "The Constitution, the Union, and the Enforcement of the Laws," supported staying in the Union. This four-page weekly paper focused on state and national politics, with articles discussing international opinions on American politics. Recurring features included "Poetical" and "Telegraphic!" sections. The Constitutional Union was short lived, ending after only five months. During the Civil War, Union Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis captured Des Arc, and the town was partially destroyed. TheCitizen suspended publication due to the war.

During the Reconstruction era, the Citizen (1866-7) resumed publication in 1866 with Elijah H. Poe and James H. Balding as proprietors and N.B. Gair as editor. In its first issue on February 20, 1866, the newspaper encouraged the rebuilding of Des Arc and praised the last six months of progress. The newspaper stated, "Many of her old citizens, scattered to the four winds of heaven by the fortunes or misfortunes of the war, are returning to Des Arc, bankrupt as to means, but willing, and anxious to contribute their mite [sic] in rebuilding this once pleasant and lovely town...." In June 1866, the partnership between Poe and Balding was dissolved, and Poe served as sole proprietor until January 1867 when he partnered with Allen C. Mathews. Balding continued as publisher until the end of 1866. In February 1867, the newspaper's name changed to the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (1867-7?).

Des Arc, the first town established in Prairie County, is located on the White River in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Antebellum Des Arc acted as a gateway between Memphis, Tennessee and the rest of Arkansas, and as a principal distribution center for produce and lumber. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran through Des Arc in the late 1850s, which increased the number of people traveling through the area.

The Des Arc Citizen (1854-186?) was the first newspaper in Prairie County, established in September 1854 by John C. Morrill. Published weekly, issues were four pages long and focused on state politics, the Methodist Episcopal Church, agriculture, development projects for railroads and river levees, and news from Memphis. In 1861, a new twice-weekly edition, the Des Arc Semi-Weekly Citizen, was published simultaneously. The new edition was short-lived, and later that same year the newspaper returned to a singular weekly edition called the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (186?-1).

In the lead up to the Civil War, the Des Arc Citizen supported leaving the Union. Disagreeing with secessionist views, Weston H. Rhea created the Constitutional Union (1860-1) in Des Arc and served as both proprietor and editor. The Constitutional Union, whose masthead stated, "The Constitution, the Union, and the Enforcement of the Laws," supported staying in the Union. This four-page weekly paper focused on state and national politics, with articles discussing international opinions on American politics. Recurring features included "Poetical" and "Telegraphic!" sections. The Constitutional Union was short lived, ending after only five months. During the Civil War, Union Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis captured Des Arc, and the town was partially destroyed. TheCitizen suspended publication due to the war.

During the Reconstruction era, the Citizen (1866-7) resumed publication in 1866 with Elijah H. Poe and James H. Balding as proprietors and N.B. Gair as editor. In its first issue on February 20, 1866, the newspaper encouraged the rebuilding of Des Arc and praised the last six months of progress. The newspaper stated, "Many of her old citizens, scattered to the four winds of heaven by the fortunes or misfortunes of the war, are returning to Des Arc, bankrupt as to means, but willing, and anxious to contribute their mite [sic] in rebuilding this once pleasant and lovely town...." In June 1866, the partnership between Poe and Balding was dissolved, and Poe served as sole proprietor until January 1867 when he partnered with Allen C. Mathews. Balding continued as publisher until the end of 1866. In February 1867, the newspaper's name changed to the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (1867-7?).

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051342/.

Des Arc, the first town established in Prairie County, is located on the White River in the Delta region of eastern Arkansas. Antebellum Des Arc acted as a gateway between Memphis, Tennessee and the rest of Arkansas, and as a principal distribution center for produce and lumber. The Butterfield Overland Mail Company ran through Des Arc in the late 1850s, which increased the number of people traveling through the area.

The Des Arc Citizen (1854-186?) was the first newspaper in Prairie County, established in September 1854 by John C. Morrill. Published weekly, issues were four pages long and focused on state politics, the Methodist Episcopal Church, agriculture, development projects for railroads and river levees, and news from Memphis. In 1861, a new twice-weekly edition, the Des Arc Semi-Weekly Citizen, was published simultaneously. The new edition was short-lived, and later that same year the newspaper returned to a singular weekly edition called the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (186?-1).

In the lead up to the Civil War, the Des Arc Citizen supported leaving the Union. Disagreeing with secessionist views, Weston H. Rhea created the Constitutional Union (1860-1) in Des Arc and served as both proprietor and editor. The Constitutional Union, whose masthead stated, "The Constitution, the Union, and the Enforcement of the Laws," supported staying in the Union. This four-page weekly paper focused on state and national politics, with articles discussing international opinions on American politics. Recurring features included "Poetical" and "Telegraphic!" sections. The Constitutional Union was short lived, ending after only five months. During the Civil War, Union Major General Samuel Ryan Curtis captured Des Arc, and the town was partially destroyed. TheCitizen suspended publication due to the war.

During the Reconstruction era, the Citizen (1866-7) resumed publication in 1866 with Elijah H. Poe and James H. Balding as proprietors and N.B. Gair as editor. In its first issue on February 20, 1866, the newspaper encouraged the rebuilding of Des Arc and praised the last six months of progress. The newspaper stated, "Many of her old citizens, scattered to the four winds of heaven by the fortunes or misfortunes of the war, are returning to Des Arc, bankrupt as to means, but willing, and anxious to contribute their mite [sic] in rebuilding this once pleasant and lovely town...." In June 1866, the partnership between Poe and Balding was dissolved, and Poe served as sole proprietor until January 1867 when he partnered with Allen C. Mathews. Balding continued as publisher until the end of 1866. In February 1867, the newspaper's name changed to the Des Arc Weekly Citizen (1867-7?).

Huttig, in Union County, is in southwestern Arkansas near the border with Louisiana. Most of Union County is forested, and so it follows that Huttig began as a timber company town after the Union Saw Mill Company built a railroad there in 1904. The Frost-Johnson Timber Company built the company town and named it Huttig after industrialist William Huttig, a friend of company president Clarence D. Johnson. Soon after Huttig was built, it had the largest sawmill and was the second largest city in the county until the oil boom in the 1920s. The lumber industry listed Huttig as a model town that was well planned and had many amenities in addition to the sawmill operation. The timber company built segregated houses, schools, stores, and a community house for its timber workers and families. Ownership of the timber company changed throughout the years, but the sawmills remained in operation.

On May 4, 1907, just a few years after the town was created, Charles Arthur Berry published the first issue of the Huttig News. Before starting the Huttig paper, Berry had begun a newspaper in Felsenthal, Arkansas, the Felsenthal Press (1904-19??), and issued it from 1904 to 1905. Felsenthal was also founded in 1904 and is four miles to the northeast of Huttig. Though the two towns were founded in the same year, Huttig was ultimately more successful. A flood in 1906 contributed to the slow growth of Felsenthal, as it halted plans to build a courthouse to serve as center of the judicial district. Felsenthal was even unincorporated in 1911, though it was later reincorporated.

Like many others, Berry was drawn over to Huttig, where he published his new Democratic paper on Saturdays. The News was the first and only newspaper to come out of Huttig. Readers at the time said that it was one of the most popular papers in Arkansas. Berry himself served as president of the Press Association and vice-president of the Arkansas National Editorial Association. While publishing the News, Berry also worked as postmaster for Huttig. In 1921, Berry left the News and Fred Myers Johnson took over. Like Berry, Johnson served as Huttig postmaster. Johnson continued as editor and publisher of the News, and the paper eventually ceased publication in 1955.

Berry seemed to follow the trends of the time, as he continually moved his printing business to the newest thriving town. El Dorado attracted him next due to the oil boom, and in 1921 Berry purchased the El Dorado Daily News (19??-1974) from J. S. Goodman. Others noticed that Berry sold an oil lease that same year for $12,000, and they marveled that he continued working in the newspaper business after acquiring so much money.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051318/.

Ozark, one of the oldest cities in Arkansas, was founded in 1836 in the northwestern part of the state. The city was established at the northernmost bend in the Arkansas River, which creates the southern border of the city. The river gave the city its name, from the French "Aux Arc," which means "at the bend." The city is bordered on the north by the Ozark Mountains and is part of Arkansas Highway 23, also called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway. Ozark was incorporated in 1850 and, along with Charleston, is one of the two county seats in Franklin County.

Ozark opened its first post office in 1837, built a courthouse by 1840, and obtained its first telegraph in 1862 during the Civil War. By 1888, Ozark had a railroad and its first industrial business: a vegetable canning factory. Compared to these early businesses, The Spectator newspaper opened late in the history of Ozark. The Spectator was founded in 1911 by R. H. Burrow, who also owned three other newspapers. Burrow claimed he began running his first paper without any newspaper experience, and he had to learn as he worked. He passed down this knowledge to his daughter, Elizabeth A. Burrow, who eventually became part owner and editor for the Spectator.

The Spectator was published twice per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, which led to its unofficial moniker, the Twice-a-Week Spectator. The paper changed names briefly in 1916 to The Ozark Spectator, when Burrow published the paper with Edward F. Cox. Cox managed the paper while Burrow was busy in Alma, Arkansas working as an editor for a paper there. Cox published the paper on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In 1917, the paper returned to being published solely by Burrow and was again named The Spectator. Although many papers preceded the Spectator's arrival in Ozark, The Spectator is the only paper still in existence from Ozark's early history.

The Spectator published local, national, and international news. The paper published daily schedules for Ozark's four passenger trains and entertainment news about the Ozark Opera House. The Spectator informed its readers of the Democratic nominees for local and national appointment. It reported on major international events, such as World War I, and advertised American war propaganda films. It also published chapters of various novels for readers to follow, along with entertaining fictional stories.

The nationally renowned editor, Elizabeth A. Burrow, worked for the Spectator for 30 years. She reported the news in the local area and gave editorial comment. She held to her beliefs on right and wrong and conveyed them to the Spectator's audience even when her opinions were divisive or unpopular. In 1957 she won a National Editorial Association award for her editorial defending the admission of African Americans to the Ozark high school. She wrote that the Ozark community was responsible for all of its citizens, regardless of color. She described the people protesting about desegregation of the school as "a malignancy worse than my cancer and I wouldn't swap with you." In 1962 Elizabeth Burrow did pass away from cancer, but she left a lasting mark on Ozark through her work at The Spectator.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050371/.

Green Forest, in Carroll County, is in northwest Arkansas along the border with Missouri. By the 1920s, industries in the area included farming, dairy, canning, timber mills, and marble and granite works.

In 1889, Herbert Spencer Holden purchased the Arkansas Tomahawk (1888-1889) newspaper plant in Green Forest and used the equipment to establish The Green Forest Tribune in 1890. Holden published the eight-page paper on Thursdays with no stated political affiliation. In 1891, the paper changed hands to Bertie B. Eslinger and George Camp, who labeled the paper as politically independent. Later that year, Willis Caswell Russell and his son Jesse Lewis Russell took over the paper, beginning the Russell family's long tenure at the Tribune.

The Russells continued the Tribune as a paper with an independent political stance, but they changed it to four-page issues. In 1895, Andrew Jackson Russell, brother of Jesse Russel, took over as editor for their father. Though the Tribune was listed in the newspaper directory as an independent publication, other Arkansas newspapers called the Tribune the leading Republican paper. From 1899 to 1900, Martin Butler Russell, brother of Andrew and Jesse Russell, wrote letters back to his brothers about his service in the Philippine-American War, which they published in the Tribune.

In 1905, the Russells sold the paper to Edward Clarence Cooper, who began publishing the Tribune on Saturdays with a Democratic slant. In 1907, Cooper sold the Tribune back to Jesse Russell, who returned the paper to being politically non-partisan. In 1911, Martin Russell took charge of the paper while Jesse was away temporarily. In a newspaper interview, Martin reminisced about the old newspaper days when there were prolific crimes to write about, such as stagecoach robberies, shootouts, and moonshiners coming to town with barrels of "shine." While in charge of the paper, Martin changed the publication day to Fridays.

Jesse Russell returned to the paper and continued as editor until 1914. When he retired, the Arkansas Democrat (1878-1991) wrote that he was regarded as one of the best newspaper men in the state and the oldest Republican editor.

In 1914, the Tribune was consolidated with the Green Forest Sentinel (1914-1914), after Sentinel owner Charles C. Reed bought the Tribune. The paper continued to publish under the Tribune title, since the Sentinel was just a few months old and did not have a following like the Tribune. The next year, Reed sold the Tribune to Lee Hewitt Smith and Margaret Elizabeth "Margie" Russell Smith, sister of the Russell brothers. Margie Smith continued the family tradition of running the Tribune.

In 1919, the Smith's sold the paper to Ertie Otis Allred, who had J.C. Pinkerton act as editor. This ended the Russell family's reign over the Green Forest Tribune. Allred held the paper for over ten years, and sold it in 1933 to William King Wharton, who continued to publish the paper for decades.

Political divisions formed in the Civil War led to the creation of Boone County in northwestern Arkansas during Reconstruction. In 1869, the Democratic, Confederate leaning area that became Boone County was created by splitting away from Carroll County, which was composed largely of Republican, Union sympathizers. The Boone County seat was formed in 1870 with the merger of two settlements, Crooked Creek and Stiffler Spring. The resulting town was named Harrison after the Union officer who platted it. Harrison became the Boone County seat despite strong opposition from a town a few miles away, the heavily Confederate, Democratic Bellefonte. Bellefonte residents were opposed to Harrison as the county seat because Harrison citizens were not as supportive of the Confederacy and Democratic Party.

This inter-town rivalry eventually led to the creation of the Harrison Times, a newspaper that owed much of its success to the Newman family. In 1869, Thomas Newman was working as a printer in St. Louis, Missouri when he answered the bid for a newspaper person in Harrison. Newman moved to Arkansas and started the Boone County Advocate in 1870 (1870-1872). The Advocate was the first newspaper in Boone County, and a Republican one. Nearby in Bellefonte, James Buford Ford and Adams started the Boone County Record, a Democratic paper, in 1871 (1871-1872). The following year, the Record was consolidated with the Boone County Advocate, into the Advocate and Record, with the Republican Newman as editor and James Henry Robinson as co-publisher. However, within the year the town's combined paper split and the newspaper equipment was divided between Robinson and Newman. Robinson retained the name of the Boone County Record (1873-1???) and resumed publication of a Democratic paper in Bellefonte.

Meanwhile, Newman used his half of the newspaper materials to resume publishing out of Harrison, creating the Highlander in 1873 (1873-1876). The Highlander was a four-page paper published on Saturdays, with an estimated circulation of 400. Within a year, Newman sold the Highlander to Azro Buck Cory to become the first mayor of Harrison. Cory ran the Highlander as a Democratic paper alone until 1876, when James Allan Spradling bought a half interest in the paper and took over as editor. The two renamed the paper the Harrison Times. Later that year, Spradling sold his shares to J. A. Stockton, who soon sold to Robert Shelly Armitage. In 1878, John R. Newman, the son of Thomas Newman, became editor of the Times with Cory. Finally, Cory left the paper he helped name, selling his interest to Hal C. King, who sold his interest in 1884 to Segel Lebow. Eventually Newman became sole owner and editor, working at the Times until his death in 1919. Before learning the printer's trade, Newman had taught instrumental music in Missouri and central Arkansas. During his tenure at the Harrison Times, Newman served as a Captain in the Spanish-American War.

After John Newman's death, his sons took charge of the paper under the heading J. R. Newman's Sons, with Thomas Murphy Newman as acting manager. In 1919, the Times began publishing a daily edition as well as their usual weekly edition. The weekly editions were eventually dropped, but the Times has continued to publish a daily edition to present day.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88051105/.

McCrory, in Woodruff County, lies in the Delta region of the Mississippi River alluvial plain in northeastern Arkansas. The county was named for William Edward Woodruff, founder of the Arkansas Gazette (1819-1836), Arkansas's first newspaper. The area was sparsely populated before 1886, when the Iron Mountain Railroad established a line through northeastern Arkansas, attracting new settlers to the area. McCrory was one of the towns that grew up along the railroad line connecting Little Rock to Memphis, Tennessee. McCrory developed rapidly due to cotton farming, stock raising, and lumber mills. In the early- to mid-1900s McCrory was the commercial hub of Woodruff County. Historians credit Walter Wilson Raney, an enterprising newspaper publisher, with helping shape McCrory into a business center.

In McCrory, Raney began his newspaper career in the printing office of the Woodruff County News (1901-1910), run by Gustave W. Kramer. This began Raney's long newspaper career, though he also served the public in numerous other ways. After working for the Woodruff County News for two years, Raney left to be assistant postmaster. He later purchased interest in the Woodruff County News, which Charles M. James was running at the time. In 1909 he sold his interest and moved to Corning, Arkansas. Raney returned to McCrory just three months later to run the Woodruff County News. Finally, Raney started his own paper, the McCrory Enterprise (1911-19??), in 1911, working as the publisher and editor.

After Raney discontinued the Enterprise, there were no other papers in McCrory. It seems the people of McCrory wanted Raney to continue to be the voice of their city and county, though. Raney founded the Home News in McCrory in 1915, establishing the News as a Democratic paper published on Fridays. Raney printed in the masthead that the paper was "edited in the interest of McCrory and Woodruff County" and wrote in the first issue that citizens had solicited him to "give us a home paper." In 1918, Raney installed the first and only typesetting machine in the county to print the News.

In addition to his newspaper publications, Raney served as mayor of McCrory, county judge, state representative, and state senator. Dallas Tabor Herndon, first director of the Arkansas History Commission and author of the Centennial History of Arkansas, wrote that Raney was "a most stalwart champion of the Democratic principles." Raney inherited his father's undertaking business, which he ran as the only licensed embalmer in Woodruff County. He was the first person to have a motor hearse in the county. Raney also owned and managed the Jewel theatre, a moving-picture house, and the only billiard hall in town. These businesses, along with Raney's newspapers, contributed to the development of McCrory and its establishment as a business center.

Raney ended the Home News in 1922. The next year he started the Arkansas Central Leader (1923-1960), which became his longest-running paper.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050115/.

Hot Springs is the Garland County seat on the western edge of central Arkansas. It is uniquely positioned on the Ouachita River within the Ouachita Mountains, an area known for its natural hot springs. In the early 1800s, tourism to the hot springs took off, bringing people from across the state and country to the area. In 1832, Congress set aside the land that became Hot Springs National Park, marking the springs as federal land and preventing private ownership. Hot Springs city was incorporated in 1851, by which time there were rows of hotels and bath houses, along with other businesses set up to support the health tourism industry. Many came to the hot springs because of advertising that the waters had health benefits. Hot Springs briefly served as the state capital during the Civil War, though it did not see much of the fighting. After the war, the city offered employment for Black Arkansans and segregated bathhouses for their health. The city saw a rise in illegal gambling during this period. Beginning in the 1920s, the city was a hub for gangsters and mafia activity.

In 1898, 19-year-old Edward Swinburne Lockhart, Sr. founded the Hot Springs Echo in Hot Springs National Park. The masthead described it as the "leading secular race journal in Arkansas." The Echo was a four-page, Republican paper published every Saturday to serve the Black community. The Echo was printed using a second-hand press and a few cases of type by a man who had no prior experience in running a business or printing press. By 1900, the paper had a circulation of under 1,000.

In 1910, Lockhart started the Arkansas Review Publishing Company as a general publishing and bookbinding business. Into the 1920s, the Echo was variously listed as the Arkansas Review in newspaper and city directories; however, the newspaper masthead remained the same and continued to be published as the Hot Springs Echo.

In 1913, Lockhart lost the newspaper plant and all his worldly possessions in the great Hot Springs fire on September 5. The fire was one of the worst in Arkansas history, destroying twenty acres and leaving many homeless. But Lockhart "kept hustling" and was able to rebuild and continue publishing the Echo, the "only live Negro paper in the section."

The Echo focused on local news and social issues relevant to the Black community. The paper covered discrimination and racial violence, such as lynchings and race riots in Arkansas. It reported the Elaine Massacre in Phillips County in 1919, the deadliest race riot in Arkansas and possibly the entire US. On October 19, 1919, Lockhart wrote about how easy it was for gossip to inflame a community, as "whites whose minds are already impregnated with the seeds of prejudice begin to murmur." He counseled that mob violence should be stopped and the justice system left to take care of criminal matters.

Lockhart repeatedly used the Echo to advocate for change and equality. He wrote articles about how the Black community wanted fair and equal rights and opportunities, like employment that paid enough to support themselves, owning property, having good schools, and justice in the law "instead of by lynchers." The paper looked for support from white Arkansans, writing on September 20, 1919, "that the fair-minded element of white people are willing that the Negro should have these things and that with the friendly cooperation of the responsible classes within both races in seeking to bring about such conditions…there would be no need for the Negro to seek better conditions elsewhere and that the Southern Negro and the Southern white man would be able to dwell together in peace and in the spirit of mutual helpfulness."

Lockhart was a pioneer for Black journalism in the southwestern US at a time when there were few other Black newspapers in the South. He started the Echo with no money and little encouragement, and he cultivated it into an influential paper for the Black community in Arkansas and surrounding states. Lockhart ran the Echo until his death in 1941, at which time the paper also ceased.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Echo. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051273/

Forrest City is the St. Francis County seat on the eastern edge of Arkansas. It is in the flat Delta region of the state, formed by the lowlands of the Mississippi River. Forrest City was built on the high ground of Crowley's Ridge, a series of hills running north-south through the county. Before the Civil War, the area was known for its cotton plantations worked by large numbers of enslaved Black people. After the war, many of the newly freed people turned to sharecropping. By that point, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) had been established in Arkansas. Ministers from the AME Church began preaching to Black Arkansans in Helena (Phillips County) and Little Rock (Pulaski County) after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

In early 1896, a group of AME pastors met in Phillips County to discuss church affairs and how to uplift the Black community in Arkansas. They decided one of the ways to do this was to start a newspaper that would encourage the Black community while simultaneously promoting the mission of the AME church. They chose Forrest City as the center of operations since several of the pastors led churches there. At the head of the group was Reverend H. G. Harrison, who chose fellow AME pastors to assist him with the newspaper. The pastors established the Forrest City Herald Publishing Company with John Jones as president, Harrison as managing editor, William S. Sherrill and R. R. Block as associate editors, and A. Hawkins as treasurer. They published the first issue of the Forrest City Herald on Leap Day, February 29, 1896, and went on to print their 4-page paper every Saturday.

The Herald had the support of the existing paper in town. The Forrest City Times (1871-1919) editors wrote on March 6, 1896, after they received the first issue of the Herald that it was "a very creditable paper, and we wish our colored friends much success."

On the Herald's masthead was printed: "Devoted to Religious and Literary Work. Motto: Never Give Up." In the inaugural issue, the editors wrote that they were not publishing the paper to pick a fight with any denomination, political party, or race. They believed "in cultivating a good disposition to all mankind."

The Herald became an outlet for news about the AME church. Harrison and Block both wrote columns related to religious matters, including sermons and information about church meetings. The paper also gave space to other Black ministers from eastern Arkansas to print sermons and letters related to current events in the Black community. Some of those current events included the burgeoning Back to Africa movement. In the 1890s, several members of the Black community, concerned about the rise of Jim Crow laws and the gradual stripping away of political rights, began to organize groups to make the move to Liberia. Members of Harrison's family were leaders of the movement in Forrest City. As a result of his close ties to the movement, Harrison printed numerous stories discussing what prospective emigres would need to know before undertaking the journey. He also published letters from people who were already settled there.

As part of its literary focus and work for the "betterment of the African race," as described by the Forrest City Times' March 6, 1896 review of the paper, the Herald included a correspondent school program and at-home review lessons. The school lessons included grammar, orthography, arithmetic, history, and physiology. There were also editorials on the importance of education, writing that children should learn something every day to become knowledgeable adults with a chance at a better life. In addition to the religious and educational content, the Herald also included local, state, and national news.

In the Herald's first issue, the editors gave the disclaimer that though the members of the Herald Publishing Company were young, they had calculated the cost of running the paper and had plans to stay. The Herald continued to be published until at least November 1898, but it is unknown when the paper ceased publication. In 1900, Harrison left Forrest City to run a church in Pine Bluff.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Herald. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community's written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title visit, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn90050374/.

Judsonia is in White County, Arkansas, along the lower Little Red River, in the northeast central region of the state. The southern half of modern Judsonia was originally a separate town called Prospect Bluff, which was situated the first highland bank on the northern side of the river. In 1870 the name Judsonia first appeared, and the town was incorporated ten days after Prospect Bluff in 1872. In 1874 the two towns chose to merge into one. That same year, the first strawberries were harvested, and they quickly became the dominant cash crop.

Edgar Curtis Kinney founded the Judsonia Advance in 1878. It began as an 8-page paper issued every Wednesday. Originally listed as politically neutral, the Advance changed its political affiliation multiple times during its run. The Advance advertised as a newspaper devoted to religious, educational, literary, and local matters and its motto was "Overcome prejudice. Let free thought and free speech be encouraged."

In 1886, Kinney sold the paper to Berton W. Briggs. Berton and his brother Flavel G. Briggs ran the Advance as a politically independent newspaper under their publishing group, the Briggs Brothers. They published the paper until 1889, at which time they sold it back to Kinney. Kinney ran the paper variously as Republican and independent.

Edgar Kinney was raised in New York and worked for the circus, traveling around the United States before settling in Arkansas. After moving to Arkansas, Kinney was heavily involved in the Arkansas State Horticultural Society and fruit farming, as was popular in Judsonia. He was an active Republican and president of the first Republican Convention held in White County. He also served as mayor of Judsonia. In the late 1800s he was the president of the Arkansas Press Association. One of his sons, Gilbert Earle Kinney, learned the newspaper trade from him and took over the Judsonia Advance in 1902. Around this time, the Advance's title changed officially to the Judsonia Weekly Advance.

Gilbert Kinney ran the Weekly Advance as a Republican paper until 1908. In 1909, O. R. Rich bought the paper and continued running it with a Republican perspective until 1914. Ralph C. Mann, Sr. owned the paper in 1915 and ran it as a Democratic paper until 1920. After purchasing the paper, Mann installed new printing machinery, including a cylinder press and linotype machine, and was able to increase his subscribers by the hundreds. In 1921, Mann changed the Weekly Advance to an independent affiliation, and in 1922 began publishing on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays. Mann's final change was a major one: he combined the Advance with The Bald Knob Eagle (1921-1922) to form the White County Record, published by the Mann Printing Company. The White County Record continued to circulate into the 21^st century.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn91050157/.

The Little River News is located in Ashdown, Little River County, Arkansas, which is in the southwest corner of the state. This agricultural community has rich and fertile land, but its main industry is timber. Early settlers set up timber mills and, with the establishment of the railroad, transportation of goods moved from the river to the more efficient train. The city continued to grow and modernize with electricity, telephones, and gas services being installed across the county. Because of its position between Little River and the Red River, Ashdown has continued to attract industrial and manufacturing businesses, creating a thriving economy.

The Little River News was originally founded in Richmond, Arkansas, in 1888 by W. F. Joyner, with support from the Democrats of the county, as a paper directly opposing another local paper, The Pilot, which was sympathetic to the Populist Party. The Little River News has been credited by Little River County historian Bill Beasley with having "played a great part in defeating the Populist Party in Little River County." R. P. West purchased the paper and moved it from Richmond to Ashdown in 1892, where the name changed to the Ashdown Herald. In 1897, brothers O. T. and F. M. Graves purchased the Herald and changed the name back to the original Little River News. The brothers served as publishers for many years, and in 1908 the paper changed from a weekly to a semi-weekly publication. Before moving to Ashdown and purchasing the paper with his brother, O. T. Graves was in partnership with J. L. Cannon, and served alongside Cannon as editor and publisher of The De Queen Bee in Sevier County, Arkansas. After spending two years in Kansas City, O. T. Graves returned to Ashdown, and in partnership with L. E. Quinn, purchased The Little River News. He served as manager and editor of the paper. In 1912 Quinn retired, selling his interest to F. M. Graves who, once again, shared ownership of the press with his brother.

Today, The Little River News is still in production and is considered the oldest business institution in Little River County. In 1975 The Foreman Sun (1898-1974) consolidated with the Little River News and is currently published weekly on Thursdays.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050316/.

In late-nineteenth-century Arkansas, women's voting rights gained traction as one of the leading political issues. Little Rock quickly became the hub of the state's suffrage movement, since it was the state capital and Pulaski County seat, making it the center of the state both politically and geographically. The first major publication to advocate for women's suffrage in Arkansas was the Ladies' Little Rock Journal, started by Mary Ann Webster Loughborough in 1884. The Journal was also the first Arkansas newspaper started by a woman and written for a female audience.

Before launching her newspaper, Mary Ann Loughborough had published a popular book of her first-hand experience at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War. Her husband, James Moore Loughborough, served as a major in the Confederate Army, and Mary Ann and their daughter Jean moved with him to his various duty stations. Mary Ann kept a diary during the Vicksburg siege, which she later turned into the book My Cave Life in Vicksburg, published in 1864. After the Civil War, the Loughboroughs moved to Little Rock, where James died in 1876.

In 1884 Mary Ann Loughborough launched her newspaper, first publishing the Ladies' Little Rock Journal as part of another local newspaper, the Rural and Workman (1884-1???), a paper for farmers, mechanics, and workmen. By August 1884, she moved to publishing the Journal as a stand-alone paper, rearranging the title to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal. The Journal was a lengthy publication, typically running at 12 or more pages, issued every Saturday. Loughborough had several women writing for the paper, including her daughter, Jean Moore Loughborough, and Ellen Maria Harrell Cantrell. The Journal was unique among newspapers in the South for focusing not only on women's concerns, but also advocating for political issues like women's suffrage at a time when many were against women's voting rights.

The Journal's name changes over the years reflected its growth and increased reach, progressing from the Ladies' Little Rock Journal to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal to the Arkansas Ladies' Journal, and finally the Southern Ladies' Journal. Along with the expanded coverage indicated by the name change to the Southern Ladies' Journal in 1886, Loughborough planned to expand the paper itself by increasing the number of pages while publishing it twice a month rather than every week. However, the Journal's run ended unexpectedly in 1887 after her sudden illness and death.

Despite its early end, Loughborough's newspaper inspired the opening of the Woman's Chronicle (1888-1???), the next year. Catherine Campbell Cuningham, Mary Burt Brooks, and Haryot Holt Cahoon created the Chronicle to continue Loughborough's work for the women of the state. In its inaugural issue, it reported that the Journal had died with Loughborough, and they hoped to fill the void left behind so that the "daughters of Arkansas … should have and take pride in a paper all their own." The Chronicle, like the Journal, was a strong supporter of women's suffrage. Unfortunately, like the Southern Ladies' Journal, the Chronicle lasted less than five years before it ceased publication due to Cuningham's ill health.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050097/.

Situated in central Arkansas, Little Rock is home to the Pulaski County seat and state capital. From the late 1800s to the mid-1900s, West 9^th Street was the center of the Black community in Little Rock. Due to segregation laws after the Civil War, Black Arkansans had to create their own businesses, churches, and social organizations. These were concentrated on 9^th Street, which was surrounded by Black neighborhoods. Included among the groups on 9^th Street was the Mosaic Templars of America (MTA), a Black fraternal organization. Originally created to help its community by offering insurance, it later expanded and established a bank and loan and a hospital.

William Augustus Singfield, born in Georgia in 1875, moved to Arkansas around 1898. He quickly came to prominence in Little Rock's Black community, rising to the position of vice-president of the Black-owned Capital City Savings Bank on 9^th Street. Singfield later began a real estate business, operating a printing plant behind his real estate office on 9^th Street, where he founded the Little Rock Reporter in 1901. The Reporter was a Republican newspaper published every Saturday. It printed a mix of local and national news, with a focus on content relevant to the Black community, including about lynchings and the struggle to provide education for Black Arkansans.

In Little Rock Singfield met another young entrepreneur, John Hamilton McConico. McConico was born in Alabama in 1877, where he later studied and began work in the printing trade in college. Once he gained enough experience, he worked part time as a printer to pay for his college expenses. Before graduation, McConico earned a position at the Atlanta Appeal newspaper in Georgia, working there from 1898 to 1899. He left the Appeal to establish a paper for the Republican Party, the Advance, which he published out of his hometown of Livingston, Alabama for about a year. The same year Singfield started the Reporter in Little Rock, McConico moved to the city to serve on the faculty of Arkansas Baptist College. McConico could not stay away from the newspaper business, and in 1903 he resigned from the college and bought half interest in the Reporter, joining Singfield. In 1904, Singfield left his interests in the paper to McConico after buying a farm and granite quarry. McConico continued running the paper for years, bringing on others to help with the business and taking on work as a bank teller at the Capital City Savings Bank.

The Blue Book of Little Rock and Argenta, Arkansas (Woods, Elias McSails; Little Rock: Central Printing Co., 1907) described McConico's time at the Reporter as "some of the best work of his prolific career. His wide-awake, burning and uncompromising editorials are household treasures throughout the Southwest."

In 1905 McConico hired D. M. Wells, of Tennessee, to manage the printing business. Wells had a degree in printing and had previously managed the News Enterprise in Birmingham, Alabama. He had also been foreman at the Sledge & Wells Printing Company in Memphis, Tennessee, a white-owned company. Wells worked at the Reporter for a year, and then left to start his own printing business on 9^th Street.

McConico had also brought on Charles P. King by 1905, and McConico and King ran the paper together until they closed it in 1906. Afterward, McConico began working at the Mosaic Templars, where he eventually became the National Grand Auditor of the organization. In 1913 McConico was the target of an assassin, along with the national grand master of the Mosaic Templars who was killed in the attack. McConico, however, was able to fight off and disarm the assassin. McConico was active in the early civil rights movement, along with the other previous Reporter publisher, Singfield. In 1918, Singfield helped found the Little Rock branch of the NAACP, and McConico became the first president of the branch.

As of this writing, there is only one known surviving issue of the Reporter. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community's written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title visit, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn92050009/.

The Conway Log Cabin (189?-1901) and succeeding Log Cabin Democrat (1901-82) were printed in Conway, the county seat of Faulkner County in central Arkansas. Faulkner County was formed in 1873 as one of nine counties established during Reconstruction. Named after Colonel Sanford Faulkner, composer of "The Arkansas Traveler," the county consists of river valleys, hills, and prairie lands in the north.

The Log Cabin (1879-8?) was created by Abel F. Livingston in 1879, and named after the Whig political party symbol. In the 1880s and 1890s, the newspaper changed ownership several times before John W. Underhill resumed full control of the paper in the late 1890s and changed its name to the Conway Log Cabin (189?-1901). The Cabin, along with other local Conway newspapers, was published by the Underhill's Conway Printing Company. Originally Republican in its political views, the newspaper had become Democratic when Underhill first took control of it in the 1880s. The Conway Log Cabin focused on local and national news with a "News of the World" section, and covered the placement of the cornerstone of the new state capitol on November 17, 1900. On June 19, 1900, a fire destroyed the Conway Printing Company plant, including the equipment used to publish the Conway Log Cabin and the Conway Democrat (1888-1901). The publishing company recovered quickly and bought new supplies in St. Louis, Missouri.

In September 1901, the Conway Log Cabin and the Conway Democrat consolidated into the weekly Log Cabin Democrat (1901-82). After Underhill died in 1906, his stepson Francis Edward "Frank" Robins, Sr. became the editor and later bought the plant. The Robins family was involved with the newspaper for five generations. A daily edition of the Log Cabin Democrat (1908-current) was established on September 14, 1908, and is published to this day. Both the weekly and daily editions focused on national and international news. The paper covered the First World War in great detail, and published articles of interest such as "From a Nurse in Warring Germany." The newspapers also kept up with local and state news, such as the debate over wet and dry counties. The colleges in Conway were of particular interest, including the Arkansas State Normal College, now the University of Central Arkansas; Hendrix College; and the Central Baptist College for Women, now Central Baptist College.

The Conway Log Cabin (189?-1901) and succeeding Log Cabin Democrat (1901-82) were printed in Conway, the county seat of Faulkner County in central Arkansas. Faulkner County was formed in 1873 as one of nine counties established during Reconstruction. Named after Colonel Sanford Faulkner, composer of "The Arkansas Traveler," the county consists of river valleys, hills, and prairie lands in the north.

The Log Cabin (1879-8?) was created by Abel F. Livingston in 1879, and named after the Whig political party symbol. In the 1880s and 1890s, the newspaper changed ownership several times before John W. Underhill resumed full control of the paper in the late 1890s and changed its name to the Conway Log Cabin (189?-1901). The Cabin, along with other local Conway newspapers, was published by the Underhill's Conway Printing Company. Originally Republican in its political views, the newspaper had become Democratic when Underhill first took control of it in the 1880s. The Conway Log Cabin focused on local and national news with a "News of the World" section, and covered the placement of the cornerstone of the new state capitol on November 17, 1900. On June 19, 1900, a fire destroyed the Conway Printing Company plant, including the equipment used to publish the Conway Log Cabin and the Conway Democrat (1888-1901). The publishing company recovered quickly and bought new supplies in St. Louis, Missouri.

In September 1901, the Conway Log Cabin and the Conway Democrat consolidated into the weekly Log Cabin Democrat (1901-82). After Underhill died in 1906, his stepson Francis Edward "Frank" Robins, Sr. became the editor and later bought the plant. The Robins family was involved with the newspaper for five generations. A daily edition of the Log Cabin Democrat (1908-current) was established on September 14, 1908, and is published to this day. Both the weekly and daily editions focused on national and international news. The paper covered the First World War in great detail, and published articles of interest such as "From a Nurse in Warring Germany." The newspapers also kept up with local and state news, such as the debate over wet and dry counties. The colleges in Conway were of particular interest, including the Arkansas State Normal College, now the University of Central Arkansas; Hendrix College; and the Central Baptist College for Women, now Central Baptist College.

Malvern, a town in southwestern Arkansas, is the Hot Spring County seat. Hot Spring County was created in 1829 from land originally part of Clark County. In 1873, Garland County was created using Hot Spring County lands, and it took with it the city of Hot Springs and all the natural springs from which the county had taken its name except for one. Though Hot Spring County no longer encompasses many springs, it does have plentiful mineral deposits that are important to local economies.

Incorporated as a town in 1876, Malvern was established in 1873 as a railway station for the Cairo and Fulton Railroad. It served as a transfer point from stagecoaches to train, moving goods and people along to Hot Springs and other cities. Malvern grew rapidly due to the railroad, and the county seat was moved from Rockport to Malvern in 1878. Malvern became a brick manufacturing center, with several brick plants operating in the area using the abundant clay deposits to manufacture bricks. In the 1920's, Acme Brick Company took over one of the local brick manufacturers. Clem Bottling Works was another industrial plant in Malvern, established in 1907 to manufacture and bottle soda.

In 1916, Julian Heard Beerstecher and his wife Kate Brice Beerstecher moved to Malvern and founded the Malvern Daily Record. It began as a four-page paper and eventually grew to an average of seven pages. The Beerstechers published the paper every day except Sundays. The Record was Democratic and focused on local community news, but it also reported some national and international events.

Before moving to Malvern, Julian Beerstecher worked at The Arkansas Gazette (1889-1991) and then as printing clerk in the state auditor's office. Beerstecher was an active Democrat and prominent in Malvern civic life. While publishing the Record, he also worked as the Malvern city clerk and later served as president of the Arkansas Press Association. In December 1916, Beerstecher leased the Malvern Times-Journal (1913-1923), and briefly ran both the Times-Journal and Daily Record. In 1947, the Beerstechers remodeled an office building and purchased a new typesetting machine for their printing business. Julian Beerstecher worked on the Record until his death in 1948.

After Beerstecher's death, his wife and daughters owned and operated the Record, with Kate Beerstecher acting as publisher, Frances A. Beerstecher as editor, and Alix Beerstecher Butler as business manager. Kate Beerstecher was a charter member of the Arkansas Newspaper Women's Association (now the Arkansas Press Women) established in 1949. The Record won third place in a national competition for the editorials written by Frances Beerstecher. When Kate Beerstecher died in 1967, her daughters continued running the paper. The next year, the sisters retired and sold the paper to William "Bill" Robert Whitehead, Sr. and Ray Kimball. In 1969 the Record changed to Tuesday through Saturday publications. The paper is currently owned by Horizon Publications, Inc.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85032972/.

Malvern, the Hot Spring County seat, is located on the Ouachita River in southwestern Arkansas. In 1829, the territorial legislature created Hot Spring County out of land from Clark County. Situated southeast of the Ouachita National Forest, Malvern lies on a geologic fault line, resulting in a variety of rock types and the natural hot springs for which it was named. However, in 1873, the creation of Garland County took land from Hot Spring County, leaving it with only one hot spring near Magnet Cove.

In 1873, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad established the railroad station that grew into the city of Malvern. Malvern was incorporated in 1876 and became the county seat in 1878. Malvern's economy benefitted from access to the railroad as well as the abundant mineral and agricultural resources nearby. It went on to be known as the "Brick Capital of the World" because local companies used the abundant clay for brick production. One of the earliest mass producers of brick in the area was the Atchison Brick Company, started in the early 1890s.

In 1892, Samuel Henry Emerson created The Times-Journal by consolidating The Arkansas Times (1892-1893) and The Arkansas State Journal (1888-1893) in Malvern. The Times-Journal was a Democratic paper published once a week with a circulation of over 400 people. Over the years, the title alternated between The Times-Journal and the Malvern Times=Journal.

Prior to his newspaper work, Emerson had enlisted as a Confederate soldier in 1861 at the age of 14. He went on to serve in many of the major Civil War battles under Robert E. Lee. After moving to Malvern, Emerson owned the first dry goods store in the area. When Malvern was incorporated in 1876, Emerson won the city's first mayoral election. He also served as postmaster and representative for the county legislature. Emerson worked at The Times-Journal until 1901, when he sold it to Claude Mann. In 1911, Emerson bought the Malvern Meteor (1911-1932), stating he missed working in the newspaper business after selling The Times-Journal a decade earlier.

Mann took over the Times-Journal in 1901, by which point the paper had over 800 subscribers. Mann edited and published the paper for decades. Like Emerson, he was also active in political and civic life. Mann served as a member of the state legislature, acted as secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee of Hot Spring County, and became a member on the Board of Election Commissioners. In Malvern, Mann was the City Recorder, postmaster, and mayor. In 1915, Mann was elected president of the Arkansas Press Association. While president, he endorsed women's suffrage and helped the Association create a suffrage resolution. In 1922, Mann was one of the founding members of the Malvern Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chapter.

In 1932, Mann purchased the Malvern Meteor and consolidated it with the Times Journal to form the Meteor Journal (1932-1988). He published the Meteor Journal until his death in 1938.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051241/. 

Malvern, the Hot Spring County seat, is located on the Ouachita River in southwestern Arkansas. In 1829, the territorial legislature created Hot Spring County out of land from Clark County. Situated southeast of the Ouachita National Forest, Malvern lies on a geologic fault line, resulting in a variety of rock types and the natural hot springs for which it was named. However, in 1873, the creation of Garland County took land from Hot Spring County, leaving it with only one hot spring near Magnet Cove.

In 1873, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad established the railroad station that grew into the city of Malvern. Malvern was incorporated in 1876 and became the county seat in 1878. Malvern's economy benefitted from access to the railroad as well as the abundant mineral and agricultural resources nearby. It went on to be known as the "Brick Capital of the World" because local companies used the abundant clay for brick production. One of the earliest mass producers of brick in the area was the Atchison Brick Company, started in the early 1890s.

In 1892, Samuel Henry Emerson created The Times-Journal by consolidating The Arkansas Times (1892-1893) and The Arkansas State Journal (1888-1893) in Malvern. The Times-Journal was a Democratic paper published once a week with a circulation of over 400 people. Over the years, the title alternated between The Times-Journal and the Malvern Times Journal.

Prior to his newspaper work, Emerson had enlisted as a Confederate soldier in 1861 at the age of 14. He went on to serve in many of the major Civil War battles under Robert E. Lee. After moving to Malvern, Emerson owned the first dry goods store in the area. When Malvern was incorporated in 1876, Emerson won the city's first mayoral election. He also served as postmaster and representative for the county legislature. Emerson worked at The Times-Journal until 1901, when he sold it to Claude Mann. In 1911, Emerson bought the Malvern Meteor (1911-1932), stating he missed working in the newspaper business after selling The Times-Journal a decade earlier.

Mann took over the Times-Journal in 1901, by which point the paper had over 800 subscribers. Mann edited and published the paper for decades. Like Emerson, he was also active in political and civic life. Mann served as a member of the state legislature, acted as secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee of Hot Spring County, and became a member on the Board of Election Commissioners. In Malvern, Mann was the City Recorder, postmaster, and mayor. In 1915, Mann was elected president of the Arkansas Press Association. While president, he endorsed women's suffrage and helped the Association create a suffrage resolution. In 1922, Mann was one of the founding members of the Malvern Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chapter.

In 1932, Mann purchased the Malvern Meteor and consolidated it with the Times Journal to form the Meteor Journal (1932-1988). He published the Meteor Journal until his death in 1938.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051241/. 

The city of Mena lies in Polk County, Arkansas in the southwestern part of the state along the Oklahoma border. Mena is a popular tourist destination in the Ouachita National Forest for the Talimena Scenic Drive and Queen Wilhelmina State Park. It is part of the socio-economic region of Ark-La-Tex (which includes sections of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas). Mena was founded in 1896 as a stop along the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad (later the Kansas City Southern Railway) developed by Arthur Stillwell. In 1898 the Polk County seat was moved from Dallas to Mena. Mena was advertised as a health spa city, though the main industries were timber, agriculture, and mineral extraction.

In 1896 Andrew Warner St. John established The Mena Weekly Star as one of the first newspapers in Mena. The paper's first publishing office was a small 16 x 24 foot building, which was a generous size for a city just-established in which many people were still living in tents. The office had a Fairhaven press, an 8 x 12 foot jobber, and a good supply of type. The Star was published every Wednesday by A. W. St. John & Sons. Before moving to Mena, Andrew St. John worked at the Carthage Evening Press (1891-1966) in Carthage, Missouri for about 16 years. At the Star, St. John worked with his younger son Roy Robert St. John. The Mena Weekly Star continued under that name until 1898, at which time it changed to The Mena Star. The Mena Star was published every Wednesday, then in 1899 it changed to Thursday publication. In 1904 the paper returned to its original name, The Mena Weekly Star, and continued to be published every Thursday.

In 1907, Andrew St. John died and his older son, Virgil W. St. John, joined his brother Roy St. John at the paper. Virgil had previously been living in Kansas City, Missouri, where he had worked at the Kansas City Journal (1897-1928). Upon his return to Mena, the Star was published by A. W. St. John's Sons. In 1911, the St. John family created the Star Publishing Company, which included Virgil St. John's son, Ernest Warner St. John. The next year, Virgil St. John bought out his brother, and in 1920 he became the sole owner and editor. The paper continued until 1977.

The Star was an independent newspaper, though it leaned toward a democratic position in reporting local and international news. In 1914, the Department of Journalism at the University of Oregon listed the Star as one of the best country weeklies in the United States. In 1921, the paper was honored again, this time by the Arkansas Press Association, as one of the top county weeklies of Arkansas based on news and editorial content. The Arkansas University Department of Journalism followed with the same accolade in 1922.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051214/.

The city of Mena lies in Polk County, Arkansas in the southwestern part of the state along the Oklahoma border. Mena is a popular tourist destination in the Ouachita National Forest for the Talimena Scenic Drive and Queen Wilhelmina State Park. It is part of the socio-economic region of Ark-La-Tex (which includes sections of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas). Mena was founded in 1896 as a stop along the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad (later the Kansas City Southern Railway) developed by Arthur Stillwell. In 1898 the Polk County seat was moved from Dallas to Mena. Mena was advertised as a health spa city, though the main industries were timber, agriculture, and mineral extraction.

 In 1896 Andrew Warner St. John established The Mena Weekly Star as one of the first newspapers in Mena. The paper's first publishing office was a small 16 x 24 foot building, which was a generous size for a city just-established in which many people were still living in tents. The office had a Fairhaven press, an 8 x 12 foot jobber, and a good supply of type. The Star was published every Wednesday by A. W. St. John & Sons. Before moving to Mena, Andrew St. John worked at the Carthage Evening Press (1891-1966) in Carthage, Missouri for about 16 years. At the Star, St. John worked with his younger son Roy Robert St. John. The Mena Weekly Star continued under that name until 1898, at which time it changed to The Mena Star. The Mena Star was published every Wednesday, then in 1899 it changed to Thursday publication. In 1904 the paper returned to its original name, The Mena Weekly Star, and continued to be published every Thursday.

In 1907, Andrew St. John died and his older son, Virgil W. St. John, joined his brother Roy St. John at the paper. Virgil had previously been living in Kansas City, Missouri, where he had worked at the Kansas City Journal (1897-1928). Upon his return to Mena, the Star was published by A. W. St. John's Sons. In 1911, the St. John family created the Star Publishing Company, which included Virgil St. John's son, Ernest Warner St. John. The next year, Virgil St. John bought out his brother, and in 1920 he became the sole owner and editor. The paper continued until 1977.

The Star was an independent newspaper, though it leaned toward a democratic position in reporting local and international news. In 1914, the Department of Journalism at the University of Oregon listed the Star as one of the best country weeklies in the United States. In 1921, the paper was honored again, this time by the Arkansas Press Association, as one of the top county weeklies of Arkansas based on news and editorial content. The Arkansas University Department of Journalism followed with the same accolade in 1922.

The city of Mena lies in Polk County, Arkansas in the southwestern part of the state along the Oklahoma border. Mena is a popular tourist destination in the Ouachita National Forest for the Talimena Scenic Drive and Queen Wilhelmina State Park. It is part of the socio-economic region of Ark-La-Tex (which includes sections of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas). Mena was founded in 1896 as a stop along the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad (later the Kansas City Southern Railway) developed by Arthur Stillwell. In 1898 the Polk County seat was moved from Dallas to Mena. Mena was advertised as a health spa city, though the main industries were timber, agriculture, and mineral extraction.

In 1896 Andrew Warner St. John established The Mena Weekly Star as one of the first newspapers in Mena. The paper's first publishing office was a small 16 x 24 foot building, which was a generous size for a city just-established in which many people were still living in tents. The office had a Fairhaven press, an 8 x 12 foot jobber, and a good supply of type. The Star was published every Wednesday by A. W. St. John & Sons. Before moving to Mena, Andrew St. John worked at the Carthage Evening Press (1891-1966) in Carthage, Missouri for about 16 years. At the Star, St. John worked with his younger son Roy Robert St. John. The Mena Weekly Star continued under that name until 1898, at which time it changed to The Mena Star. The Mena Star was published every Wednesday, then in 1899 it changed to Thursday publication. In 1904 the paper returned to its original name, The Mena Weekly Star, and continued to be published every Thursday.

In 1907, Andrew St. John died and his older son, Virgil W. St. John, joined his brother Roy St. John at the paper. Virgil had previously been living in Kansas City, Missouri, where he had worked at the Kansas City Journal (1897-1928). Upon his return to Mena, the Star was published by A. W. St. John's Sons. In 1911, the St. John family created the Star Publishing Company, which included Virgil St. John's son, Ernest Warner St. John. The next year, Virgil St. John bought out his brother, and in 1920 he became the sole owner and editor. The paper continued until 1977.

The Star was an independent newspaper, though it leaned toward a democratic position in reporting local and international news. In 1914, the Department of Journalism at the University of Oregon listed the Star as one of the best country weeklies in the United States. In 1921, the paper was honored again, this time by the Arkansas Press Association, as one of the top county weeklies of Arkansas based on news and editorial content. The Arkansas University Department of Journalism followed with the same accolade in 1922.

Monticello is the largest town in southeastern Arkansas. It was founded in 1849 to house the county seat of the newly formed Drew County. The town name was likely chosen after Thomas Jefferson's Virginia estate. Monticello built a courthouse in 1851 and was incorporated in 1852; multiple churches, academies, public buildings, and services soon followed. The earliest newspaper was The Sage of Monticello (1857-186?), a reference to Thomas Jefferson. During the Civil War, there were three minor skirmishes in Monticello when Union forces raided the town in search of supplies, artillery, and Confederate soldiers. In 1880, the Little Rock, Mississippi River, and Texas Railroad (later the Iron Mountain Railroad) built a track through town. In the early 1900s, cotton gins, fertilizer plants, ice plants, and a canning factory were the major businesses in Monticello.

Dr. William Henry Barry started The Monticellonian in 1870. Barry previously published The Sage of Monticello and The Monticello Guardian (1865-1868). Barry moved away from The Monticellonian but continued to work in the newspaper business for a time in Little Rock. Eventually, he moved to Hot Springs where he was a prominent physician.

James Richard Cotham bought half interest in The Monticellonian in 1873, and in 1875, Adolphus A. Ramsey bought the other half of the paper from Barry. The two then published the paper together as Cotham & Ramsey. In 1881, Cotham became sole proprietor and editor. At times, The Monticellonian was published by James Cotham & Sons, with James Cotham continuing as editor. Norwood David Cotham, one of James Cotham's sons, acted as business manager for part of the newspaper's run. For many years, The Monticellonian was the only paper published in Drew County, as previous local newspapers had ceased publication just before The Monticellonian was founded.

While running his newspaper business, James Cotham was also practicing law. Cotham continued to publish the paper, with two intermissions, until 1919, at which point Wilson Publishing Company bought the paper. Siblings Brice Wilson and Cora Wilson managed the publishing company. Cotham went on to be elected judge in the county court. In 1920, Charles Cordell Whittington, owner of The Drew County Advance (1894-1907), combined his paper with The Monticellonian and changed the name to the Advance-Monticellonian (1920-current), which runs to the present day.

The Monticellonian was a four-page paper published on Thursdays. It advertised that it was one of the great papers coming out of the cotton counties in the South and the only paper in Drew County. The Arkansas Press Association commended The Monticellonian for its front page design and labeled it as one of the best all-around county papers. It was a Democratic paper, urging its readers to vote Democratic during local and national elections. The Monticellonian focused on local and state news, but it did also include major national news.

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Before the Iron Mountain Railway reached Southwest Arkansas, Nevada County was primarily a sparsely populated agricultural settlement near the Little Missouri River. It was the 63rd county in Arkansas, formed during Reconstruction from lands previously in Hempstead, Ouachita, and Columbia counties. Prescott, the county seat, is 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The first post office opened in Prescott in November 1873. Two years later, The Prescott Banner, Nevada County's first newspaper, was established by brothers, Eugene E. and W. B. White. Over the next two years, the paper's name changed three times, from The Prescott Banner to the Prescott Clipper. Eugene E. White also opened the Nevada Picayune on February 14, 1878 as editor. He remained until he left for Hot Springs in 1883 to open the Daily Herald. At that point, his brother, W. B. White, took over the paper.

The Nevada Picayune was both a democratic and populist paper over its tenure. It had a seven-column folio and was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In January 1906, editor C. B. Andrews lost everything in a fire that destroyed the newspaper office. Employing the honor system, Andrews asked all subscribers and debtors to contact him. He reopened the Picayune in the Brooks building on East Front Street.

The most notable Picayune employee was Fredrick W. Allsopp. He worked for free at the Nevada County Picayune for thirteen weeks in the printing department before moving to Little Rock to begin his 40-year career at The Arkansas Gazette. From the mailroom, Allsopp worked his way up to Secretary and Business Manager of the statewide newspaper before building a hotel, opening a bookstore, and publishing five books.

The Nevada Picayune closed its doors in September 2018, after 140 years of publication.

Pine Bluff is the Jefferson County seat in southeast central Arkansas. The city prospered in the late 1800s due to its location, offering a river port for trading and farmland for growing cotton. By the end of the century there were several railroad lines through town. The Cotton Belt Railroad established its main engine maintenance shops in the city, becoming the county's largest industrial employer. The Colored Industrial Institute and Richard Allen Institute opened in Pine Bluff, two of the first religious schools for Black students in Arkansas. Branch Normal College also opened around this time as a college for freed Black Arkansans. Branch Normal later became the Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College and is now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB).

Several highly successful Black businessmen lived in Pine Bluff around the turn of the twentieth century, including Walter "Wiley" Jones, one of the first wealthy Black people in the South, and Ferd Havis, state representative and "Colored Millionaire" of Pine Bluff. The city went on to produce many more prominent members in the business and arts industries. Despite the seeming opportunities for Black residents in the city, lynchings and other racially motivated violence also took place in Pine Bluff into the 1900s.

In the early twentieth century, major floods and droughts overwhelmed Pine Bluff, along with the economic depression that hit nationwide. Though river trade benefited the city's economy, the Arkansas River was also slowly eroding the city, washing away land and buildings. The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 quickly destroyed more of the area, including hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of acres of cotton plants and farms. The Great Depression and drought in 1930 were next to devastate the city.

Pine Bluff had a brief boom during World War II, as federal munitions were produced at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. The arsenal became the largest industrial employer in the county, eclipsing the railroad as the county's main industry, running through the Cold War. However, by the turn of the twenty-first century, Pine Bluff's population had declined, and historic buildings began collapsing.

In 1938, toward the end of the Great Depression, Jeremiah Horatio Robinson, Sr. founded the Negro Spokesman newspaper in Pine Bluff. He served as the editor and publisher, advertising his paper as supporting "Negro Interests," rather than any one political party.

The Spokesman was published once a week on Fridays. By 1950 it had a circulation of 7,000, in a city with a population of over 37,000. Robinson ran the paper until his death in January 1951. The paper was left to his wife, Mary A. Robinson, and son, Jeremiah Horatio Robinson, Jr., who continued to run it. By 1952 the paper's circulation had dropped to 5,000. By all accounts the paper was last issued in 1958.

Robinson's paper supported William Harold Flowers, lawyer and civil rights leader, in one of his court cases. Flowers frequently wrote articles for the Arkansas State Press (1941–1959) in Little Rock. In one of his editorials, on January 19, 1951, Flowers wrote that Robinson's support "won for him [Robinson] the admiration of the people of this community, for upon him pivoted the introduction of the means by which Negroes enjoyed gains which had been denied them for more than a half century – Negroes on jury panels." He stated also that Robinson, Sr. started the paper when "the uncertainty of the times found in him a matchless ability to speak militantly with conservative backing. The religious fervor which possessed him enabled him to crystalize his militant editorials for consumption of both white and Negro readers." The jury of peers was credited with helping Flowers win a case, commuting the death sentence of two Black men. That trial was the first time Black jurors served in Jefferson County since Reconstruction. Although his time at the Spokesman lasted for just over a decade, Robinson's work had a significant, memorable impact on his community.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Spokesman. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community's written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

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Before the Iron Mountain Railway reached Southwest Arkansas, Nevada County was primarily a sparsely populated agricultural settlement near the Little Missouri River. It was the 63rd county in Arkansas, formed during Reconstruction from lands previously in Hempstead, Ouachita, and Columbia counties. Prescott, the county seat, is 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The first post office opened in Prescott in November 1873. Two years later, The Prescott Banner, Nevada County's first newspaper, was established by brothers, Eugene E. and W. B. White. Over the next two years, the paper's name changed three times, from The Prescott Banner to the Prescott Clipper. Eugene E. White also opened the Nevada Picayune on February 14, 1878 as editor. He remained until he left for Hot Springs in 1883 to open the Daily Herald. At that point, his brother, W. B. White, took over the paper.

The Nevada Picayune was both a democratic and populist paper over its tenure. It had a seven-column folio and was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In January 1906, editor C. B. Andrews lost everything in a fire that destroyed the newspaper office. Employing the honor system, Andrews asked all subscribers and debtors to contact him. He reopened the Picayune in the Brooks building on East Front Street.

The most notable Picayune employee was Fredrick W. Allsopp. He worked for free at the Nevada County Picayune for thirteen weeks in the printing department before moving to Little Rock to begin his 40-year career at The Arkansas Gazette. From the mailroom, Allsopp worked his way up to Secretary and Business Manager of the statewide newspaper before building a hotel, opening a bookstore, and publishing five books.

The Nevada Picayune closed its doors in September 2018, after 140 years of publication.

Prescott is the largest city in Nevada County in southwestern Arkansas. The Prescott area was mainly wilderness in the early 1800s, with a few cotton plantations. It was along the transportation corridor that connected Camden and Washington, Arkansas. This corridor was used for shipping goods and moving people, including Native Americans during Indian Removal. In 1864 there was an important Civil War skirmish nearby at Prairie d'Ane as part of the Camden Expedition. 

However, the first development at Prescott occurred later in the 19^th century, when the Cairo and Fulton Railroad built a line to connect Little Rock to Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1873 the railroad obtained permission to start a town along their line, which would become Prescott. Stores, a restaurant, and a hotel were built quickly and the railroad depot followed. That same year Prescott built a post office, and in 1877 it became the county seat. In 1891 the Ozan Lumber Company was established in Prescott along with another railroad, the Reader Railroad. Around that time, agriculture also became a major industry, and the town used icehouses to preserve fruits while they awaited shipping. Prescott had a diverse citizenship, which led to some divisive politics in the town. Prescott declined during the Great Depression as people left to find jobs, though the fruit industry continued for some time. 

Henry B. McKenzie established The Prescott Daily News in 1907. The paper was published every day except Sunday. The News Printing Company, of which Henry B. McKenzie was the owner, is listed as the publisher on most issues. Reverend W. F. Evans eventually had partial ownership of The Prescott Daily News. The News Printing Company published The Prescott Daily News and The Nevada News (1905-1974), and both papers shared a one room office. McKenzie also managed the Greeson Opera House and helped establish the Nevada County Historical Society in Prescott. 

The Daily News focused on local and state news, but included headlines from major international events as well. Local news included the names of guests staying at the Hotel Miller in Prescott and the number of trains passing through town daily (nine passenger trains and 21 freight trains). The paper was Democratic and relayed the party's nominees for county and state elections. It also included interesting articles and advertisements for such things as palmists, psychics, and clairvoyants. The Daily News published health-related articles, including one article about the dangers of drinking soda. The article said that the U.S. Army prohibited the sale of Coca-Cola in post exchanges due to its major ingredients being cocaine and caffeine. The effects of the drink were considered destructive to health and morals. 

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85032967/.

Before the Iron Mountain Railway reached Southwest Arkansas, Nevada County was primarily a sparsely populated agricultural settlement near the Little Missouri River. It was the 63^rd county in Arkansas, formed during Reconstruction from lands previously in Hempstead, Ouachita, and Columbia counties. Prescott, the county seat, is 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The first post office opened in Prescott in November 1873. Two years later, The Prescott Banner, Nevada County's first newspaper, was established by brothers, Eugene E. and W. B. White. Over the next two years, the paper's name changed three times, from The Prescott Banner to the Prescott Clipper. Eugene E. White also opened the Nevada Picayune on February 14, 1878 as editor. He remained until he left for Hot Springs in 1883 to open the Daily Herald. At that point, his brother, W. B. White, took over the paper.

The Nevada Picayune was both a democratic and populist paper over its tenure. It had a seven-column folio and was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In January 1906, editor C. B. Andrews lost everything in a fire that destroyed the newspaper office. Employing the honor system, Andrews asked all subscribers and debtors to contact him. He reopened the Picayune in the Brooks building on East Front Street.

The most notable Picayune employee was Fredrick W. Allsopp. He worked for free at the Nevada County Picayune for thirteen weeks in the printing department before moving to Little Rock to begin his 40-year career at The Arkansas Gazette. From the mailroom, Allsopp worked his way up to Secretary and Business Manager of the statewide newspaper before building a hotel, opening a bookstore, and publishing five books.

The Nevada Picayune closed its doors in September 2018, after 140 years of publication.

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Newark is in Independence County, in northeastern Arkansas. It is one of the larger towns in Independence County and was prominent early in the 1900s. Members from the community of Akron founded Newark, as Akron often suffered damage from the overflow of the White River. Additionally, the Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad had planned to route its new railroad through Akron, but instead built it on higher ground a mile north, which became Newark. Newark relied on the railroad to transport goods and people, with the main town business center facing the railroad tracks. People from other towns in Independence County traveled to Newark to do their shopping. The town weathered the Great Depression as people were used to living simple lives and the local merchants let people make purchases on credit. Even though Newark was a bustling county center, there was only one newspaper that managed to run for more than a few years.

Oscar Franklin Craig established the Newark Journal in 1901. He published the four-page paper once a week on Fridays. The paper was briefly suspended in October 1908, but resumed in January 1909. Craig originally created the Journal as a local paper, with no stated political leaning. After a few years the paper was listed as Democratic, reflecting the political views of much of the town's populace.

Newark was an active Democratic community and the town held many large political rallies and community picnics. These activities drew people from around the state, including prominent politicians. One visitor in 1904 was then-Governor Jeff Davis. Davis was campaigning in Newark and he insulted Craig, who attempted to attack the Governor in the newspaper. This caused Davis to leave town quickly. In a later election, Davis lost in Newark by two-to-one even though he was a Democrat.

On November 7, 1918 the Journal prematurely printed a headline that the World War I armistice had been signed. On November 14, the Journal printed the same headline, correctly announcing the Allied triumph on November 11.

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Newport is a town in Jackson County in northeast Arkansas. It is located on the White River where the landscape changes from the Ozark foothills to the flat Delta region. Acting as an important junction for river, rail, and road traffic, Newport became an affluent river town by the early twentieth century. Agriculture, timber, and fresh water pearling were important economic contributors for the town. In 1892, Newport became the county seat and still is today.

In 1901, Percy H. Van Dyke created the Newport Independent as a daily edition, Newport Daily Independent (1901-29), and a weekly edition, Newport Weekly Independent (1901-29). Van Dyke started the business with a Washington hand press and modernized his equipment and office over time. He acted as the editor and publisher until 1917 when he sold the Newport Independent to Austin C. Wilkerson and retired from the newspaper business. At the time of purchase, the Newport Daily Independent was the only daily newspaper left in Newport.

The Newport Independent focused on local news in Newport, the northeast region, and the state. The newspaper regularly reported about agricultural concerns and the freshwater pearling industry while also posting the latest train schedules. Pearl purchases were documented in the "About People--Mainly" section. On June 21, 1902, the Newport Independent declared that Newport was the "leading pearl market of Northeast Arkansas and in the number of pearls which change hands, probably ranks ahead of any town in this section of states." During the lead up to the First World War in 1914, national and international news began to make the front page and continued to be published on a recurring basis throughout, and after, the war. Flooding was a problem for Newport and the surrounding area, and updates on water levels for the White River and its tributary, the Black River, were frequently given. In 1918, the Board of Directors of the Newport Levee District made plans for a new levee system that would give Newport separate protection from the Jacksonport levee, which had failed in the past.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051130/.

Newport is a town in Jackson County in northeast Arkansas. It is located on the White River where the landscape changes from the Ozark foothills to the flat Delta region. Acting as an important junction for river, rail, and road traffic, Newport became an affluent river town by the early twentieth century. Agriculture, timber, and fresh water pearling were important economic contributors for the town. In 1892, Newport became the county seat and still is today.

In 1901, Percy H. Van Dyke created the Newport Independent as a daily edition, Newport Daily Independent (1901-29), and a weekly edition, Newport Weekly Independent (1901-29). Van Dyke started the business with a Washington hand press and modernized his equipment and office over time. He acted as the editor and publisher until 1917 when he sold the Newport Independent to Austin C. Wilkerson and retired from the newspaper business. At the time of purchase, the Newport Daily Independent was the only daily newspaper left in Newport.

The Newport Independent focused on local news in Newport, the northeast region, and the state. The newspaper regularly reported about agricultural concerns and the freshwater pearling industry while also posting the latest train schedules. Pearl purchases were documented in the "About People--Mainly" section. On June 21, 1902, the Newport Independent declared that Newport was the "leading pearl market of Northeast Arkansas and in the number of pearls which change hands, probably ranks ahead of any town in this section of states." During the lead up to the First World War in 1914, national and international news began to make the front page and continued to be published on a recurring basis throughout, and after, the war. Flooding was a problem for Newport and the surrounding area, and updates on water levels for the White River and its tributary, the Black River, were frequently given. In 1918, the Board of Directors of the Newport Levee District made plans for a new levee system that would give Newport separate protection from the Jacksonport levee, which had failed in the past.

In the late 1800s, visitors of Mississippi County, Arkansas opined that only one settlement in the county could properly be called a town, and that was Osceola, the county seat. Osceola is on the Mississippi River north of Memphis, Tennessee, on the northeastern edge of Arkansas. It was an important trade center as steamboats stopped there on their way between the major ports in Memphis, Tennessee and Cairo, Illinois. When Osceola was incorporated in 1853, it had 250 residents and few businesses. There were, however, many farms on the surrounding fertile farmland. By 1890, the town boasted 1,000 residents and dozens of businesses. The citizens were noted as consisting of many college graduates, making Osceola a center of "refinement, culture, education and taste," atypical for a town of that size.

In 1870, James B. Best, John Oscar Blackwood, and Leon Roussan founded the Osceola Times, the first newspaper in Osceola. It was a locally focused, Democratic paper ranging from two to eight pages. It was published once a week with a circulation of around 400. In addition to their newspaper work, Best was the circuit clerk, Blackwood a prominent attorney and later member of Congress, and Roussan was elected the first mayor of Osceola in 1875. By 1871, Best had left to work in real estate, leaving Roussan and Blackwood as the editors and publishers. In 1873, Blackwood left, and Roussan became sole owner and editor.

Roussan's newspaper career started after he finished the basic schooling offered by his hometown in Missouri. He worked at the local paper, the Sainte Genevieve Plaindealer (1851-1862). When the Civil War began, he joined the Missouri State Guard. After moving around the South during and after the war, Roussan finally settled in Osceola, Arkansas in 1870.

The machines for the Times's printing plant came from Madison in St. Francis County. The owner of the printing office there dismantled the materials during the Civil War to prevent them from being looted by the Federal Army. The Washington hand press was scrapped. The type was emptied into gunny sacks and buried in the sands of the St. Francis River, then later retrieved and stored in the courthouse in Madison. Eventually the type was moved to Osceola, where its storage was upgraded from sacks to cigar boxes until actual type cases could be delivered.

The Times filled a need in Mississippi County, as previously the closest papers that published legal notices relevant to the area were Helena, Jacksonport, and Little Rock. Since the weekly mail service was distributed by boat, it could take weeks or months to receive the newspapers. Despite the need for the paper, friends of Roussan referred to his work running the Times as a death struggle. They credited Roussan's "iron will, indefatigable labor, and indomitable determination" with making the Times one of the foremost papers in Arkansas.

In 1879, at 40 years old, Leon Roussan married 19-year-old Adah Lee Pettey. After marrying, Adah Roussan learned the newspaper trade from Leon, and eventually worked alongside him as editor and publisher of the Times. Both were involved in the Arkansas Press Association over the years, Leon serving as president and Adah as the orator. Together, they taught Adah's niece, Sallie Irene Robinson-Stanfield Riley, how to run a newspaper. Afterwards Sallie moved to Rison and purchased the Cleveland County Herald (1888-current), where she became the first Arkansas woman on record to use a hyphenated last name after marriage.

Leading up to the twentieth century, Mississippi County was "whiskey-soaked all the time and water-soaked a part of the year." Adah and Leon worked to rectify both problems, using their paper to advocate for the temperance movement and land improvements. Over the years they made many enemies, hurting them financially and threatening their safety.

In 1897, Leon fled town for about a year, leaving Adah to run the Times. This was a result of Leon's editorial describing the Mississippi County Sheriff, Charles Bowen's, involvement in the lynching of Henry Phillips. In the article, Leon denounced the Sheriff's immoral and illegal actions. Bowen threatened Leon to get him to print a retraction, but Leon refused and eventually ran away for his own safety. Bowen was known as a violent man. He was a local Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader and one of the leaders in the Black Hawk War of 1872, a racial conflict in Mississippi County.

By 1900, the Times had 600 subscribers, with Osceola's rapidly growing population approaching 12,000. While the paper contained primarily local news, it also provided relevant national news as well. On September 14, 1901, it included a small insert relating that President William McKinley had died after being shot by an assassin.

The Roussans worked together on the Times until Leon's death in 1906. Afterwards, Adah ran the paper alone, continuing her pursuits for community improvements. She wrote an exposé on the "Honka-Tonks" held in Mississippi County, where men would go to drink and gamble with subsequent fights averaging a murder a week. Adah threatened to publish the names of every landowner who was allowing these parties on their property. Her threats are credited for shutting down the bars. Besides her continued temperance and land improvement efforts, Adah also fought for women's suffrage and education. During this time, she served as Osceola Postmaster from 1914 until 1917.

In 1916, Adah hired Samuel Major Hodges, Sr. to work as the Times manager. Hodges came from a long line of newspaper employees and had himself worked in the newspaper business for decades. Adah worked at the Times until she felt she could no longer deliver on her motto, "good paper, good ink, good work and prompt delivery." Adah sold the Times in 1919 and retired to Hot Springs. She remained active in the community there, and a few years later married another widower, Thomas C. Blackburn. She died unexpectedly in 1927.

Hodges organized the sale of the Osceola Times to the Times Publishing Company, under which he continued as editor and publisher. The Times Publishing Company was composed of Joseph "Joe" Wicks Rhodes, Jr. as president, H. D. Tomlinson as vice-president, and Thomas Henderson as treasurer of the stock company. The Times had one of the most modern newspaper plants in Eastern Arkansas because Adah had bought one of Arkansas's first typesetting machines, the Junior Mergenthaler. By 1920, it had a circulation of 1,100 in a town of over 30,000. Eventually, Samuel Major Hodges, Jr. took over the paper from his father. The Times remains the oldest newspaper in that part of the state.

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Ozark, one of the oldest cities in Arkansas, was founded in 1836 in the northwestern part of the state. The city was established at the northernmost bend in the Arkansas River, which creates the southern border of the city. The river gave the city its name, from the French "Aux Arc," which means "at the bend." The city is bordered on the north by the Ozark Mountains and is part of Arkansas Highway 23, also called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway. Ozark was incorporated in 1850 and, along with Charleston, is one of the two county seats in Franklin County.

Ozark opened its first post office in 1837, built a courthouse by 1840, and obtained its first telegraph in 1862 during the Civil War. By 1888, Ozark had a railroad and its first industrial business: a vegetable canning factory. Compared to these early businesses, The Spectator newspaper opened late in the history of Ozark. The Spectator was founded in 1911 by R. H. Burrow, who also owned three other newspapers. Burrow claimed he began running his first paper without any newspaper experience, and he had to learn as he worked. He passed down this knowledge to his daughter, Elizabeth A. Burrow, who eventually became part owner and editor for the Spectator.

The Spectator was published twice per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, which led to its unofficial moniker, the Twice-a-Week Spectator. The paper changed names briefly in 1916 to The Ozark Spectator, when Burrow published the paper with Edward F. Cox. Cox managed the paper while Burrow was busy in Alma, Arkansas working as an editor for a paper there. Cox published the paper on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In 1917, the paper returned to being published solely by Burrow and was again named The Spectator. Although many papers preceded the Spectator's arrival in Ozark, The Spectator is the only paper still in existence from Ozark's early history.

The Spectator published local, national, and international news. The paper published daily schedules for Ozark's four passenger trains and entertainment news about the Ozark Opera House. The Spectator informed its readers of the Democratic nominees for local and national appointment. It reported on major international events, such as World War I, and advertised American war propaganda films. It also published chapters of various novels for readers to follow, along with entertaining fictional stories.

The nationally renowned editor, Elizabeth A. Burrow, worked for the Spectator for 30 years. She reported the news in the local area and gave editorial comment. She held to her beliefs on right and wrong and conveyed them to the Spectator's audience even when her opinions were divisive or unpopular. In 1957 she won a National Editorial Association award for her editorial defending the admission of African Americans to the Ozark high school. She wrote that the Ozark community was responsible for all of its citizens, regardless of color. She described the people protesting about desegregation of the school as "a malignancy worse than my cancer and I wouldn't swap with you." In 1962 Elizabeth Burrow did pass away from cancer, but she left a lasting mark on Ozark through her work at The Spectator.

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Paragould, Arkansas is situated just across the Missouri border in the northeastern region of the state in Greene County. At the time of settlement it had few roads and many obstructions, including swampland and an abundance of timber. Sitting atop Crowley's Ridge, early pioneers took advantage of the lush terrain and uncommon hardwood trees to create a booming timber industry. As the railroad moved in, so did the people, flocking to town to work in timber mills and factories.

As a result of the booming economy, in late 1886 J. R. Taylor founded the Paragould Press. After successfully working on newspapers in Jackson and Memphis, Tennessee, Taylor settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1883, where he became editor and part owner of the Jonesboro Democrat, followed by a stint as mayor. After resigning from politics and selling off his interest in the Jonesboro Democrat (later to become The Jonesboro Sun), Taylor moved to Paragould. There, he owned the paper until 1888 when he sold it to W. A. H. McDaniel in order to, once again, run for and return to the state senate. Only a short time later, after pulling out of his run for senate, Taylor went into competition with McDaniel when he established The Greene County Record in 1889. During this time period, according to historian Myrl Rhine Mueller in A History of Green County, Arkansas, "there was a succession of small newspapers published in Paragould. So fast did they rise and fall, exchange publishers and editors, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sort them out chronologically." The News-Letter, edited by Charles E. Stewart, eventually combined with McDaniel's paper.

In 1893, Greene County mill owner and farmer Ross Coffman went into business with editor W. P. Adams and together they formed The Daily Soliphone. Adams invented the word soliphone by combining the Latin word for sun (sol) and the Greek word for phonics (phone) and joining them with an "i," making "soliphone." Despite its unique title, the paper was poorly managed and lacked sufficient funding. In order to raise capital, Adams mortgaged the publishing equipment with his rival, McDaniel. Later the two came into conflict and McDaniel foreclosed on the mortgage. Adams's paper was left without a press. With no ability to produce the paper, McDaniel sought the help of local Paragould businessman and bank official, M. F. Collier. With financial backing, he was able to continue publication, under the editorship of P. W. Moss until, despite his best efforts, McDaniel was forced to sell the paper. The paper was once again purchased by Taylor and was subsequently turned into two separate papers – The Paragould Daily Press, sent daily to city subscribers, and The Weekly Soliphone, which had a weekly rural circulation.

After Taylor's death in 1917, Griffin Smith became the very well-respected and successful editor of both papers. Upon his retirement, Smith said, "I have been in the newspaper business almost twenty-five years; during that period no successive six months have passed by during which my papers have not engaged in a fight of some kind." The papers continued to change hands and on July 1, 1959 the paper consolidated with the Paragould Daily Press and was subsequently issued as the Paragould Daily Press-Soliphone, a morning rural edition. The Paragould Daily Press was then issued concurrently as an afternoon, city edition.

Pine Bluff, in Jefferson County, is in the Lower Delta region of central Arkansas. Pine Bluff was originally part of Arkansas Post, the first European settlement in Arkansas. From 1686 to 1821 it was a local government, military, and trade headquarters for French and Spanish colonists, and later, United States settlers. It was important in the early nineteenth century as a cotton center and port on the Arkansas River, with a Golden Era in the 1880s. By 1890, it was the state's third-largest city. In 1881 the first railroad was constructed, connecting Pine Bluff to Little Rock. Railroads were the largest industry until 1942, when the Pine Bluff Arsenal was built. Though it was an early European establishment with a rich history, floods, drought, and economic depression contributed to the city's decline in the twentieth century.

In 1887, late in Pine Bluff's settlement history, Read Fletcher and T. H. Bass started the Pine Bluff Weekly Graphic. Bass acted as business manager and brought his printing press from Redfield to Pine Bluff, where Fletcher worked as editor. He devoted the Graphic to the interests of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, and the state of Arkansas, and the principles of the Democratic Party. The next year Fletcher ran the paper on his own, publishing once a week on Saturdays. Fletcher's hopes for the Graphic eventually came true, but Fletcher moved on to other civil service just a few years after founding the paper. He became a prominent politician, including serving as a member of the state House of Representatives.

In 1888, James "Jim" White Adams bought the paper and expanded it to several editions published throughout the week. The various editions were reflected in the title, with the Graphic printing under the Semi-Weekly, Weekly, and Daily names. The daily edition moved from an evening to a morning paper over the years and appeared every day except for Mondays, with a special Sunday edition. The semi-weekly edition was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The daily and semi-weekly issues were four pages, while the Sunday edition was eight pages.

Like the Graphic's founder, Read Fletcher, James Adams was a politician and he served two terms in the State Senate. He continued as editor and publisher until his sudden death in 1908.

In 1898, Adams hired Meyer Solmson to report the society news in Pine Bluff. Solmson was 18 when he joined the Graphic, but already had several years of newspaper experience. In 1894 he was the local agent for the evening edition of the Arkansas Democrat (hyperlink to https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89051456/) (1878–1903) in Little Rock. From 1896 to 1897, Solmson worked as the Arkansas reporter for a paper out of Memphis, Tennessee, the Commercial Appeal (hyperlink to https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83001763/) (1894–current). The Graphic noted that Solmson was always working hard. In 1895, he owned and operated a store selling "notions," renting a place on Second Avenue in Pine Bluff. On June 10, 1895, the Graphic praised his efforts, writing that Solmson was "a bright clever boy, and one of these days he will be a merchant prince of this city." As a member of the Anshe Emeth congregation, Solmson was involved in many of the Jewish community events and classes. In 1897, the year before Solmson joined the Graphic, Pine Bluff's Anshe Emeth group became Arkansas's first chartered Jewish congregation. The Graphic had long reported the local Jewish community's society news and events, like the annual Purim Day balls.

In one of Solmson's reports for the Graphic in 1901, he related that Carl Stubblefield, Sr. had left town due to his large number of debts. Stubblefield later returned to Pine Bluff to find Solmson, stalk, and threaten him for writing the article. During their final confrontation, Stubblefield went to draw something from his hip pocket, but Solmson drew his gun first, shooting and killing Stubblefield. Solmson immediately went to the courthouse to surrender himself to the sheriff. Adams reported the incident in the Graphic, and in his editorial correctly predicted that Solmson's actions would be ruled self-defense. Coincidentally, Solmson had resigned his position at the Graphic just a few months before to work as a salesman.

After James Adams' death, his brother, George Adams, took over the Adams Printing Company and continued on with the Graphic. By 1920, George Adams had five machines including a new model No. 14 linotype. The Graphic grew with the town and was successful for years, but finally folded in 1942.

The Adams brothers supported the causes they thought were in the best civic interests of Pine Bluff. The Graphic focused on local and state news, with some reports about major international news, such as the Armistice of 11 November 1918. In 1904, an extra edition updated readers quickly after news came in about election results and fraud accusations in the votes for Arkansas governor ("Wood Concedes Davis a Majority on Face of Return").

For more information about this title, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89051168/.

Pine Bluff is the Jefferson County seat in southeastern central Arkansas. It was one of the earliest European settlements in Arkansas Territory, strategically placed on the Arkansas River. Pine Bluff grew quickly due to its river port and fertile farmland, so that by 1890 it was the third largest city in Arkansas. Up through the 1920s the area had large farming operations, largely producing cotton. However, the area was heavily affected by the Mississippi River flood in 1927, drought in 1930, and the Great Depression, causing the population to stagnate around 20,000 for a few decades.

The Pine Bluff Press was founded in 1937 by A.R.D. Thompson. The paper noted that it was formerly the Five Star Final newspaper. The Press was published every week, with the masthead claiming that it was “Arkansas’ Greatest Colored Weekly.” The Press’s main office was located at 709 East 5th Street in Pine Bluff, with a publishing company consisting of Elsie Mae Thompson as the president-treasurer, Daniel C. Greathouse the assistant advertising manager, Willie White Johnson the circulation manager, and Mrs. J.B. Hamilton Jones the associate editor and manager of the McGehee office branch of the newspaper in Desha County.

The Press took an unbiased stance, labeling itself “nonpolitical, nonsectarian, independent, clean progressive, and constructive.” The paper was established to help all of the Black community, shown in the tagline: “Here to serve - for race uplift” and on the publisher’s block: “For those who are for us but not against those who are against us. Supports all things worth supporting.”

The Press focused on state news relevant to the Black community. On the second page in each issue the paper set aside a quarter page section each for “McGehee News” and “Pine Bluff News.” It also had a dedicated Woman’s Page and another page for Sports. The paper gave special focus to educational and religious news. This included multiple sections for religious content, like a Weekly Sunday School Lesson and an article by Mrs. E. C. Hatcher about hymns. Hatcher’s husband was the editor and manager of the Southern Christian Recorder (1889-1946), a newspaper by the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, published out of Little Rock at that time. Some issues of the Press also included a Church Directory page. The directory had the subheading “Go to Church Sunday” and provided a list of the Black churches in Little Rock and North Little Rock, along with their addresses, pastor names, and service times.

The Pine Bluff Press had a sister paper in the Twin City Press (193?-1940), another Black community newspaper published nearby in Little Rock, Pulaski County. The Presses had the same masthead, tagline, advertising rates, and layout. Despite the papers having entirely different staff and separate office locations, they coordinated and frequently shared editorials between them. The Pine Bluff Press had several articles from the editor of the Twin City Press, Emory Overton Jackson. The papers also worked together to obtain advertisers for their papers, with the Pine Bluff Press giving instructions for their supporters to make checks for the ads payable to the Twin City Press.

The last reports of the Pine Bluff Press list it as ending in 1942. The Twin City Press had already ceased publication in 1940 and their printing plant had been used to start the Arkansas State Press (1941-1959). After the Pine Bluff Press closed, its associate editor, Hamilton Jones, joined the State Press as a reporter. The State Press was left as the only major paper in the state providing news specifically for Black Arkansans.

As of this writing, there are only a few surviving issues of the Press. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn93050474/. 

Pocahontas is the Randolph County seat in far northeastern Arkansas. The town began as a port on the Black River and grew into a major Confederate center during the Civil War. Union forces occupied the city several times, and in 1863, they burned part of the town including the newspaper office. Pocahontas recovered from the war, and from the late 1800s into the 1920s experienced a golden age. This period saw the transition from steamboats to railroads, which revolutionized trade. Pocahontas factories produced buttons, bricks, processed cotton, wagon wheels, and other wooden parts. Collecting mussels and pearling were also popular industries for a time. Pocahontas continues to be a major commercial center, over the years hosting an egg dehydrating plant, shoe factory, and aircraft parts manufacturing plant. The area around the city comprises a large agricultural industry as well. The Pocahontas Star Herald newspaper grew out of this golden age in Pocahontas and continues to serve the city to this day.

In 1904, Leander Frank Blankenship, Sr. and Earle William Hodges started the Pocahontas Star. That same year, Hodges was appointed as state printing clerk in Little Rock and sold his interest in the Star to Blankenship. Hodges continued to work for the state in various positions and was eventually the youngest Secretary of State elected in Arkansas. Vasco Giles Hinton published another paper in Pocahontas, the News-Herald (1903-1907) (which was previously titled the Randolph Herald (1884-1903). In 1907, Blankenship and Hinton consolidated the Star and News-Herald into the Pocahontas Star Herald under the Star Herald Printing Co. In 1910, the Star Herald absorbed the Randolph County Clipper (1909-1910), which Roy Lee Elliott started in Pocahontas the year before. The Star Herald was a Democratic paper published every Friday.

Blankenship worked as the editor and manager of the Star Herald until 1914, when Oscar E. Wyatt bought interest in the paper and came on as managing editor. Blankenship moved to Little Rock, though he retained his investment in the Herald and worked on the Arkansas Methodist (1916-1979). Later that year Wyatt sold his interest to David A. Lindsey, who took over as managing editor. In 1915, Blankenship returned to Pocahontas and bought the interest in the Star Herald back from Lindsey. He quickly also bought out Hinton and became sole owner of the Herald. In 1919, Blankenship sold part interest in the paper to his son, Warren Lee Blankenship, and they ran the paper together. In 1926, they brought on Leander Blankenship's other son and Warren's brother, Harry Ponder Blankenship, to help publish the Herald.

The Blankenship's continued to run the paper for decades. Warren Blankenship took over the paper after his father. He established a "Here and There" column, and his writings were republished by newspapers and magazines across the country. Warren Blankenship's daughter, Ann Elizabeth Carroll, took over the paper in 1963. Carroll and her husband William "Bill" Duard Carroll purchased the Herald from the rest of the Blankenship family, and Ann Carroll worked as editor and manager. She wrote under the name Ann Blankenship Carroll (A.B.C.) and continued the "Here and There" column. The Star Herald continues to be published today and is now owned by the east-coast company Cherry Road Media.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051210/.

Before the Iron Mountain Railway reached Southwest Arkansas, Nevada County was primarily a sparsely populated agricultural settlement near the Little Missouri River. It was the 63^rd county in Arkansas, formed during Reconstruction from lands previously in Hempstead, Ouachita, and Columbia counties. Prescott, the county seat, is 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The first post office opened in Prescott in November 1873. Two years later, The Prescott Banner, Nevada County's first newspaper, was established by brothers, Eugene E. and W. B. White. Over the next two years, the paper's name changed three times, from The Prescott Banner to the Prescott Clipper. Eugene E. White also opened the Nevada Picayune on February 14, 1878 as editor. He remained until he left for Hot Springs in 1883 to open the Daily Herald. At that point, his brother, W. B. White, took over the paper.

The Nevada Picayune was both a democratic and populist paper over its tenure. It had a seven-column folio and was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In January 1906, editor C. B. Andrews lost everything in a fire that destroyed the newspaper office. Employing the honor system, Andrews asked all subscribers and debtors to contact him. He reopened the Picayune in the Brooks building on East Front Street.

The most notable Picayune employee was Fredrick W. Allsopp. He worked for free at the Nevada County Picayune for thirteen weeks in the printing department before moving to Little Rock to begin his 40-year career at The Arkansas Gazette. From the mailroom, Allsopp worked his way up to Secretary and Business Manager of the statewide newspaper before building a hotel, opening a bookstore, and publishing five books.

The Nevada Picayune closed its doors in September 2018, after 140 years of publication.

Prescott is the largest city in Nevada County in southwestern Arkansas. The Prescott area was mainly wilderness in the early 1800s, with a few cotton plantations. It was along the transportation corridor that connected Camden and Washington, Arkansas. This corridor was used for shipping goods and moving people, including Native Americans during Indian Removal. In 1864 there was an important Civil War skirmish nearby at Prairie d'Ane as part of the Camden Expedition.

However, the first development at Prescott occurred later in the 19^th century, when the Cairo and Fulton Railroad built a line to connect Little Rock to Texarkana, Arkansas. In 1873 the railroad obtained permission to start a town along their line, which would become Prescott. Stores, a restaurant, and a hotel were built quickly and the railroad depot followed. That same year Prescott built a post office, and in 1877 it became the county seat. In 1891 the Ozan Lumber Company was established in Prescott along with another railroad, the Reader Railroad. Around that time, agriculture also became a major industry, and the town used icehouses to preserve fruits while they awaited shipping. Prescott had a diverse citizenship, which led to some divisive politics in the town. Prescott declined during the Great Depression as people left to find jobs, though the fruit industry continued for some time.

Henry B. McKenzie established The Prescott Daily News in 1907. The paper was published every day except Sunday. The News Printing Company, of which Henry B. McKenzie was the owner, is listed as the publisher on most issues. Reverend W. F. Evans eventually had partial ownership of The Prescott Daily News. The News Printing Company published The Prescott Daily News and The Nevada News (1905-1974), and both papers shared a one room office. McKenzie also managed the Greeson Opera House and helped establish the Nevada County Historical Society in Prescott.

The Daily News focused on local and state news, but included headlines from major international events as well. Local news included the names of guests staying at the Hotel Miller in Prescott and the number of trains passing through town daily (nine passenger trains and 21 freight trains). The paper was Democratic and relayed the party's nominees for county and state elections. It also included interesting articles and advertisements for such things as palmists, psychics, and clairvoyants. The Daily News published health-related articles, including one article about the dangers of drinking soda. The article said that the U.S. Army prohibited the sale of Coca-Cola in post exchanges due to its major ingredients being cocaine and caffeine. The effects of the drink were considered destructive to health and morals.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050307/.

Little Rock, Arkansas is the Pulaski County seat and home to the state capital. Little Rock is in central Arkansas and adjoins the foothills leading to the Ozark Plateau in the northwest, the Delta extending east to the Mississippi River, and plains stretching southwest into Texas. The city was part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and the first permanent European settlement began in 1820. In 1821, Little Rock became the territorial capital, and over the next century, it developed into an urban center.

In the late 1800s, Pulaski Heights was an affluent suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of Little Rock. It was incorporated as a town in 1905 and was originally restricted to all-white residence. Pulaski Heights was the beginning of Little Rock's westward growth, and in 1916, Little Rock voted to make it part of the city. Henry Franklin Auten developed Pulaski Heights and promoted it as a healthy place to live away from the dirty conditions of cities. After being incorporated into Little Rock, the area was further urbanized with sidewalks and paving. Churches and schools began to build in Pulaski Heights, along with businesses and a newspaper.

John C. Small started The Pulaskian in 1915 in Pulaski Heights, but he sold the paper the next year to Parke & Harper publishers. This publishing group was run by Augustus Winfred Parke and Clio Armitage Harper. Harper was a prominent Little Rock citizen who worked at several newspapers. He served as president of the Authors' and Composers' Society of Arkansas as well as the Little Rock Press Club, and he was poet laureate of the Arkansas Press Association. While working as owner and editor of The Pulaskian, Harper was doing the same for the Little Rock Trade Record (1916-19???) and the Arkansas Writer (1920-1922), a literary magazine. In addition, he was an active Democrat involved in city and state activities, such as the police committee and Arkansas State Council of Defense.

William F. Beck wrote one of the most popular columns in The Pulaskian, titled the "Pea Ridge Pod Man," a humorous column about "rambling around" Arkansas. Beck had previously published his own newspaper, The Pea Ridge Pod (1913-1916), in Pea Ridge and then in Siloam Springs. It was well known for its odd and humorous nature, and The New York Times (1857-current) wrote articles praising The Pea Ridge Pod. Despite its popularity, the paper did not have enough financial backing to continue. His paper folded, and Beck began writing his column for The Pulaskian and other newspapers.

The Pulaskian was published once a week, first on Fridays, then changing to Thursdays in 1920. It was one of the longer papers, typically publishing eight pages per issue. Harper brought his Democratic leanings to the pages of The Pulaskian. The paper focused on local news, but it included updates and pictures about World War I.

In the 1860s, the Stamps family built a sawmill in the northeastern section of Lafayette County. The county is in the far southwestern corner of Arkansas bordering Louisiana. The Stamps's sawmill grew quickly after the Cotton Belt Railroad built lines through the county in 1882. A post office was established near the sawmill in 1888, named after Hardy James Stamps who ran the sawmill at the time. The Stamps's mill was later bought by the Bodcaw Lumber Company out of Texarkana in adjacent Miller County. By 1891, Bodcaw moved their headquarters to Stamps. The growing town was nicknamed the "saw-mill city," and incorporated in 1898. That same year, William Buchanan, owner of the Bodcaw Lumber Company, founded the Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad Company. He built the railroad shop headquarters in Stamps. The Stamps's sawmill grew into the largest yellow pine sawmill in the world. The lumber company stores in town offered all manner of goods, from clothing to coffins. The first newspaper in Stamps, the Lafayette County Democrat (1905-current), was founded in 1905.

By the 1910s, the mill had exhausted the local lumber resources, and as a result, the timber company and related businesses began to move away. The Bodcaw Company in Arkansas dissolved in 1917, and the remaining assets moved to the new Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana. The Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad also moved its offices to Louisiana in 1923. Though the booming timber business had faded, Stamps maintained a population of a few thousand, with many turning to cotton and rice farming.

In 1907, Anthony Mitchell Salone, Sr. became the principal teacher at the Black Public School in Stamps, which held its classes in Owen Chapel Church. Salone's wife, Sara Annie Salone, was also a schoolteacher. Anthony Salone helped build a two-story school building and a four-room dormitory in 1910 for the students. This was the first school building in Stamps. Salone left the school in 1911 and founded the Stamps Times, a newspaper for the Black community. The Times ran until 1913, at which point Salone renamed his newspaper The Reminder, published on Saturdays. The Reminder seemingly ceased publication after 1913. Beginning in February 1915 and printing until 1922, the Arkansas School News was published by Salone for the Arkansas Negro Teachers' Association. It was a school journal for the Black public schools across Arkansas, published out of Stamps.

Salone's education and newspaper work were intertwined. During the summers, Salone taught seminars for teachers on keeping a modern curriculum alongside other Black teachers from around Arkansas. At one of the Arkansas Negro Teachers' Association meetings, he gave a talk about the school paper he published titled, "Rally for Arkansas School News." Salone and his family later moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where he resumed working as a schoolteacher.

As of this writing, there is only one surviving issue of the Reminder. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community’s written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/2023218545/.

In late-nineteenth-century Arkansas, women's voting rights gained traction as one of the leading political issues. Little Rock quickly became the hub of the state's suffrage movement, since it was the state capital and Pulaski County seat, making it the center of the state both politically and geographically. The first major publication to advocate for women's suffrage in Arkansas was the Ladies' Little Rock Journal, started by Mary Ann Webster Loughborough in 1884. The Journal was also the first Arkansas newspaper started by a woman and written for a female audience.

Before launching her newspaper, Mary Ann Loughborough had published a popular book of her first-hand experience at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War. Her husband, James Moore Loughborough, served as a major in the Confederate Army, and Mary Ann and their daughter Jean moved with him to his various duty stations. Mary Ann kept a diary during the Vicksburg siege, which she later turned into the book My Cave Life in Vicksburg, published in 1864. After the Civil War, the Loughboroughs moved to Little Rock, where James died in 1876.

In 1884 Mary Ann Loughborough launched her newspaper, first publishing the Ladies' Little Rock Journal as part of another local newspaper, the Rural and Workman (1884-1???), a paper for farmers, mechanics, and workmen. By August 1884, she moved to publishing the Journal as a stand-alone paper, rearranging the title to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal. The Journal was a lengthy publication, typically running at 12 or more pages, issued every Saturday. Loughborough had several women writing for the paper, including her daughter, Jean Moore Loughborough, and Ellen Maria Harrell Cantrell. The Journal was unique among newspapers in the South for focusing not only on women's concerns, but also advocating for political issues like women's suffrage at a time when many were against women's voting rights.

The Journal's name changes over the years reflected its growth and increased reach, progressing from the Ladies' Little Rock Journal to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal to the Arkansas Ladies' Journal, and finally the Southern Ladies' Journal. Along with the expanded coverage indicated by the name change to the Southern Ladies' Journal in 1886, Loughborough planned to expand the paper itself by increasing the number of pages while publishing it twice a month rather than every week. However, the Journal's run ended unexpectedly in 1887 after her sudden illness and death.

Despite its early end, Loughborough's newspaper inspired the opening of the Woman's Chronicle (1888-1???), the next year. Catherine Campbell Cuningham, Mary Burt Brooks, and Haryot Holt Cahoon created the Chronicle to continue Loughborough's work for the women of the state. In its inaugural issue, it reported that the Journal had died with Loughborough, and they hoped to fill the void left behind so that the "daughters of Arkansas … should have and take pride in a paper all their own." The Chronicle, like the Journal, was a strong supporter of women's suffrage. Unfortunately, like the Southern Ladies' Journal, the Chronicle lasted less than five years before it ceased publication due to Cuningham's ill health.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92050016/.

Russellville, in Pope County, Arkansas lies halfway between Fort Smith and Little Rock, on the Arkansas River. Today this area is referred to as the River Valley, but it was once known as the Cactus Prairie on the Buffalo Trail. Incorporated on June 7, 1870, it grew slowly until the Little Rock & Fort Smith railroad reached the town in 1874.

The Russellville Democrat was first published on January 28, 1875. The weekly newspaper was created by a group of affluent townsmen looking to unify the people of Pope County. These town leaders were J. L. Shinn, President; George E. Howell, Vice-President; J. F. Munday, Secretary; and M. L. Baird, Treasurer. In the paper's inaugural edition, it proclaimed to be an advocate of Liberal, Progressive, and Democratic principles as well as being devoted to local, political, commercial, agricultural, and literary intelligence. The newspaper featured seven columns, with areas dedicated to Fraternal and Religious notices as well as medical, home, and farming advice.

James E. Battenfield was the editor and B. F. Jobe was the business manager for the first six years of publication. Following Battenfield's retirement in 1881, Jobe became publisher with John R. H. Scott. Following several years of quick changes to management, Jobe returned as publisher of the Democrat by 1885. He stayed with the newspaper for a decade before retiring to McAlester, Oklahoma. His brother, J. R. Jobe, became editor and publisher until 1897, when he sold his interest to Bullock & Lawrence.

After only a year of publications, The Russellville Courier consolidated with the Russellville Democrat in September 1898. Under publishers C. B. Oldham and T. B. Mourning, the new publication was titled The Courier=Democrat. It continued to be a weekly paper until 1924, when it was published Monday through Friday. J. A. Livingston, the foreman for the newspaper, bought out Mourning's interest in 1903 and Oldham's in 1905. Livingston was the sole owner of the publication until 1920, when he sold half of the business to Todd Ellis.

Since 1994, the publication has been called The Courier and is published every morning, excluding Mondays.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84023017/.

Pine Bluff, in Jefferson County, is in the Lower Delta region of central Arkansas. Pine Bluff was originally part of Arkansas Post, the first European settlement in Arkansas. From 1686 to 1821 it was a local government, military, and trade headquarters for French and Spanish colonists, and later, United States settlers. It was important in the early nineteenth century as a cotton center and port on the Arkansas River, with a Golden Era in the 1880s. By 1890, it was the state's third-largest city. In 1881 the first railroad was constructed, connecting Pine Bluff to Little Rock. Railroads were the largest industry until 1942, when the Pine Bluff Arsenal was built. Though it was an early European establishment with a rich history, floods, drought, and economic depression contributed to the city's decline in the twentieth century.

In 1887, late in Pine Bluff's settlement history, Read Fletcher and T. H. Bass started the Pine Bluff Weekly Graphic. Bass acted as business manager and brought his printing press from Redfield to Pine Bluff, where Fletcher worked as editor. He devoted the Graphic to the interests of Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, and the state of Arkansas, and the principles of the Democratic Party. The next year Fletcher ran the paper on his own, publishing once a week on Saturdays. Fletcher's hopes for the Graphic eventually came true, but Fletcher moved on to other civil service just a few years after founding the paper. He became a prominent politician, including serving as a member of the state House of Representatives.

In 1888, James "Jim" White Adams bought the paper and expanded it to several editions published throughout the week. The various editions were reflected in the title, with the Graphic printing under the Semi-Weekly, Weekly, and Daily names. The daily edition moved from an evening to a morning paper over the years and appeared every day except for Mondays, with a special Sunday edition. The semi-weekly edition was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The daily and semi-weekly issues were four pages, while the Sunday edition was eight pages.

Like the Graphic's founder, Read Fletcher, James Adams was a politician and he served two terms in the State Senate. He continued as editor and publisher until his sudden death in 1908.

In 1898, Adams hired Meyer Solmson to report the society news in Pine Bluff. Solmson was 18 when he joined the Graphic, but already had several years of newspaper experience. In 1894 he was the local agent for the evening edition of the Arkansas Democrat (hyperlink to https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89051456/) (1878–1903) in Little Rock. From 1896 to 1897, Solmson worked as the Arkansas reporter for a paper out of Memphis, Tennessee, the Commercial Appeal (hyperlink to https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83001763/) (1894–current). The Graphic noted that Solmson was always working hard. In 1895, he owned and operated a store selling "notions," renting a place on Second Avenue in Pine Bluff. On June 10, 1895, the Graphic praised his efforts, writing that Solmson was "a bright clever boy, and one of these days he will be a merchant prince of this city." As a member of the Anshe Emeth congregation, Solmson was involved in many of the Jewish community events and classes. In 1897, the year before Solmson joined the Graphic, Pine Bluff's Anshe Emeth group became Arkansas's first chartered Jewish congregation. The Graphic had long reported the local Jewish community's society news and events, like the annual Purim Day balls.

In one of Solmson's reports for the Graphic in 1901, he related that Carl Stubblefield, Sr. had left town due to his large number of debts. Stubblefield later returned to Pine Bluff to find Solmson, stalk, and threaten him for writing the article. During their final confrontation, Stubblefield went to draw something from his hip pocket, but Solmson drew his gun first, shooting and killing Stubblefield. Solmson immediately went to the courthouse to surrender himself to the sheriff. Adams reported the incident in the Graphic, and in his editorial correctly predicted that Solmson's actions would be ruled self-defense. Coincidentally, Solmson had resigned his position at the Graphic just a few months before to work as a salesman.

After James Adams' death, his brother, George Adams, took over the Adams Printing Company and continued on with the Graphic. By 1920, George Adams had five machines including a new model No. 14 linotype. The Graphic grew with the town and was successful for years, but finally folded in 1942.

The Adams brothers supported the causes they thought were in the best civic interests of Pine Bluff. The Graphic focused on local and state news, with some reports about major international news, such as the Armistice of 11 November 1918. In 1904, an extra edition updated readers quickly after news came in about election results and fraud accusations in the votes for Arkansas governor ("Wood Concedes Davis a Majority on Face of Return").

For more information about this title, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89051163/.

Hot Springs, in Garland County, Arkansas, is located on the Ouachita River in the Ouachita Mountains. Known for its thermal springs, the city started as a resort center that took advantage of the reputed health benefits of the springs in the early nineteenth century. Incorporated in 1851, the town continued to grow and is now the largest city in the Ouachita Mountains. In the early 20th century, Hot Springs was notorious for government corruption and illegal activities.

The Sentinel=Record (1900-current) developed from the Hot Springs Daily Sentinel (1877-82), and is the final title in a long line of fleeting newspapers and mergers. The Hot Springs Daily Sentinel was started by Kit Ousley and John L. Bowers. In 1899, John G. Higgins started a newspaper called the Hot Springs Record (non-extant). Shortly after, he purchased The Morning Sentinel (189?-1900) and merged the two newspapers into the Sentinel=Record. John G. Higgins turned the newspaper into a financial success, an accomplishment in a city known for short-lived newspapers. The paper managed to recover from two fires, one on March 4, 1878 and one on May 10, 1922.

The Sentinel Record averaged eight-page issues, with occasional second editions, that covered local, national, and international news. The "Society" and "Personals" sections kept track of visitors to the health spas and to the Arlington and Eastman hotels. Articles highlighting the draws of the city--like the article on February 5, 1918, "Pleasure and Health the Keynote: Hot Springs Invites Pleasure Seekers to Join with Those Seeking Health"--were published to attract tourists. In the early twentieth century, Hot Springs grew rapidly, and construction was constant. Grand openings were a common subject of advertisements, especially those for theaters and other entertainment places. During that same period, the city suffered from several fires, and fire prevention and inspections were a major concern. Updates on the First World War were given, and on August 16, 1914, the paper argued for the United States to stay neutral during the war.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051285/.

Sharp County, established in 1868, is in northeastern Arkansas bordering Missouri. Lying in the Ozark Mountains, it was known for its good hunting and timberlands. At the end of the 1800s, the county primarily produced cotton, corn, wheat, pork, butter, and livestock. Tourism was another revenue source; caves and rivers attracted visitors to Cave City. Evening Shade served as the county seat until 1963, when it moved to Ash Flat.

In 1877, John W. Buckley founded the Sharp County Record in Evening Shade to serve the southwestern section of the county, which included Ash Flat and Cave City. He published the four-page, Democratic paper on Fridays to a circulation of less than 500, out of a town of less than 300. Despite challenges from publishing news encompassing a large rural area, the Record was described by other newspaper men as "a magnificent news gatherer." In 1881, Buckley established another county paper, the Izard County Register (1881-19??), in the next county over, in the city of Melbourne. Buckley became editor for the Register and hired David Craige in 1882 to manage the Record in Evening Shade.

Craige had moved to northeastern Arkansas in 1852, where he worked at half a dozen newspapers during his lifetime. Craige took only brief breaks from the newspaper business, working as a farmer only after his paper folded due to the Civil War. At various times, he took work breaks for his health, which had always been poor. Craige returned to work after one of his health hiatuses to manage the Sharp County Record for Buckley. In 1885, Buckley sold the Record and the Register, and Craige moved from the Record in Evening Shade over to the Register in Melbourne. The Register was the first paper Craige owned, and he remained there until his death in 1907.

Over in Evening Shade, E. G. Henderson purchased the Record from Buckley and ran it for a decade. Henderson learned the printing trade at a newspaper in Little Rock. After moving to Evening Shade, he worked first at the Sharp County Herald as the compositor setting type keys. He later bought the paper and served as editor. In 1874, with co-owner J. W. Clarke, they renamed the paper the North Arkansas Democrat. Their paper ceased publication in 1876, and Henderson joined the Record as associate editor in 1879. Henderson held several additional jobs during this time, working as postmaster, grocer, stationer, and county treasurer.

Henderson sold the Record in 1896 to Claude Lee Coger, who, at 17 years old, served as publisher and editor. Coger ran the Record for more than twenty years. In 1914 he ran the Batesville Guard (1877-1932) for a few months after its editor took a break due to ill health. In his absence, his nephew, Marcel Samuel Coger, ran the Record. Marcel was born the same year Claude bought the Record. After Claude returned, he and Marcel ran the Record together for the rest of the year. In 1915 Claude resumed editing the paper alone. In 1919, Coger moved to Hardy, selling the Record at Evening Shade, and purchasing the Hardy Herald (1891-1936). Owen Caruth Shaver took over the Record in 1919. Shaver had previously worked as a schoolteacher and farmer. The Record continued publication through the 1970s to serve the small-town mountain communities in southwestern Sharp County.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87091045/.

In late-nineteenth-century Arkansas, women's voting rights gained traction as one of the leading political issues. Little Rock quickly became the hub of the state's suffrage movement, since it was the state capital and Pulaski County seat, making it the center of the state both politically and geographically. The first major publication to advocate for women's suffrage in Arkansas was the Ladies' Little Rock Journal, started by Mary Ann Webster Loughborough in 1884. The Journal was also the first Arkansas newspaper started by a woman and written for a female audience.

Before launching her newspaper, Mary Ann Loughborough had published a popular book of her first-hand experience at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War. Her husband, James Moore Loughborough, served as a major in the Confederate Army, and Mary Ann and their daughter Jean moved with him to his various duty stations. Mary Ann kept a diary during the Vicksburg siege, which she later turned into the book My Cave Life in Vicksburg, published in 1864. After the Civil War, the Loughboroughs moved to Little Rock, where James died in 1876.

In 1884 Mary Ann Loughborough launched her newspaper, first publishing the Ladies' Little Rock Journal as part of another local newspaper, the Rural and Workman (1884-1???), a paper for farmers, mechanics, and workmen. By August 1884, she moved to publishing the Journal as a stand-alone paper, rearranging the title to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal. The Journal was a lengthy publication, typically running at 12 or more pages, issued every Saturday. Loughborough had several women writing for the paper, including her daughter, Jean Moore Loughborough, and Ellen Maria Harrell Cantrell. The Journal was unique among newspapers in the South for focusing not only on women's concerns, but also advocating for political issues like women's suffrage at a time when many were against women's voting rights.

The Journal's name changes over the years reflected its growth and increased reach, progressing from the Ladies' Little Rock Journal to the Little Rock Ladies' Journal to the Arkansas Ladies' Journal, and finally the Southern Ladies' Journal. Along with the expanded coverage indicated by the name change to the Southern Ladies' Journal in 1886, Loughborough planned to expand the paper itself by increasing the number of pages while publishing it twice a month rather than every week. However, the Journal's run ended unexpectedly in 1887 after her sudden illness and death.

Despite its early end, Loughborough's newspaper inspired the opening of the Woman's Chronicle (1888-1???), the next year. Catherine Campbell Cuningham, Mary Burt Brooks, and Haryot Holt Cahoon created the Chronicle to continue Loughborough's work for the women of the state. In its inaugural issue, it reported that the Journal had died with Loughborough, and they hoped to fill the void left behind so that the "daughters of Arkansas … should have and take pride in a paper all their own." The Chronicle, like the Journal, was a strong supporter of women's suffrage. Unfortunately, like the Southern Ladies' Journal, the Chronicle lasted less than five years before it ceased publication due to Cuningham's ill health.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050095/.

Helena is along the Mississippi River in Phillips County in eastern Arkansas. Currently, Helena is combined with West Helena as the county seat, though the two were founded as separate towns. West Helena began nearby as a railroad town incorporated in 1917. Helena and West Helena were fully united in 2006 into Helena-West Helena.

The area of Helena was originally part of a Spanish land grant settled by Sylvanus Phillips in 1815. The county was later named after Phillips, who died in 1830. Helena was incorporated in 1833 and named after Phillips' daughter, Helena Phillips, who died at age 15 just a year after her father's death. Helena was prosperous due to the port on the Mississippi River at the eastern edge of town. The northern border is Crowley's Ridge, on the west is the flat Mississippi floodplain, and to the south are lowland cypress swamps and oxbow lakes. As a steamboat stop between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg, Mississippi, Helena experienced early growth. Later, cotton plantations and the timber industry were the main economic pursuits. By the mid-1850s, Helena had three newspapers, six private schools, and many social groups.

In 1840, Quincy K. Underwood, Sr. and his brother Washington L. Underwood established the Southern Shield in Helena. They published under the Q.K. Underwood & Bro. Publishing group, with Quincy Underwood acting as editor. Washington Underwood died in 1851, and Quincy continued on with the paper. Over the years, Quincy acted variously as sole publisher and in conjunction with others like Taylor and Wilkins. The Southern Shield suspended publication during the Civil War after secessionists burned Underwood's newspaper office in 1861. This was in retaliation for supporting a unified United States in his newspaper. He restarted the paper soon after the Civil War ended. Underwood remained with his paper until it ceased publication in 1874. Two years later, Underwood died in his home in West Helena in his mid-50s.

The Shield ran as a weekly paper and was typically published on Saturdays. The paper supported the Whig party, of which Underwood was a prominent member. Underwood was well-regarded nationally and supported by politicians who recommended him for various political offices. In a letter addressed to President Abraham Lincoln, Richard W. Thompson (Indiana congressman and later Secretary of the Navy) commended Underwood and wanted to appoint him as military governor of Arkansas. In other praise of Underwood, a Pittsburg newspaper wrote an article in support of making Underwood a U.S. Senator representing Arkansas. Despite these commendations, the only office Underwood appears to have held was as probate and county judge in Phillips County.

Ozark, one of the oldest cities in Arkansas, was founded in 1836 in the northwestern part of the state. The city was established at the northernmost bend in the Arkansas River, which creates the southern border of the city. The river gave the city its name, from the French "Aux Arc," which means "at the bend." The city is bordered on the north by the Ozark Mountains and is part of Arkansas Highway 23, also called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway. Ozark was incorporated in 1850 and, along with Charleston, is one of the two county seats in Franklin County.

Ozark opened its first post office in 1837, built a courthouse by 1840, and obtained its first telegraph in 1862 during the Civil War. By 1888, Ozark had a railroad and its first industrial business: a vegetable canning factory. Compared to these early businesses, The Spectator newspaper opened late in the history of Ozark. The Spectator was founded in 1911 by R. H. Burrow, who also owned three other newspapers. Burrow claimed he began running his first paper without any newspaper experience, and he had to learn as he worked. He passed down this knowledge to his daughter, Elizabeth A. Burrow, who eventually became part owner and editor for the Spectator.

The Spectator was published twice per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, which led to its unofficial moniker, the Twice-a-Week Spectator. The paper changed names briefly in 1916 to The Ozark Spectator, when Burrow published the paper with Edward F. Cox. Cox managed the paper while Burrow was busy in Alma, Arkansas working as an editor for a paper there. Cox published the paper on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In 1917, the paper returned to being published solely by Burrow and was again named The Spectator. Although many papers preceded the Spectator's arrival in Ozark, The Spectator is the only paper still in existence from Ozark's early history.

The Spectator published local, national, and international news. The paper published daily schedules for Ozark's four passenger trains and entertainment news about the Ozark Opera House. The Spectator informed its readers of the Democratic nominees for local and national appointment. It reported on major international events, such as World War I, and advertised American war propaganda films. It also published chapters of various novels for readers to follow, along with entertaining fictional stories.

The nationally renowned editor, Elizabeth A. Burrow, worked for the Spectator for 30 years. She reported the news in the local area and gave editorial comment. She held to her beliefs on right and wrong and conveyed them to the Spectator's audience even when her opinions were divisive or unpopular. In 1957 she won a National Editorial Association award for her editorial defending the admission of African Americans to the Ozark high school. She wrote that the Ozark community was responsible for all of its citizens, regardless of color. She described the people protesting about desegregation of the school as "a malignancy worse than my cancer and I wouldn't swap with you." In 1962 Elizabeth Burrow did pass away from cancer, but she left a lasting mark on Ozark through her work at The Spectator.

Ozark, one of the oldest cities in Arkansas, was founded in 1836 in the northwestern part of the state. The city was established at the northernmost bend in the Arkansas River, which creates the southern border of the city. The river gave the city its name, from the French "Aux Arc," which means "at the bend." The city is bordered on the north by the Ozark Mountains and is part of Arkansas Highway 23, also called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway. Ozark was incorporated in 1850 and, along with Charleston, is one of the two county seats in Franklin County.

Ozark opened its first post office in 1837, built a courthouse by 1840, and obtained its first telegraph in 1862 during the Civil War. By 1888, Ozark had a railroad and its first industrial business: a vegetable canning factory. Compared to these early businesses, The Spectator newspaper opened late in the history of Ozark. The Spectator was founded in 1911 by R. H. Burrow, who also owned three other newspapers. Burrow claimed he began running his first paper without any newspaper experience, and he had to learn as he worked. He passed down this knowledge to his daughter, Elizabeth A. Burrow, who eventually became part owner and editor for the Spectator.

The Spectator was published twice per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, which led to its unofficial moniker, the Twice-a-Week Spectator. The paper changed names briefly in 1916 to The Ozark Spectator, when Burrow published the paper with Edward F. Cox. Cox managed the paper while Burrow was busy in Alma, Arkansas working as an editor for a paper there. Cox published the paper on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In 1917, the paper returned to being published solely by Burrow and was again named The Spectator. Although many papers preceded the Spectator's arrival in Ozark, The Spectator is the only paper still in existence from Ozark's early history.

The Spectator published local, national, and international news. The paper published daily schedules for Ozark's four passenger trains and entertainment news about the Ozark Opera House. The Spectator informed its readers of the Democratic nominees for local and national appointment. It reported on major international events, such as World War I, and advertised American war propaganda films. It also published chapters of various novels for readers to follow, along with entertaining fictional stories.

The nationally renowned editor, Elizabeth A. Burrow, worked for the Spectator for 30 years. She reported the news in the local area and gave editorial comment. She held to her beliefs on right and wrong and conveyed them to the Spectator's audience even when her opinions were divisive or unpopular. In 1957 she won a National Editorial Association award for her editorial defending the admission of African Americans to the Ozark high school. She wrote that the Ozark community was responsible for all of its citizens, regardless of color. She described the people protesting about desegregation of the school as "a malignancy worse than my cancer and I wouldn't swap with you." In 1962 Elizabeth Burrow did pass away from cancer, but she left a lasting mark on Ozark through her work at The Spectator.

The city of Springdale stretches over two counties, Washington and Benton, in northwest Arkansas. Springdale attracted European settlers in the early 1800s due to the abundance of natural resources. Many of the first homes and the town church burned during the Civil War. In 1881, the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad built a track through town and Springdale began shipping out carloads of fruit. By the 1930s, Springdale businesses included a roller mill, grape juice plant, winery, distillery, and canneries. In 1924, Joe Steele founded the Steele Canning Company, which became one of the largest private canning companies in the world. Another largescale business founded in Springdale, the Tyson Foods Company, began in the 1930s under John Tyson. By 1940, Arkansas was the largest producer of chicken in the United States.

John Pleasant Stafford worked as an apprentice at the first newspaper in Springdale, the Springdale Enterprise, in the early 1880s (1881-1883). In 1887, he purchased The Arkansas Locomotive (1886-1887) in Springdale. Later that year, he started his own paper, The Springdale News. Stafford was only 18 years old when he established the News and was said to be the youngest newspaper publisher in Arkansas. Stafford's first office for the News had only a few fonts, a cheap job press, and an "army" press in a 14-foot square room in a frame building downtown. In 1890, he installed a typewriter. Stafford found it difficult to collect money from his advertisers and subscribers. To remedy this, he accepted goods like loads of wood to heat his office in exchange for newspapers.

In addition to running the paper, Stafford was involved in the community by serving on boards of local organizations and performing in the city band. He also worked in state government and served two terms in the state legislature. In 1929, he was elected president of the Arkansas Press Association. Stafford had seven children, all of whom worked at the paper over the years. John Stafford died in 1933, and his son Edward "Marty" Stafford took over as editor of the News.

The Springdale News was originally a four-page paper published weekly. The paper published a daily edition for a short run, but it quickly returned to the once-a-week publication schedule. The News again temporarily published daily editions in 1898 to report telegraphed news from the Spanish-American War. In 1904 and 1909, Stafford attempted publishing the News twice a week, but not until 1928 did the News consistently appear twice a week every week. The most popular section of the paper was the information from correspondents around Arkansas who reported news from their cities, including Johnson, Spring Valley, and Elm Springs.

In 1990, The Springdale News became The Morning News (1990-1994). In 1994, the paper merged with the Northwest Arkansas Morning News (1978-1994) to form The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas (1994-current), which is still in publication.

Arkansas County, in southeastern Arkansas, was one of the first counties established in Arkansas Territory. It is part of the Mississippi River Delta region, one of the most agriculturally productive areas in the world. The county's economy is dominated by agriculture: mainly cotton, rice, and soybeans.

Stuttgart is in the northwestern part of Arkansas County and serves as the county seat. The Buerkle family, German immigrants, founded the town and later started one of its first newspapers. Martin Buerkle, Sr., and George Adam Buerkle (Adam) were brothers from Stuttgart, Germany, who both became ministers in the Lutheran church. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Buerkle brothers moved to the American Midwest, and while living in Ohio, Adam Buerkle decided to search for a new place to grow his congregation. In 1876 the brothers purchased 20,000 acres of land in the Grand Prairie region of Arkansas. While Martin Buerkle, Sr., remained in Ohio, Adam moved to the newly purchased land, bringing many of his parishioners from Ohio and inviting other German Lutherans from the Midwest to join his settlement in Arkansas.

In 1880 Adam Buerkle was appointed the first postmaster for the area and ran the post office out of his house. He named the post office Stuttgart, after the brothers' hometown in Germany. In 1883 a railroad company built tracks adjacent to the Buerkle land. Despite the proximity, the mail trains would not stop to deliver mail to the Stuttgart post office. To remedy this, Adam built a shack right next to the railroad tracks to host the post office, which became the first building in the future town of Stuttgart. Stuttgart was incorporated in 1889, and many of the first residents were German farmers. By 1900 there were several factories, mills, and other businesses in town.

In 1894, Martin J. Buerkle, Sr., finally moved with his family from Ohio to Stuttgart, Arkansas. In 1895, his son, Martin Buerkle, Jr., began the Stuttgart Germania. The Germania was an independent, 4-page German-language newspaper published every Thursday to serve Stuttgart's immigrant population. In 1900, Martin Jr. died, and his father and brother, Louis K. Buerkle, took charge of the Germania. At that time, the paper had a circulation of about 850 in a town with a population of almost 1,200. By 1905 the Germania's subscribers had grown to 900, a number comparable to the subscription rate of other Stuttgart newspapers. Though the Germania was listed as an independent paper, Louis Buerkle was elected to the state legislature in 1908 as a Democrat. Louis was also active in fraternal organizations and agricultural societies, in addition to conducting extensive operations growing rice, one of the most profitable crops in the area. The Germania was discontinued in 1913, when Louis became postmaster of Stuttgart and Martin Sr.'s eyesight was too poor to continue the work alone.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90050234/.

Malvern, the Hot Spring County seat, is located on the Ouachita River in southwestern Arkansas. In 1829, the territorial legislature created Hot Spring County out of land from Clark County. Situated southeast of the Ouachita National Forest, Malvern lies on a geologic fault line, resulting in a variety of rock types and the natural hot springs for which it was named. However, in 1873, the creation of Garland County took land from Hot Spring County, leaving it with only one hot spring near Magnet Cove.

In 1873, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad established the railroad station that grew into the city of Malvern. Malvern was incorporated in 1876 and became the county seat in 1878. Malvern's economy benefitted from access to the railroad as well as the abundant mineral and agricultural resources nearby. It went on to be known as the "Brick Capital of the World" because local companies used the abundant clay for brick production. One of the earliest mass producers of brick in the area was the Atchison Brick Company, started in the early 1890s.

In 1892, Samuel Henry Emerson created The Times-Journal by consolidating The Arkansas Times (1892-1893) and The Arkansas State Journal (1888-1893) in Malvern. The Times-Journal was a Democratic paper published once a week with a circulation of over 400 people. Over the years, the title alternated between The Times-Journal and the Malvern Times Journal.

Prior to his newspaper work, Emerson had enlisted as a Confederate soldier in 1861 at the age of 14. He went on to serve in many of the major Civil War battles under Robert E. Lee. After moving to Malvern, Emerson owned the first dry goods store in the area. When Malvern was incorporated in 1876, Emerson won the city's first mayoral election. He also served as postmaster and representative for the county legislature. Emerson worked at The Times-Journal until 1901, when he sold it to Claude Mann. In 1911, Emerson bought the Malvern Meteor (1911-1932), stating he missed working in the newspaper business after selling The Times-Journal a decade earlier.

Mann took over the Times-Journal in 1901, by which point the paper had over 800 subscribers. Mann edited and published the paper for decades. Like Emerson, he was also active in political and civic life. Mann served as a member of the state legislature, acted as secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee of Hot Spring County, and became a member on the Board of Election Commissioners. In Malvern, Mann was the City Recorder, postmaster, and mayor. In 1915, Mann was elected president of the Arkansas Press Association. While president, he endorsed women's suffrage and helped the Association create a suffrage resolution. In 1922, Mann was one of the founding members of the Malvern Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chapter.

In 1932, Mann purchased the Malvern Meteor and consolidated it with the Times Journal to form the Meteor Journal (1932-1988). He published the Meteor Journal until his death in 1938.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051238/.

Malvern, the Hot Spring County seat, is located on the Ouachita River in southwestern Arkansas. In 1829, the territorial legislature created Hot Spring County out of land from Clark County. Situated southeast of the Ouachita National Forest, Malvern lies on a geologic fault line, resulting in a variety of rock types and the natural hot springs for which it was named. However, in 1873, the creation of Garland County took land from Hot Spring County, leaving it with only one hot spring near Magnet Cove.

In 1873, the Cairo and Fulton Railroad established the railroad station that grew into the city of Malvern. Malvern was incorporated in 1876 and became the county seat in 1878. Malvern's economy benefitted from access to the railroad as well as the abundant mineral and agricultural resources nearby. It went on to be known as the "Brick Capital of the World" because local companies used the abundant clay for brick production. One of the earliest mass producers of brick in the area was the Atchison Brick Company, started in the early 1890s.

In 1892, Samuel Henry Emerson created The Times-Journal by consolidating The Arkansas Times (1892-1893) and  The Arkansas State Journal (1888-1893) in Malvern. The Times-Journal was a Democratic paper published once a week with a circulation of over 400 people. Over the years, the title alternated between The Times-Journal and the Malvern Times Journal.

Prior to his newspaper work, Emerson had enlisted as a Confederate soldier in 1861 at the age of 14. He went on to serve in many of the major Civil War battles under Robert E. Lee. After moving to Malvern, Emerson owned the first dry goods store in the area. When Malvern was incorporated in 1876, Emerson won the city's first mayoral election. He also served as postmaster and representative for the county legislature. Emerson worked at The Times-Journal until 1901, when he sold it to Claude Mann. In 1911, Emerson bought the Malvern Meteor (1911-1932), stating he missed working in the newspaper business after selling The Times-Journal a decade earlier.

Mann took over the Times-Journal in 1901, by which point the paper had over 800 subscribers. Mann edited and published the paper for decades. Like Emerson, he was also active in political and civic life. Mann served as a member of the state legislature, acted as secretary of the Democratic County Central Committee of Hot Spring County, and became a member on the Board of Election Commissioners. In Malvern, Mann was the City Recorder, postmaster, and mayor. In 1915, Mann was elected president of the Arkansas Press Association. While president, he endorsed women's suffrage and helped the Association create a suffrage resolution. In 1922, Mann was one of the founding members of the Malvern Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chapter.

In 1932, Mann purchased the Malvern Meteor and consolidated it with the Times Journal to form the Meteor Journal (1932-1988). He published the  Meteor Journal until his death in 1938.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051240/. 

Before the Iron Mountain Railway reached Southwest Arkansas, Nevada County was primarily a sparsely populated agricultural settlement near the Little Missouri River. It was the 63^rd county in Arkansas, formed during Reconstruction from lands previously in Hempstead, Ouachita, and Columbia counties. Prescott, the county seat, is 100 miles southwest of Little Rock.

The first post office opened in Prescott in November 1873. Two years later, The Prescott Banner, Nevada County's first newspaper, was established by brothers, Eugene E. and W. B. White. Over the next two years, the paper's name changed three times, from The Prescott Banner to the Prescott Clipper. Eugene E. White also opened the Nevada Picayune on February 14, 1878 as editor. He remained until he left for Hot Springs in 1883 to open the Daily Herald. At that point, his brother, W. B. White, took over the paper.

The Nevada Picayune was both a democratic and populist paper over its tenure. It had a seven-column folio and was printed on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In January 1906, editor C. B. Andrews lost everything in a fire that destroyed the newspaper office. Employing the honor system, Andrews asked all subscribers and debtors to contact him. He reopened the Picayune in the Brooks building on East Front Street.

The most notable Picayune employee was Fredrick W. Allsopp. He worked for free at the Nevada County Picayune for thirteen weeks in the printing department before moving to Little Rock to begin his 40-year career at The Arkansas Gazette. From the mailroom, Allsopp worked his way up to Secretary and Business Manager of the statewide newspaper before building a hotel, opening a bookstore, and publishing five books.

The Nevada Picayune closed its doors in September 2018, after 140 years of publication.

The True Democrat (1852-7) was first printed on September 7, 1852, in Little Rock, Arkansas by owners and publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes, with Johnson serving as editor. Its preceding title, the Arkansas Democratic Banner (1851-2), was changed to the True Democrat for political reasons. The new publishers described the reason for the name change as "renewed assurances of fidelity to the noble principles of our party... we unfurl to our patrons and the public--'THE TRUE DEMOCRAT.'" The True Democrat and its successors--Arkansas True Democrat (1857-62) and True Democrat (1862-3)--were published as weeklies. Daily editions were published for a short time, including the Daily True Democrat (1861) and the True Democrat Bulletin (1862-?), but these editions ended due to financial constraints and lack of support.

Like most antebellum newspapers in Little Rock, the True Democrat focused on politics. It supported the Democratic Party, and during the 1860 elections supported former editor Johnson for Governor and John Cabell Breckinridge for President. Both candidates lost, and Johnson returned to his position as editor after the elections. When political events escalated into the Civil War, Arkansas officially seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861, to join the Confederate States of America. In early 1862, Johnson published relatively up-to-date information on the war by coordinating with and receiving reports from soldiers in various Arkansas regiments. This arrangement ended when military officials ordered soldiers to cease disclosing military activities. Johnson reported that "our military leaders wisely keep their own counsels, and we content ourself [sic] with chronicling the result when it happens, instead of the intentions which may be lost by a premature disclosure."

Throughout the Civil War, newspapers in Arkansas struggled to overcome shortages of personnel and paper. On April 3, 1862, Johnson calculated that "by issuing on a half-sheet we will have paper enough for twelve months." For the True Democrat, the paper shortage was compounded by financial difficulties caused by the high number of delinquent subscribers. In July 1863, the number of True Democrat readers was estimated at 20,000 with only 10,000 subscribers. The publishers attempted to save the newspaper by using a paper supplier in Georgia, but this plan failed when shipments could no longer cross the Mississippi River due to the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. The True Democrat ran out of paper, and on July 8, 1863, the True Democrat published its last issue on wrapping paper. The newspaper did not resume after the war.

The True Democrat (1852-7) was first printed on September 7, 1852, in Little Rock, Arkansas by owners and publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes, with Johnson serving as editor. Its preceding title, the Arkansas Democratic Banner (1851-2), was changed to the True Democrat for political reasons. The new publishers described the reason for the name change as "renewed assurances of fidelity to the noble principles of our party... we unfurl to our patrons and the public--'THE TRUE DEMOCRAT.'" The True Democrat and its successors--Arkansas True Democrat (1857-62) and True Democrat (1862-3)--were published as weeklies. Daily editions were published for a short time, including the Daily True Democrat (1861) and the True Democrat Bulletin (1862-?), but these editions ended due to financial constraints and lack of support.

Like most antebellum newspapers in Little Rock, the True Democrat focused on politics. It supported the Democratic Party, and during the 1860 elections supported former editor Johnson for Governor and John Cabell Breckinridge for President. Both candidates lost, and Johnson returned to his position as editor after the elections. When political events escalated into the Civil War, Arkansas officially seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861, to join the Confederate States of America. In early 1862, Johnson published relatively up-to-date information on the war by coordinating with and receiving reports from soldiers in various Arkansas regiments. This arrangement ended when military officials ordered soldiers to cease disclosing military activities. Johnson reported that "our military leaders wisely keep their own counsels, and we content ourself [sic] with chronicling the result when it happens, instead of the intentions which may be lost by a premature disclosure."

Throughout the Civil War, newspapers in Arkansas struggled to overcome shortages of personnel and paper. On April 3, 1862, Johnson calculated that "by issuing on a half-sheet we will have paper enough for twelve months." For the True Democrat, the paper shortage was compounded by financial difficulties caused by the high number of delinquent subscribers. In July 1863, the number of True Democrat readers was estimated at 20,000 with only 10,000 subscribers. The publishers attempted to save the newspaper by using a paper supplier in Georgia, but this plan failed when shipments could no longer cross the Mississippi River due to the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. The True Democrat ran out of paper, and on July 8, 1863, the True Democrat published its last issue on wrapping paper. The newspaper did not resume after the war.

The True Democrat (1852-7) was first printed on September 7, 1852, in Little Rock, Arkansas by owners and publishers Richard Henry Johnson and Reuben S. Yerkes, with Johnson serving as editor. Its preceding title, the Arkansas Democratic Banner (1851-2), was changed to the True Democrat for political reasons. The new publishers described the reason for the name change as "renewed assurances of fidelity to the noble principles of our party... we unfurl to our patrons and the public--'THE TRUE DEMOCRAT.'" The True Democrat and its successors--Arkansas True Democrat (1857-62) and True Democrat (1862-3)--were published as weeklies. Daily editions were published for a short time, including the Daily True Democrat (1861) and the True Democrat Bulletin (1862-?), but these editions ended due to financial constraints and lack of support.

Like most antebellum newspapers in Little Rock, the True Democrat focused on politics. It supported the Democratic Party, and during the 1860 elections supported former editor Johnson for Governor and John Cabell Breckinridge for President. Both candidates lost, and Johnson returned to his position as editor after the elections. When political events escalated into the Civil War, Arkansas officially seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861, to join the Confederate States of America. In early 1862, Johnson published relatively up-to-date information on the war by coordinating with and receiving reports from soldiers in various Arkansas regiments. This arrangement ended when military officials ordered soldiers to cease disclosing military activities. Johnson reported that "our military leaders wisely keep their own counsels, and we content ourself [sic] with chronicling the result when it happens, instead of the intentions which may be lost by a premature disclosure."

Throughout the Civil War, newspapers in Arkansas struggled to overcome shortages of personnel and paper. On April 3, 1862, Johnson calculated that "by issuing on a half-sheet we will have paper enough for twelve months." For the True Democrat, the paper shortage was compounded by financial difficulties caused by the high number of delinquent subscribers. In July 1863, the number of True Democrat readers was estimated at 20,000 with only 10,000 subscribers. The publishers attempted to save the newspaper by using a paper supplier in Georgia, but this plan failed when shipments could no longer cross the Mississippi River due to the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863. The True Democrat ran out of paper, and on July 8, 1863, the True Democrat published its last issue on wrapping paper. The newspaper did not resume after the war.

Little Rock is the Pulaski County seat and Arkansas state capital, situated in the center of the state along the Arkansas River. Within the city, West 9^th Street was the center of the Black community during the early to mid-1900s. Due to segregation laws after the Civil War, 9^th Street became known as "the Line" separating Black and white communities. The street was home to many Black churches, businesses, and community centers and was surrounded by Black neighborhoods. One of the most well-known Black fraternal organizations, the Mosaic Templars of America (MTA), was located there, along with one of the popular churches in the Black community, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.

The Twin City Press newspaper began on 9^th Street in 1937, founded by the Clayborn brothers, John Henry Clayborn, Jr. and Charles A. Clayborn. They published the Press once a week, operating their printing plant in the Mosaic Templar Building. The paper was established to bring news to the Black community, and according to the publisher's block the paper was "nonpolitical, nonsectarian, independent, clean progressive, and constructive." It also advised that it was "for those who are for us but not against those who are against us. Supports all things worth supporting." The Press printed local, state, and national news, with special attention paid to education and religion. It had a page in each issue dedicated as a Woman's Page and another page for Sports. The Woman's Page included news about social events, religious events, and clubs.

At the start, John Clayborn, Jr. and Charles Clayborn had assistance with the paper from their father, John Henry Clayborn, Sr. Some sources reported that Clayborn, Sr. founded the Press, but the paper itself credited the Clayborn brothers as founders. Clayborn, Sr. had newspaper experience, as he was the editor and manager of the Southern Christian Recorder (1889–1946) from 1931 to 1938. The Recorder was a newspaper put out by the AME Church, circulated nationwide and in multiple countries.

Charles Clayborn died the same year the paper was founded, and John Clayborn, Jr. died a few years later in 1939. The Press was carried on by the Southern Recorder Publishing Company set up by Clayborn, Sr. while he ran the Recorder. By 1940, the publishing company consisted of David T. Clayborn (brother of Charles and John Clayborn, Jr.) as the manager, Emory Overton Jackson as editor, Mrs. O. T. Hatcher (also sometimes listing herself as Mrs. E. C. Hatcher under her husband's name) as the general manager, and S. M. Ballard as advertising manager. The Press's headquarters moved to the Clayborn Building at 923 West 9^th Street. The building was owned by Clayborn, Sr. and his son David T. Clayborn, the Press's manager at that point.

The Twin City Press had a sister paper, the Pine Bluff Press (hyperlink to https://www.loc.gov/item/sn93050474/) (19??-19??), published in nearby Pine Bluff, Jefferson County. The papers had entirely different staff members, but had matching mastheads, taglines ("Here to Serve – for Race Uplift"), newspaper format, and shared many of the same news stories and segments. The Twin City offices also took care of arranging advertisements in the Pine Bluff Press newspaper, as the Pine Bluff Press told its advertisers to make their checks payable to the Twin City Press.

The Twin City Press ceased publication in 1940, but its equipment continued to be used. The printing plant was leased by Black civil rights pioneers Lucious Christopher Bates and Daisy Lee Gatson Bates, which they used to start the Arkansas State Press (hyperlink to https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025840/) (1941–1959) in 1941. They credited their predecessors, printing on the masthead that the State Press was formerly the Twin City Press.

As of this writing, there is only one surviving issue of the Press. This is the case for many Black newspapers, as past archival organizations were often neglectful of preserving the Black community's written heritage, and the newspapers did not survive. When newspapers disappear, Black voices are forever lost, leaving a large gap in the understanding of our history.

For more information about this title visit, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn92050007/.

Van Buren, the Crawford County seat, is in northwest Arkansas near Fort Smith and the Oklahoma border. It sits on the northern bank of the Arkansas River, just south of the Ozark Mountains. Van Buren was one of the earliest ports and trading centers in Arkansas due to its position on the river. Later, the introduction of railroads continued to support the mercantile city. Van Buren was a strategic location in Arkansas during the Civil War, with nine military exercises in the city. Union forces captured it in December 1862.

Joseph Starr Dunham founded the Van Buren Press in 1859. He owned and edited the paper until his death in 1912. Dunham was from Connecticut. At the age of 13, he apprenticed to his uncle, William Duncan Starr, to learn the printing trade. In 1859, he left Connecticut and moved to Van Buren, where he started the Press by midyear. His son, Joseph Starr Dunham, Jr. worked at the Press briefly in its later years before his death in 1888. Carl H. Schuppe also helped produce the paper.

The Press was a Democratic paper published every Wednesday. Toward the end of its first year, the paper moved to Fridays in response to the closure of the Arkansas Intelligencer (1842-1859), which had published on Fridays in Van Buren. After the Intelligencer closed, the Press was the only paper running out of Van Buren until the mid-1870s. By 1900, the Press had a circulation of 550.

In its early years, the Press was largely concerned with the politics and events leading up to the Civil War. At its founding, abolition was the foremost topic and it reported on "Abolition incendiaries." Referring to the abolitionist leader who led a deadly raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859, the paper railed against a "systematic Abolition party secret propaganda for arousing insurrection among the slaves in the various Southern States, a movement of which John Brown was considered an intelligent member." The Press worked to keep Arkansans up to date on local and national movements so that Arkansans could best decide whether to secede from the Union. In 1860, the Press reported that "it is certain that Abraham Lincoln, 'the rail-splitter,' is elected President … Examine well this subject of a Southern Confederacy, fellow-citizens,—carefully and practically, without prejudice, and we are willing to abide by your decision."

During the Civil War, it was difficult to obtain paper shipments, and the Press began printing on whatever paper product it could find, including wrapping paper and wallpaper. The 1862 edition covering the Battle of Shiloh was one of the issues printed on the reverse side of wallpaper. Later that year, the Press finally paused publication due to the lack of available paper and wallpaper. When Union forces captured Van Buren in December 1862, they destroyed the newspaper's office, among other things in the city. By 1866, after the war ended and regular trade resumed, the Press was running again.

However, one more disaster would strike the Press. In December 1892, the Press's newspaper office burned. The Press only missed publishing two issues and was quickly back in print. Dunham filed a copy of each issue at his house, so that the full run of the paper survived despite two destructions of the newspaper office.

The Press was the only paper in Northwest Arkansas to support Elisha Baxter during the Brooks-Baxter War for governorship of Arkansas. The Press's support of Baxter caused the creation of another paper, the Van Buren Argus (1875-1906), to speak for the people who had supported Joseph Brooks and his faction of Republicanism. George Thayer and his brother-in-law John Cass started the Argus in 1875 with Granville Wilcox as editor. The political rivalry between the papers led to some spirited editorial debates between the Press and Argus.

In 1912, after Dunham's death, Robert S. Knott took over the paper. When he retired, his son Clifford Knott ran the Press, and then R. D. Holbrook. Finally, Frank Anderson purchased it in 1914. Anderson also owned the Van Buren Weekly Argus (1906-1914), and he combined the two papers on July 18, 1914, into the Van Buren Press-Argus (1914-1928).

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022991/.

Washington, in southwestern Arkansas, was the first Hempstead County seat. During the Civil War, Washington became Arkansas's Confederate capital in 1863 after Little Rock was taken by Union forces. When railroads were built in the county, they bypassed Washington and instead stopped at a nearby railroad station, which grew into the new town of Hope. In 1939, Hope replaced Washington as the Hempstead County seat.

In 1839, William Henry Etter founded the Washington Telegraph. The previous year, Etter had moved to Washington from Pennsylvania, bringing a "meager" printing press with him. The Telegraph was the first Arkansas paper published southwest of Little Rock. At that time, Washington had a population of about 400, and there were only five post offices in Hempstead County. For the first several years, the Telegraph was politically independent, but it later supported and was influential in the Whig Party. Once the Whig party disintegrated in the 1850s, it became a Democratic paper. One famous citizen in Washington was recognized by the Telegraph in 1841. The paper reported that more than a decade before, local blacksmith James Black made the first bowie knife used by James Bowie. The Etter family was involved in the publication of the Telegraph throughout its 100-year run, bringing on many editors and managers over the years.

John Rogers Eakin was a lawyer and editor of the Telegraph in the leadup to and during the Civil War. Wyatt C. Thomas, an eccentric character, helped publish the Telegraph from 1859-1860. R. C. Brady was the publisher during the war. The Telegraph was the only newspaper in Arkansas that continued publishing throughout the Civil War. Before the Civil War, Eakin was opposed to secession and used the Telegraph to espouse his position. However, after the Battle of Fort Sumpter ignited the war in 1861, Eakin advocated for Southern secession. When the Confederate State Government of Arkansas fled to Washington, the Telegraph was given the state printing contract, making it the official organ of the Arkansas Confederacy. Due to the paper shortage during the war, the Telegraph was printed on anything available, including wallpaper. Despite all the difficulties, the paper printed a "first class history of the struggle, especially inside the Confederate lines."

While Eakin was running the Telegraph, Etter was likewise working for the state. In 1865 Etter was deployed to Texas and Mexico as a state agent to procure supplies for destitute Arkansans. Upon his return to Arkansas in the final week of the Civil War, he was arrested by federal troops. Etter was jailed in Texas, where he contracted pneumonia and died.

Eakin left the Telegraph in 1866 after carrying it through the Civil War when he was elected to the State Legislature. Eakin served in the 1874 constitutional convention that wrote the charter that still governs Arkansas today. In 1878, he was elected to the Supreme Court where he worked to protect the rights of women.

In the late 1860s and 1870s, William Henry Etter's sons, John Phillip Etter, William Henry Etter, Jr., and Robert Benjamin Etter, published the Telegraph. In 1872 and 1873, Joel Elias Borden was the editor and sometimes publisher. Borden was part of the law firm of Borden & Mitchell with Charles E. Mitchell.

Later editors included Daniel Webster Jones, who became Governor of Arkansas around the turn of the nineteenth century. In 1894, Sam H. Williams joined the paper. The following year Williams worked alongside William Spencer Eakin. A lawyer, William Eakin was the son of John Rogers Eakin. James William Ellis alternated with Eakin running the paper for a few years. In the 1890s, Mrs. C. E. Ratcliffe was the editor and Zeldah Matlack publisher. While working at the Telegraph, Ratcliffe was elected as Poet for the Arkansas Press Association in 1895. By the turn of the century, William Henry Etter III was running the paper alone.

In 1918, the Telegraph brought on Julian Gold as editor. When Gold purchased the paper, the newspaper office consisted mostly of a Washington hand press and 50 pounds of worn type. During his time at the Telegraph, he purchased a power press, folder, several jobbers, typesetting machine, new type, and mailing machine. Gold temporarily leased the paper to Curtis Cannon and Roy Harrison in 1920, but he quickly returned to manage and edit the paper. In 1921, Autrey Young briefly worked as editor.

The year after the county seat moved from Washington to Hope in 1939, the Telegraph combined with the Southwest Journal (1940-1940) published in Hope. The Journal was also published by William Etter IV, along with Leonard Ellis and Kelly Bryant, and Etter combined the two into the Journal-Telegraph. The following year, the paper split back to the Washington Telegraph and Hope Journal (1941-1951). The Washington Telegraph was the oldest weekly paper west of the Mississippi River, running for more than 100 years, until William Henry Etter IV closed the paper in 1946.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014751/.

Washington, in southwestern Arkansas, was the first Hempstead County seat. During the Civil War, Washington became Arkansas's Confederate capital in 1863 after Little Rock was taken by Union forces. When railroads were built in the county, they bypassed Washington and instead stopped at a nearby railroad station, which grew into the new town of Hope. In 1939, Hope replaced Washington as the Hempstead County seat.

In 1839, William Henry Etter founded the Washington Telegraph. The previous year, Etter had moved to Washington from Pennsylvania, bringing a "meager" printing press with him. The Telegraph was the first Arkansas paper published southwest of Little Rock. At that time, Washington had a population of about 400, and there were only five post offices in Hempstead County. For the first several years, the Telegraph was politically independent, but it later supported and was influential in the Whig Party. Once the Whig party disintegrated in the 1850s, it became a Democratic paper. One famous citizen in Washington was recognized by the Telegraph in 1841. The paper reported that more than a decade before, local blacksmith James Black made the first bowie knife used by James Bowie. The Etter family was involved in the publication of the Telegraph throughout its 100-year run, bringing on many editors and managers over the years.

John Rogers Eakin was a lawyer and editor of the Telegraph in the leadup to and during the Civil War. Wyatt C. Thomas, an eccentric character, helped publish the Telegraph from 1859-1860. R. C. Brady was the publisher during the war. The Telegraph was the only newspaper in Arkansas that continued publishing throughout the Civil War. Before the Civil War, Eakin was opposed to secession and used the Telegraph to espouse his position. However, after the Battle of Fort Sumpter ignited the war in 1861, Eakin advocated for Southern secession. When the Confederate State Government of Arkansas fled to Washington, the Telegraph was given the state printing contract, making it the official organ of the Arkansas Confederacy. Due to the paper shortage during the war, the Telegraph was printed on anything available, including wallpaper. Despite all the difficulties, the paper printed a "first class history of the struggle, especially inside the Confederate lines."

While Eakin was running the Telegraph, Etter was likewise working for the state. In 1865 Etter was deployed to Texas and Mexico as a state agent to procure supplies for destitute Arkansans. Upon his return to Arkansas in the final week of the Civil War, he was arrested by federal troops. Etter was jailed in Texas, where he contracted pneumonia and died.

Eakin left the Telegraph in 1866 after carrying it through the Civil War when he was elected to the State Legislature. Eakin served in the 1874 constitutional convention that wrote the charter that still governs Arkansas today. In 1878, he was elected to the Supreme Court where he worked to protect the rights of women.

In the late 1860s and 1870s, William Henry Etter's sons, John Phillip Etter, William Henry Etter, Jr., and Robert Benjamin Etter, published the Telegraph. In 1872 and 1873, Joel Elias Borden was the editor and sometimes publisher. Borden was part of the law firm of Borden & Mitchell with Charles E. Mitchell.

Later editors included Daniel Webster Jones, who became Governor of Arkansas around the turn of the nineteenth century. In 1894, Sam H. Williams joined the paper. The following year Williams worked alongside William Spencer Eakin. A lawyer, William Eakin was the son of John Rogers Eakin. James William Ellis alternated with Eakin running the paper for a few years. In the 1890s, Mrs. C. E. Ratcliffe was the editor and Zeldah Matlack publisher. While working at the Telegraph, Ratcliffe was elected as Poet for the Arkansas Press Association in 1895. By the turn of the century, William Henry Etter III was running the paper alone.

In 1918, the Telegraph brought on Julian Gold as editor. When Gold purchased the paper, the newspaper office consisted mostly of a Washington hand press and 50 pounds of worn type. During his time at the Telegraph, he purchased a power press, folder, several jobbers, typesetting machine, new type, and mailing machine. Gold temporarily leased the paper to Curtis Cannon and Roy Harrison in 1920, but he quickly returned to manage and edit the paper. In 1921, Autrey Young briefly worked as editor.

The year after the county seat moved from Washington to Hope in 1939, the Telegraph combined with the Southwest Journal (1940-1940) published in Hope. The Journal was also published by William Etter IV, along with Leonard Ellis and Kelly Bryant, and Etter combined the two into the Journal-Telegraph. The following year, the paper split back to the Washington Telegraph and Hope Journal (1941-1951). The Washington Telegraph was the oldest weekly paper west of the Mississippi River, running for more than 100 years, until William Henry Etter IV closed the paper in 1946.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051252/.

Paragould, Arkansas is situated just across the Missouri border in the northeastern region of the state in Greene County. At the time of settlement it had few roads and many obstructions, including swampland and an abundance of timber. Sitting atop Crowley's Ridge, early pioneers took advantage of the lush terrain and uncommon hardwood trees to create a booming timber industry. As the railroad moved in, so did the people, flocking to town to work in timber mills and factories.

As a result of the booming economy, in late 1886 J. R. Taylor founded the Paragould Press. After successfully working on newspapers in Jackson and Memphis, Tennessee, Taylor settled in Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1883, where he became editor and part owner of the Jonesboro Democrat, followed by a stint as mayor. After resigning from politics and selling off his interest in the Jonesboro Democrat (later to become The Jonesboro Sun), Taylor moved to Paragould. There, he owned the paper until 1888 when he sold it to W. A. H. McDaniel in order to, once again, run for and return to the state senate. Only a short time later, after pulling out of his run for senate, Taylor went into competition with McDaniel when he established The Greene County Record in 1889. During this time period, according to historian Myrl Rhine Mueller in A History of Green County, Arkansas, "there was a succession of small newspapers published in Paragould. So fast did they rise and fall, exchange publishers and editors, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sort them out chronologically." The News-Letter, edited by Charles E. Stewart, eventually combined with McDaniel's paper.

In 1893, Greene County mill owner and farmer Ross Coffman went into business with editor W. P. Adams and together they formed The Daily Soliphone. Adams invented the word soliphone by combining the Latin word for sun (sol) and the Greek word for phonics (phone) and joining them with an "i," making "soliphone." Despite its unique title, the paper was poorly managed and lacked sufficient funding. In order to raise capital, Adams mortgaged the publishing equipment with his rival, McDaniel. Later the two came into conflict and McDaniel foreclosed on the mortgage. Adams's paper was left without a press. With no ability to produce the paper, McDaniel sought the help of local Paragould businessman and bank official, M. F. Collier. With financial backing, he was able to continue publication, under the editorship of P. W. Moss until, despite his best efforts, McDaniel was forced to sell the paper. The paper was once again purchased by Taylor and was subsequently turned into two separate papers – The Paragould Daily Press, sent daily to city subscribers, and The Weekly Soliphone, which had a weekly rural circulation.

After Taylor's death in 1917, Griffin Smith became the very well-respected and successful editor of both papers. Upon his retirement, Smith said, "I have been in the newspaper business almost twenty-five years; during that period no successive six months have passed by during which my papers have not engaged in a fight of some kind." The papers continued to change hands and on July 1, 1959 the paper consolidated with the Paragould Daily Press and was subsequently issued as the Paragould Daily Press-Soliphone, a morning rural edition. The Paragould Daily Press was then issued concurrently as an afternoon, city edition.

Washington, in southwestern Arkansas, was the first Hempstead County seat. During the Civil War, Washington became Arkansas's Confederate capital in 1863 after Little Rock was taken by Union forces. When railroads were built in the county, they bypassed Washington and instead stopped at a nearby railroad station, which grew into the new town of Hope. In 1939, Hope replaced Washington as the Hempstead County seat.

In 1839, William Henry Etter founded the Washington Telegraph. The previous year, Etter had moved to Washington from Pennsylvania, bringing a "meager" printing press with him. The Telegraph was the first Arkansas paper published southwest of Little Rock. At that time, Washington had a population of about 400, and there were only five post offices in Hempstead County. For the first several years, the Telegraph was politically independent, but it later supported and was influential in the Whig Party. Once the Whig party disintegrated in the 1850s, it became a Democratic paper. One famous citizen in Washington was recognized by the Telegraph in 1841. The paper reported that more than a decade before, local blacksmith James Black made the first bowie knife used by James Bowie. The Etter family was involved in the publication of the Telegraph throughout its 100-year run, bringing on many editors and managers over the years.

John Rogers Eakin was a lawyer and editor of the Telegraph in the leadup to and during the Civil War. Wyatt C. Thomas, an eccentric character, helped publish the Telegraph from 1859-1860. R. C. Brady was the publisher during the war. The Telegraph was the only newspaper in Arkansas that continued publishing throughout the Civil War. Before the Civil War, Eakin was opposed to secession and used the Telegraph to espouse his position. However, after the Battle of Fort Sumpter ignited the war in 1861, Eakin advocated for Southern secession. When the Confederate State Government of Arkansas fled to Washington, the Telegraph was given the state printing contract, making it the official organ of the Arkansas Confederacy. Due to the paper shortage during the war, the Telegraph was printed on anything available, including wallpaper. Despite all the difficulties, the paper printed a "first class history of the struggle, especially inside the Confederate lines."

While Eakin was running the Telegraph, Etter was likewise working for the state. In 1865 Etter was deployed to Texas and Mexico as a state agent to procure supplies for destitute Arkansans. Upon his return to Arkansas in the final week of the Civil War, he was arrested by federal troops. Etter was jailed in Texas, where he contracted pneumonia and died.

Eakin left the Telegraph in 1866 after carrying it through the Civil War when he was elected to the State Legislature. Eakin served in the 1874 constitutional convention that wrote the charter that still governs Arkansas today. In 1878, he was elected to the Supreme Court where he worked to protect the rights of women.

In the late 1860s and 1870s, William Henry Etter's sons, John Phillip Etter, William Henry Etter, Jr., and Robert Benjamin Etter, published the Telegraph. In 1872 and 1873, Joel Elias Borden was the editor and sometimes publisher. Borden was part of the law firm of Borden & Mitchell with Charles E. Mitchell.

Later editors included Daniel Webster Jones, who became Governor of Arkansas around the turn of the nineteenth century. In 1894, Sam H. Williams joined the paper. The following year Williams worked alongside William Spencer Eakin. A lawyer, William Eakin was the son of John Rogers Eakin. James William Ellis alternated with Eakin running the paper for a few years. In the 1890s, Mrs. C. E. Ratcliffe was the editor and Zeldah Matlack publisher. While working at the Telegraph, Ratcliffe was elected as Poet for the Arkansas Press Association in 1895. By the turn of the century, William Henry Etter III was running the paper alone.

In 1918, the Telegraph brought on Julian Gold as editor. When Gold purchased the paper, the newspaper office consisted mostly of a Washington hand press and 50 pounds of worn type. During his time at the Telegraph, he purchased a power press, folder, several jobbers, typesetting machine, new type, and mailing machine. Gold temporarily leased the paper to Curtis Cannon and Roy Harrison in 1920, but he quickly returned to manage and edit the paper. In 1921, Autrey Young briefly worked as editor.

The year after the county seat moved from Washington to Hope in 1939, the Telegraph combined with the Southwest Journal (1940-1940) published in Hope. The Journal was also published by William Etter IV, along with Leonard Ellis and Kelly Bryant, and Etter combined the two into the Journal-Telegraph. The following year, the paper split back to the Washington Telegraph and Hope Journal (1941-1951). The Washington Telegraph was the oldest weekly paper west of the Mississippi River, running for more than 100 years, until William Henry Etter IV closed the paper in 1946.

For more information about this title, visit https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89051253/.

Judsonia is in White County, Arkansas, along the lower Little Red River, in the northeast central region of the state. The southern half of modern Judsonia was originally a separate town called Prospect Bluff, which was situated the first highland bank on the northern side of the river. In 1870 the name Judsonia first appeared, and the town was incorporated ten days after Prospect Bluff in 1872. In 1874 the two towns chose to merge into one. That same year, the first strawberries were harvested, and they quickly became the dominant cash crop.

Edgar Curtis Kinney founded the Judsonia Advance in 1878. It began as an 8-page paper issued every Wednesday. Originally listed as politically neutral, the Advance changed its political affiliation multiple times during its run. The Advance advertised as a newspaper devoted to religious, educational, literary, and local matters and its motto was "Overcome prejudice. Let free thought and free speech be encouraged."

In 1886, Kinney sold the paper to Berton W. Briggs. Berton and his brother Flavel G. Briggs ran the Advance as a politically independent newspaper under their publishing group, the Briggs Brothers. They published the paper until 1889, at which time they sold it back to Kinney. Kinney ran the paper variously as Republican and independent.

Edgar Kinney was raised in New York and worked for the circus, traveling around the United States before settling in Arkansas. After moving to Arkansas, Kinney was heavily involved in the Arkansas State Horticultural Society and fruit farming, as was popular in Judsonia. He was an active Republican and president of the first Republican Convention held in White County. He also served as mayor of Judsonia. In the late 1800s he was the president of the Arkansas Press Association. One of his sons, Gilbert Earle Kinney, learned the newspaper trade from him and took over the Judsonia Advance in 1902. Around this time, the Advance's title changed officially to the Judsonia Weekly Advance.

Gilbert Kinney ran the Weekly Advance as a Republican paper until 1908. In 1909, O. R. Rich bought the paper and continued running it with a Republican perspective until 1914. Ralph C. Mann, Sr. owned the paper in 1915 and ran it as a Democratic paper until 1920. After purchasing the paper, Mann installed new printing machinery, including a cylinder press and linotype machine, and was able to increase his subscribers by the hundreds. In 1921, Mann changed the Weekly Advance to an independent affiliation, and in 1922 began publishing on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays. Mann's final change was a major one: he combined the Advance with The Bald Knob Eagle (1921-1922) to form the White County Record, published by the Mann Printing Company. The White County Record continued to circulate into the 21^st century.

Little Rock, capital of Arkansas and the seat of Pulaski County, is situated in the center of the state. The first permanent European settlement in the Little Rock area was in 1820, making it one of the oldest cities in the state. It quickly became the political focal point, and in 1821 the territorial capital moved from its previous location at Arkansas Post to Little Rock.

As Little Rock developed in the 1880s, the first women-focused newspapers opened in the capital city. In 1884 Mary Ann Webster Loughborough began the Ladies' Little Rock Journal, the first woman's paper in Arkansas (“Ladies Little Rock Journal” (1884-1884); Little Rock Ladies' Journal (1884-1884), Arkansas Ladies' Journal (1884-1886), Southern Ladies' Journal (1886-18??). The Ladies' Journal ceased publication a few years later in 1887 with Loughborough's death.

The Ladies' Journal paved the way for the Woman's Chronicle, and in 1888 the Chronicle became the second newspaper dedicated to women in Arkansas. Owned and operated by women, the Chronicle's all-female team of writers included Catherine Campbell Cuningham, Mary Burt Brooks, and Haryot Holt Cahoon. They listed themselves on the paper as associate editors Mrs. William Cahoon, Jr., and Mrs. Mary B. Brooks, with Miss Kate Cuningham as the main editor. In addition to their newspaper business, Cuningham worked as a teacher and Brooks was a principal. The Chronicle was an 8-page paper published every Saturday. By 1890 it had a subscriber count of about 1,000 in a city of 26,500 people.

In its debut issue, the editors asserted that the Woman's Chronicle was "devoted to the Interests of Women" and "announces now at the very outset that it is radically different from all other newspapers, and will be published for purely selfish reasons … [with] two distinctly defined motives. The first is to make a little money; the second is to make a little more money." This is in spirit with the rest of the newspaper, which was full of witty commentary on local affairs and politics, with special attention to promoting women's issues and interests. The Chronicle supported both temperance issues and white women's suffrage. The National American Woman Suffrage Association's Committee on Southern Work recommended that all committee members read the Chronicle to keep up with the latest suffrage news. The Chronicle also became the official publication of the Arkansas Woman's Christian Temperance Union. In addition to these two big issues, the paper promoted quality education and charitable organizations. The editors delivered the Chronicle to each legislator when the Arkansas General Assembly was in session in an effort to ensure that lawmakers heard women's concerns.

Like the Ladies' Journal, the Chronicle ceased publication in 1893 with Cuningham's ill health. Despite the quip that the Chronicle aimed to make money and more money, the paper never made a profit. However, the Chronicle was devoted to women's interests and promoted women's suffrage, which was finally achieved 27 years after the paper ended. Cuningham's headstone is inscribed with the words "I did the best I could."

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McCrory is in Woodruff County in northeastern Arkansas. In 1862, the Arkansas legislature established Woodruff County, naming it for William Edward Woodruff, founder of Arkansas's first newspaper, the Arkansas Gazette (1819-1836). In 1870, town founder Cyrus McCrory purchased 400 acres of land. His son, Cyrus Wade McCrory, inherited the land and farming business. In 1886, Wade McCrory allowed the Iron Mountain Railroad to build a depot and track on the south side of his property. Industry flourished in McCrory after the first train came through in 1887. A hotel, school, churches, stave plant, furniture store, drug stores, grocery stores, and lumber mills opened. Cotton was the main crop, in an industry dominated by a few farmers who had large amounts of land and field workers. In 1890, Wade McCrory incorporated the new town and continued investing in its development, donating land for churches and schools. In 1902 he opened the Bank of McCrory, which is the oldest and largest in the county and the only local bank that remained in operation during the Great Depression.

In 1901, Gustave W. Kramer established the Woodruff County News in McCrory. The News was the first newspaper in town, and it continued to be the only paper there through most of its run. Kramer issued the Democratic paper on Thursdays. The News focused on county issues and included a listing of the Iron Mountain Railroad schedule. During this time, Walter Wilson Raney worked in Kramer's printing office, assisting with publishing the News. After two years, Raney left to work as assistant postmaster.

Around the same time Raney left the paper, Gustave Kramer also left and sold the paper. In 1903, Ernest Carl Kramer took over as editor and publisher. He lived in McCrory for just a few years, publishing the News in addition to working as City Attorney, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney of Woodruff County, and judge in the Arkansas Supreme Court. In 1906 Ernest Kramer hired Charles M. James and both men worked as editors on the News under the News Publishing Company. Shortly after James was hired, Raney returned to the newspaper business by purchasing a half interest in the News, buying out Kramer's interest. Kramer moved to California and served there as District Attorney and judge on the state's Supreme Court.

In 1906, Raney bought full interest in the paper and continued publishing it until 1909. Raney left the News, but later continued his newspaper career by establishing several other papers in McCrory. In 1910, Charles James again bought into the paper, this time as sole editor. James merged the Woodruff County News with the Informer, which was founded that year, to create the News-Informer (1910-19??). The consolidated paper published under the News-Informer Publishing Company and continued to issue the Democratic leaning paper on Thursdays. There is no record of the News-Informer being published past 1912.

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