Breaking [Old] News!

With nearly fifty titles recently added to Virginia Chronicle, there is a wealth of new historical newspaper content to explore.  Community weeklies and dailies; military, school, and religious newspapers; and even entertainment-related newspapers have been added in recent months. And just a reminder: you can find newly added titles under “New Arrivals!” on Virginia Chronicle’s homepage.

Among the latest additions, Virginia Chronicle users will now find several new weeklies, including the Reflector, added thanks to the Library of Virginia’s partnership with the University of Virginia (UVA), who shared scans from their collection. Self-described as “Charlottesville’s only Negro Weekly,” the Reflector was published from 1933-1935 by J. T. Sellers, who later edited the Charlottesville Tribune. The Reflector addressed serious topics like lynching, racism, civil rights, and the need for civic engagement. It also kept a close eye on community happenings in regular features like “Society Notes of Charlottesville,” “Our Lodestars,” “Tittle-Tattle,” and “Around Town.” Sellars wanted his Reflector to be just that, a reflection of “the progress of our community and Race” and his newspaper leaves a rich historical record of Charlottesville’s Black community in the 1930s.

In addition to the Reflector, weekly newspapers from Bland, Stafford, and Warren counties have also landed on Virginia Chronicle. A 1913-1955 collection of the Bland Messenger, “An Independent Newspaper Devoted to the Interests of Bland County and Southwest Virginia,” is one of the newly digitized weeklies. Though there are gaps in the holdings, the available issues of the Bland Messenger are filled with names, events and news items from the region. 1931-1942 issues of the Stafford Ranger, “published weekly in the interest of Stafford County” by R. D. Wharton, delivered Falmouth happenings and current events along with agricultural advice, recipe ideas, sewing tips, and short fiction. Finally, 1987-1988 issues of the Warren Examiner, published every Wednesday in Front Royal, have also been digitized. The Examiner kept a close eye on Warren County news and delivered in-depth reports on everything from local school events and zoning changes to business closures and crime news. Chock full of the people and places active in the Front Royal scene during the late 1980s, the Examiner was published by Keith Stickley, who also published Woodstock’s Free Press.

A historically significant 19th-century daily from Richmond, the Richmond Star, has also been added to Virginia Chronicle. The result of a rift between the Newspaper Publishers’ Association and the Richmond Typographical Union, No. 90, the Star was the product of union workers and ran from 1893 to 1896. In an address “To the Public” the introductory issue explained that “The compositors recently employed on the three daily newspapers of this city having been compelled because of the unjust and unreasonable demands of the publishers. . .make their bow to the people of Richmond this afternoon through their own paper, The Richmond Star.” The “three daily newspapers” the Star was referring to were the Dispatch, the Times, and the State. Though the Star was produced by union labor, its intention was to provide a viable alternative to the aforementioned dailies and to “give the public a first-class newspaper.” Unlike Richmond’s other dailies, in politics the Star sought to be neutral, and it hoped to “advocate no measure which does not have for its object the benefit of the whole people.” Though its circulation was impressive, far surpassing that of the State, the Richmond Star ceased on October 22, 1896, when it was sold to Stilson Hutchins and consolidated with the State. In its parting issue, the Star thanked its loyal subscribers for their support of “the cause of organized labor and of democracy which recognizes the rights of all people.”

Described as “The voice of the Powhatan-Renapoak People,” the Library of Virginia is very excited to announce the addition of 1969-1988 issues of Tsen-Akamak, later called Attan-Akamik News, to Virginia Chronicle. Published annually by the Powhatan Press in Davis, California (later published in Rancocas, New Jersey), Tsen-Akamak and Attan-Akamik included articles like “The Chickahominy Story,” “Powhatans Seek Justice,” and “Powhatan Language Lives.” Every issue also contains photographs of important figures among the Rappahannock, Chickahominy, and Powhatan as well as contemporary photos of events, ceremonies, gatherings, and community members. Though there was only one issue distributed per year, these papers offer an abundance of information related to the history, lineage, culture, and customs of the Powhatan people.

Multiple titles from Roanoke have been added to Virginia Chronicle as well, like the Roanoke Life, Roanoke Saturday Evening News, Roanoke Shopper’s News, Roanoke Tribune, Roanoke Weekly Press, and the Virginia Daily Press. Though there are precious few issues of each title, they all provide a compelling snapshot of Roanoke at the time in which they were published. Roanoke Life, a tabloid edited by A. R. Powers, had the somewhat ominous motto “Sees All, Tells All.” With headlines like “Roanoke Minister in Clandestine Love Affair,” the few extant issues of Roanoke Life, all from 1931, provide a fascinating exposé of corruption and scandal in Roanoke. Powers warned readers in the first issue, “If you are too timid to look at the naked truth you will not want to read ‘Roanoke Life.’”

Several military newspapers of note are also among Virginia Chronicle’s many new additions, including World War I-era newspapers the Battalion Review, Between Convoys, and Whizz-Bang, all published in France. Between Convoys chronicled the establishment and activities of Base Hospital No. 41, an Army unit staffed by UVA physicians and nurses that operated just outside of Paris from August 1918 to January 1919. Issue number 1 of Whizz-Bang, published February 1919, included “A Brief History of the Battalion,” by Harry P. Holt, which provided a history of the Second Battalion, 320th Infantry Regiment formed at Camp Lee. “The month of September, 1917, is a memorable one for many of us,” Holt reminisced, “It was not only the month we first started our military training, but the beginning of daring adventures, and lasting friendships.”  Along with WWI-era titles, three later naval publications have also been digitized, including 1949-1952 of Civilian Air, 1943-1957 of the Dope Sheet, and 1944-1946 of the Norfolk Seabag.

Several new, top-notch high school newspapers are among Virginia Chronicle’s growing page count as well, including 1940-1941 of the Jefferson News of Roanoke; 1974-2025 of the Knight Time Review of Charlottesville; 1950-1952 of the Musketeer, published by the students of Hargrove Military Academy in Chatham; 1947-1948 of the Parrot of Gretna High; 1965-1969 of the Pig’s Tale from Smithfield; and 1946-1951 of the Wither-Wane of Wytheville. One issue of a zine-like newspaper called Bleak is also online, and while it’s not explicitly a school publication, it is an underground press creation of Virginia Tech students. The Knight Time Review, published by Charlottesville High School for more than five decades, is another title now available on Virginia Chronicle thanks to the Library’s partnership with UVA.

Among the many genres of newspapers, even leisure-related papers from the Library’s collection are among the new offerings on Virginia Chronicle, including thirteen issues of the Lynchburg Radio News and two issues of the Cavalier Skating News. The Lynchburg Radio News, first published on February 19, 1933, announced in a front-page headline that “The Radio News Fills a Need of Long Standing.” The weekly paper, which described popular radio shows and delivered weekly radio program listings, was the product of Lynchburg merchants who created a radio guide for the city’s 16,000 listeners. Issues from 1941 of the Cavalier Skating News, published by the Noble-Balcom Corporation (owner and operator of the Cavalier Arena in Richmond), are also now digitized. The Cavalier Skating News is a testament to skating’s popularity at the time of its publication and the professional-quality newspaper distributed by the Cavalier Arena included stories on rink events, updates on live musical guests, employee bios, class and competition schedules, and provided rink rules and first aid information to patrons. The pages of the Cavalier Skating News provide a fascinating historical dive into what was once a hugely popular pastime in the U.S.

And last but not least, adding to Virginia Chronicle’s list of religiously affiliated newspapers, users can now find Our Mountain Work, published monthly by the Advisory Board of the Archdeaconry of the Blue Ridge in Elkton, Virginia. Published from 1909-1935, subscribers paid 25 cents a year to receive reports on mission work in the Blue Ridge Mountains, as well as religious instruction, conference notes, school reports, poetry, and “personal notes” on local missionaries.  “There is no longer the lack of belief in Missions, but rather a lack of information about Missions,” the paper’s editor explained in his “salutatory” published in March 1909, therefore “the advisory board of the Archdeaconry of the Blue Ridge sends out this little paper—Our Mountain Work.”

As the page count continues to grow on Virginia Chronicle, many more new titles are on the way, so keep a lookout for these in the coming months: the Crewe Chronicle, the Eastern Shore News, the Galax Gazette, Grayson Journal, Informant (Buckingham), the King George News, the Northampton Times, Northumberland Echo, the Stuart Enterprise, the Virginia Independent Chronicle, and many more. Until next time, happy researching!