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An Old Familiar Sstory of Using "New" Technology - Page of
An Old Familiar Story of Using "New" Technology
By
Louise W. Hermanson
University of South Alabama
Department of Communication
1000 University Commons
Mobile, Alabama 36688
Phone: 251-380-2800
FAX: 251-380-2850
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Submitted to the History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for possible presentation at the August 2002 convention in Miami
An Old Familiar Sstory of Using "New" Technology - Page of
Abstract
An Old Familiar Story of Using "New" Technology
This paper provides an overview of how thousands of youngsters began using new printing technology to put out their own publications from 1866 to 1890. It outlines the variety in size, shape, philosophy and content of the publications and looks at how the young editors and publishers organized themselves into local, state, regional and national organizations to critique each other's works and improve the reputation of publishing.
An Old Familiar Sstory of Using "New" Technology - Page of
Abstract
An Old Familiar Story of Using "New" Technology
This paper provides an overview of how thousands of youngsters began using new printing technology to put out their own publications from 1866 to 1890. It outlines the variety in size, shape, philosophy and content of the publications and looks at how the young editors and publishers organized themselves into local, state, regional and national organizations to critique each other's works and improve the reputation of publishing.
This movement, which evolved unsanctioned and unsupported by traditional social structures, has been almost ignored in scholarly literature. Its history is found in a 1992 documentary study by the Smithsonian on the amateur printing press, three histories of the amateur journalism movement written by former practitioners in the 1900 to 1945 time period and artifacts in three large collections of the publications at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts; Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; and the William Hadley Smith collection owned by the Fossils and maintained by Marvin M. Horvat, a private printer in Stayton, Oregon.
This work seeks to show what rare research possibilities such a collection provides.
An Old Familiar Sstory of Using "New" Technology - Page of
An Old Familiar Story of Using "New" Technology
Advances in technology frequently drive changes in mass communication, giving voice to wider and wider segments of society. The printing press allowed multiple production of the same message for distribution to many, ending centuries of having to hand write materials one copy at a time. The telegraph separated information from transportation, allowing reporters to collect data from distant places and send it back to multiple newspapers in distant cities within hours. The telephone further advanced communication between reporters and newspaper offices. Radio signals allowed instantaneous communication with multiple individuals without physical connections, and television added visuals to that mix. Now the Internet makes it possible for isolated individuals to communicate with a world-wide audience at the click of a few keys.
With each advance in communication technology throughout history, it has been the curious, the daring, and the innovators who have pioneered and shaped the future use of the medium. Frequently those individuals are found among the young in a society, those who are not already set in careers developed under the rules of existing technology. Introduce new communication technology, price it reasonably, make it readily available, and young people have been eager to use it, regardless of the generation. A current example of this phenomenon is the proliferation of web pages on the internet that have been produced by young people experimenting with the technology and the freedom of expression the technology allows. Youngsters have more readily taken to computer technology than many of their elders, are in the forefront of Internet message sending and have branched out as entrepreneurs to provide servers for World Wide Web access.[1]
Each technological development is driven by the social, philosophical and political agendas of those who love the work. Passionate practitioners more intent on making a difference than a fortune have historically populated communication media. This paper is about a group especially devoted to the process of communicating, and its story falls between the gaps of traditional journalism history books. But the movement's contributions to advancing journalism as an acceptable profession for men and women become evident when the artifacts are studied.
Imagine a social movement that involves thousands of youngsters between the ages of 10 and 21 actively using a communications medium with freedoms of expression never allowed before in history. Imagine this movement involving males and females from a variety of social strata throughout large geographic areas producing messages for each other, sharing information, critiquing each others' original works, learning about different cultures, entertaining themselves and preparing for future careers. Have this movement grow into youngster-created organizational structures on local, regional, national and international levels within 10 years after the technology is made available in an economical format.
Now place this movement in the 1870s.
This movement, which evolved unsanctioned and unsupported by traditional social structures, has been almost ignored in scholarly literature.[2] Its history is found in a 1992 documentary study by the Smithsonian on the amateur printing press, three histories of the amateur journalism movement written by former practitioners in the 1900 to 1945 time period and artifacts in three large collections of the publications at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts; Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.; and the William Hadley Smith collection owned by the Fossils[3] and maintained by Marvin M. Horvat, a private printer in Stayton, Oregon.
Each of these sources provides part of the story and frequently contradicts other sources. Most focus on the structures and leaders of the various Amateur Press Associations and omit details of the majority of individuals who actually contributed to the volumes of material put out by the youngsters. But together, the collections provide a wealth of information by way of original artifacts about the original amateur journalism movement in America.
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These three directories of amateur journalists were found while reviewing old newspaper directories in the stacks at the Library of Congress and subsequently resulted in this study of a little-known movement in American journalism. Published in Boston, Chicago and Louisville each represented an effort to organize young journalists into groups that would provide criticism, encouragement and camaraderie for amateur journalists who printed using small presses in their homes. All three included illustrations of well-known amateurs, but the Amateurs' Annual published in Boston claimed to be the first to use actual photographs. Seven photographs are pasted in place. Illustrations in the other two directories use engravings or woodcuts.
This research project started when three small amateur journalists' directories were serendipitously found among the oldest periodicals directories in the stacks at the Library of Congress more than five years ago. Each directory gave a brief summary of a regional amateur journalists' organization and listed approximately 100 young journalists, their ages, publications and pseudonyms. Three things were immediately obvious: the lighthearted nature of the writing, the quality of the printing and the ages of the "journalists."
From those directories it was easy for researchers to become curious about the definition of amateur journalist, the size and spread of the movement, the obvious camaraderie among the players and the claimed educational value of the pursuit. At that point it appeared that the movement involved several hundred youngsters in Chicago, New York and Boston, and references to the educational value of swapping papers for critique as a precursor to formal journalism schools seemed an interesting and valuable project for study.
However, once research was begun in the Library of Congress collection, it became obvious the directories were mere teasers. Each new publication discovered led to others, with no apparent structure, organization, repository or consistency of facts. Papers would come and go. They would skip issues. They would resurface. Names of editors and/or papers would change and change back. They varied in size from postage-stamp-sized two pagers to broadsheet-sized 36 pagers. Some contained ads; most did not. Some listed contact information for editors; others seemed to come from nowhere. Some were illustrated; some contained just type. Some were printed in color. Some were almost unreadable due to spelling and grammar errors; others were beautifully printed and contained excellent prose. Boys and girls and occasionally minorities were involved. Rich and poor were represented.
It became clear there existed a vast network of thousands of amateurs throughout the country and beyond. Therefore the first part of the research required making it manageable. This stage looks at what the movement entailed, how common the publication of amateur papers was and what types of publications were involved. The project eventually led to examination of tens of thousands of issues of amateur papers in Washington, D.C.;[4] Worchester, Massachusetts;[5] and Stayton, Oregon,[6] to try to determine trends, purposes and geographic clusterings of the movement.
Although the amateur journalism movement had some following in England, Germany, Nova Scotia and other parts of the world, it was predominantly an American phenomenon due to social changes, freedoms of speech and philosophies evolving under the political structure of the United States . Therefore what follows focuses on the numbers and publication locations of American amateur newspapers as the movement evolved in what now constitutes the contiguous 48 states.[7]
No reliable listings exist for amateur papers, and even looking at a publication itself usually fails to record longevity, circulation or a useful list of those involved in what capacities in the editing, illustrating and publishing processes. Therefore, researchers decided to identify as accurately as possible the starting date for each publication and plot the growth of the movement using that data. Where editors were listed (in about 60 percent of the publications) names were recorded along with publication title, start date, size and location. Lists from the three collections were then merged and purged of duplication to result in tracking 3,995 publications and 3,685 amateurs who started papers during the 24-year period.[8]
This research uses information from the Library of Congress, the American Antiquarian Society, publications of the time period, minutes of amateur journalism organization meetings, juvenile periodicals directories and histories published in limited edition by members of the Fossils to identify trends in the first 21 years of the juvenile amateur journalism movement in the United States. It is a story of innovation, creativity, politics, camaraderie, joviality, education and business that has all of the frivolity and intensity of youth and all the seriousness of individuals bent on making names for themselves. This paper focuses on the geographic spread of the movement throughout the United States from 1866 to 1890.
The Story
One definition of amateur journalism says it is an institution of youth who edited, published, printed or contributed to "miniature journals as a means of self improvement, as a pleasing pastime, and for the advancement of their own particular institutions." Another says, "The true objects of amateur journalism are to cultivate a taste for pure and wholesome literature, to broaden the intellectual powers, to give one a practical knowledge of the world, and to teach one to think and act for himself." Those are tall orders for youngsters to voluntarily accomplish, but the idea of being allowed to express one's self freely took hold in a group of youngsters who accomplished most of those goals.
A clear invitation to youngsters to experiment with self-expression using communication technology was issued in the mid-1800s by several seemingly unrelated conditions in the United States. The First Amendment, which fostered self-expression as never before in any society, was firmly established. In 1865, the Civil War ended, freeing young people to pursue dreams without the obligations of military service. Economic changes and technological advances encouraged parents to help their children learn trades. And in 1867, Benjamin 0. Woods of Boston began marketing a small, inexpensive treadle printing press to children.
This combination of conditions set the stage for the birth of the juvenile amateur journalism movement in the United States that involved youngsters who published thousands of issues of independent periodicals before 1890. Many who practiced amateur journalism during this period became prominent leaders in journalism, law, medicine, industry, insurance and education. And the cooperation among these young editors and publishers became a source of journalism education in this country.
These papers were published on discarded presses and type recovered by the youngsters when printers ceased using the equipment, professional presses printers allowed the youngsters to use during down time or by older family members who ran other publications. Some even made their own presses. Seeing a promising commercial venture, press manufacturers downsized their product and began marketing presses as toys through popular children's magazines of the time.[9] These inexpensive small presses quickly became popular with youngsters.
Such means made publishing a paper more a task than a pleasure.
In 1867, however, the Novelty Printing Press supplied this want (for an easier way to print) that had so long existed. The simplicity of the press and its exact adaptation to the wants of amateurs, made it as popular as could well be, and from that day the cause of amateur journalism has been rapidly advancing, until to-day, there are printed in the United States over one hundred junior papers, hailing from almost every state in the Union. At various times other presses for amateurs have been introduced, and among them are the Lowe, Adams, Young American and Pearl.
The "new" technology was the equivalent of making personal computers available at a cost almost anyone can afford today, and this transition for printing presses came in the form of novelty printing presses targeted toward youngsters. Amateur editors had been publishing on make-shift equipment, but when five or six manufacturers put out presses that sold for $10 to $25, amateurs found them much more efficient and affordable.
It was something entirely new and amateurs who had been at great shifts in printing their papers, discarded their cheese and cider presses and eagerly seized the opportunity of purchasing, at a low price, a real printing machine. Once the means of publishing a journal lay within their reach, amateurs became editors by the score.
By 1875 twenty or more companies manufactured juvenile presses and prices dropped even lower.
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Marketing of inexpensive printing presses to children drove the amateur journalism movement.
This is a story of American amateur journalists who published thousands of original, unedited, uncensored newspapers during the movement's heyday from 1867 to 1890. As early as 1869, amateur press associations were organized so that the publishers of these papers could help, compete against and entertain each other. By 1871, their networks include groups in multiple states with bylaws, constitutions, officers and regular local, regional and national meetings. In 1873, the National Amateur Journalism Association sent a delegation of four editors to the World's Exposition in Vienna to publish the first English Language newspaper printed on Austrian soil. By 1885, the Ladies Amateur Press Association, claimed by some to have 300 members, was formed and published a regular monthly newsletter that circulated throughout the country. An alumni association formed in 1904 still functions almost 100 years later.
By 1890, when the movement was dying down and press manufacturers moved on to more lucrative equipment sales, more than 3,500 youngsters, identifiable by name, publication and geographic location, had published tens of thousands of issues ranging from single card-sized sheets to 32-page broadsheet editions. Among those involved were Tad Lincoln,[10] Jesse Grant,[11] Thomas Edison, Charles and J. Blair Scribner,[12] Cyrus H. K. Curtis[13] and H. L. Mencken. Many wrote under pseudonyms; others proudly debated issues under several names, including their own. The newspapers ranged from one-issue wonders to dailies passed down for years by children of the same family until all outgrew the appropriate age.
The impact of the movement was acclaimed in various circles, and a Dorman juvenile press ad claimed:
The moral mental and physical development of the boys should be the study of all who love this country, and desire to perpetuate its institutions. In no way can this be more effectively aided than by the use of one of our presses.
There were no standards for amateur journalism and no admission criteria. Anyone who could afford the price of a small press plus the cost of type, could persuade someone to let him borrow a press during down time or was capable of making a small press could start publishing.
Between 1867 and 1890 more than 4,000 monthly, weekly or daily papers were begun by more than 3,500 editors and publishers younger than 20. Most were in their mid teens. These young journalists organized two national, a number of regional and dozens of state amateur journalism associations, complete with annual meetings, constitutions and bylaws.
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Pictured are 1888 New England Amateur Press Association delegates in Hartford, Connecticut. 1) William A. House, 2) E. F. Guilford, 3)A. C. Whitney, 4) Paul Sterling, 5) N. C. Smith, 6) H. C. Stevenson, 7) Albert G. Davis, 8) D. C. Griggs, 9) William E. Baldwin, 10) E. W. Shepard, 11) Virgil H Munson, 12) W. R. Burbank, 13) W. P. Booth, 14) William P. Hopkins, 15) Truman J. Spencer.
Convention politics were heated, and governing structures elaborate. The 65 amateurs attending the founding convention for the National Amateur Press Association in Philadelphia on July 4, 1876, set up a governing structure that called for a president, five vice-presidents, a recording secretary, a corresponding secretary, a treasurer and an official organ. At the next annual convention, six amateurs vied for the presidency. Among them was Richard Gerner, whose platform included a constitution modeled on the United States constitution and required a president, secretaries of the interior and exterior, Senate and House of Representatives. He presented the "Congress Scheme" to the convention from a 70-page document it took him 43 minutes to read. The group soundly rejected it.
The publications were as diverse in size, format and content as the editors who created them. Many are full of original, frequently well written articles, remarkably edited copy and neatly printed pages. Some of the publications carry illustrations; most carry youth-created word puzzles and riddles. They demonstrate a strong drive within youth to communicate, share ideas to a broader audience and help each other learn through open invitations to exchange publications and critique amateur work.
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Pictured are delegates to an 1882 amateur journalism convention. In the right photo are candidates for a slate of officers headed by Howard K. Sanderson. They include B. Benjamin Polham (2), the first black nominated for office.
From the beginning, numerous female amateurs were involved in printing publications and in the various levels of amateur associations. In 1886 a Texas amateur paper claims, "About a year ago, a national Press Association made up entirely of women was organized at New Orleans. It has, we believe, upwards of three hundred members." At least two black delegates attended national conventions. B. Benjamin Pelham is pictured as a member of a slate of officers at the 1882 convention. James H. Ives Munro told about "a colored lad there to whom I loaned $2 to pay his dues" at the 1885 convention in Boston. And Charles Uncles, who printed in Baltimore in 1880, went on to become the first black Roman Catholic bishop ordained in the United States.
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Edwin Hadley Smith, a former amateur and professional journalist, sits in the parlor room of the hotel at the 1906 convention. Smith continued to receive amateur papers after he became a professional writer, and it is his care in saving the papers he received and having them bound that preserved one of the largest collections of amateur journalism available to researchers today.
Young editors and publishers commented on major issues confronting society, opinions concerning philosophy, problems experienced while growing up in America, relationships, events, health, politics and anything else the youngsters wished, including a large measure of frivolity.[14] Writing contests, puzzle challenges and debates about how to deal with the opposite sex were plentiful. Amateurs also tackled social issues, such as opposition to smoking tobacco, whether automobile racing should be abolished as a sport because of the dangers to drivers and whether amateur journalism organizations should be separate for blacks and whites. The system thrived predominantly on exchange papers and cheap subscriptions among friends and relatives across the country. Editors encouraged reaction to and criticism of the writing in their papers and usually received it in vociferous terms in the next issue of the recipient's paper sent under the customary exchange agreements.
As Amateur journalism became more popular, printers became worried about their livelihoods and began complaining that the youngsters were taking business that rightfully belonged to them. Some of the amateurs became strong enough to compete with regular newspapers, and the political battles that ensued were considerable. An example was published in one of the directories:
IS IT JUSTICE?
At the request of J. D. Hadley, of New Bedford, who was editor of the EXCHANGE, of that City, We give the reason for the downfall of his paper. Hadley's statement is as follows:
"Immediately after the issue of our July (1870) number, we were notified by the post-master of New Bedford, that the further transmission of the EXCHANGE through the mails was forbidden, by order of the Post Office Department. On enquiry, we ascertained that the reason for this action was, that the department ruled that it was not a newspaper, because of its diminutive size and the character of its contents.
Now this we think an injustice, but we cannot obtain redress even of the P. 0. Department."
The fact that the post-master of New Bedford was a printer, and the publisher of one of the daily papers, may throw a shade of light upon this action, and indeed there are some who think that the whole matter was brought about by him.
The same authority asserts that the RANGER, so well known to amateurs eighteen months ago, was suspended in the same manner by the same department.
Who is to blame?
Papers carried such names as Little but Loud, Amateur Aspirant, Amateur Typograph, American Headlight, Battery, Boomerang, Brodie's Bad Boy, Defiance, Genius, Knot, Mosquito, Occasional, Pod's Odds, Scalpel and Sponge. One amateur who published a paper called Kind Words, donated whatever profit the paper made to his Sunday School class.
Truman Spencer recites Cyrus Curtis' typical scenario of the beginning of a youngster's amateur career:
(Curtis said:) "I had no money, and my parents had but little. I asked my mother for money, and she told me I would have to earn some and then double it and treble it until I had enough to buy a printing press. I was 12 years old at the time. I said that I would have to have some money to start with, and my mother got out her pocket book and all she had was three pennies. She gave them to me, and I went out upon the street and met a boy who was stuck in selling his Evening Couriers. He had three copies left, and he sold them to me for three cents. I ran up and down the streets and finally sold the copies for three cents each. I now had nine cents, having trebled my capital. And I kept on. I had got the smell of printer's ink in my blood."
When 14 years old, he felt that he must have a paper of his own. He interested a pal of his named Walter Goold in the idea, and a partnership was formed. They agreed to publish a weekly paper . . . and found a printer who agreed to print 400 copies for $5. . . .
Before the second number appeared, young Goold, worried over the payment of the printer's bill of $5, withdrew from the partnership at the demand of his parents. Cyrus . . . had faith in his enterprise and thought hard how he could avoid paying out that $5. Finally he decided to set up his own printing plant.
(In Boston he found printing presses) were more expensive than he had expected, but finally he saw a small press under the counter and was told that it was an old model that was not made or sold any more. . . . A price of $2.50 was put upon it, and the money paid down. It would print only one page at a time, but Cyrus felt that he would thus need less type. He could print a page, distribute the type, and set up the next page. Type for this cost him $15, and he returned home with his first printing plant. When he died, he owned over ten million dollars' worth of printing machinery.
Many other amateurs told stories of scraping to buy a small press and enough type to publish, working out partnerships that folded, having difficulty paying the bills, lacking encouragement, being unable to meet deadlines, finding enough copy to publish regularly and running out of supplies. But for many, once they had tasted the power of printers' ink, they persisted.
Before the founding of amateur groups, amateurs seldom actually talked with other amateurs outside their immediate geographic area. In February 1870, when early amateurs received invitations to attend a "grand convention of amateurs in Newark, N. J.," few had ever traveled outside their hometowns. Charles Fowle explains how he and fellow editor George W. Hills from Boston persuaded their fathers to let them go to the conference. The 27 who attended began meeting their fellow editors in transit. He said:
On the train we met three amateurs, William H. Downes from Connecticut, and William H. Reed and G. Fred Reed of Toledo, Ohio. It was great to see real live Amateur Editors and we were becomingly very humble.
That convention lasted for several days, with attendees being housed and fed in the homes of host-city amateurs. Thirteen papers were represented, and 26 names were registered as members. During the convention, the amateurs organized the Amateur Press Association, elected officers, adopted by-laws, ratified a constitution and made plans for continuation of the organization with meetings to rotate among major cities where amateur journalism was practiced. Delegates were encouraged to return home and organize state and local branches of the organization. Other conventions were held in July 1870 in Boston, in January 1871 in Buffalo and in July 1871 in Pittsburg (sic), when the first female amateurs attended. Once such groups were formed, exchanges of papers for the sake of comment and criticism increased rapidly.
By 1874, special publications were devoted to critiquing the general state of amateur journalism. An amateur calling himself Almon Pitts wrote:
If there is one point wherein Amateur Journalism more seriously errs than in any other, it certainly is in the matter of the literature it publishes.
In this regard our five-year-old institution has a sorry record to look back on - a record that, we regret to say, is growing more and more blotched and marred by the addition of an endless amount of nonsensical "sensationalisms" - ungrammatical trash, that ever from infancy up has been its staple sustenance. But Amateur Journalism . . . craves something better and more invigorating.
It is unclear how amateurs developed subscription lists. At the time of the first New Jersey convention in 1870, William L. Terhune, who was elected president of the organization, was said to publish a paper with 4,000 circulation. In 1870, this seems unlikely, but Terhune entered amateurdom in his late teens and apparently had some business experience, so it is possible. There is no way to verify numbers claimed by the publications. Most seem to have published fewer than 100 copies and kept few records. Others talk about printing 500 copies but provide no information about what was done with them. Those who discussed finances, discussed having gone broke trying to continue publication.
An example of how the movement evolved was cited in the reminiscences at the first meeting of the alumni group for amateurs who published before 1890 as C. Fred Crosby said:
My entrance into the arena was made as the publication of a book. That is, it was by courtesy called a book. Each page was about the size of a postage stamp. There were about a dozen of them in all, and one of these was devoted to correcting typographical errors in the other pages, and was headed "erratum."
Arthur J. Huss, who was publishing the Stylus at that time, and a magnificent publication it was, devoted some of his valuable space to a rather lengthy notice of this so-called book, and ended by saying that he could see no earthly excuse for its publication. . .
I was not discouraged, and a few months later I got out my first issue of an amateur paper . . . . For two and a half years I issued a paper regularly every month, and attended some 15 amateur conventions, including one National, two Eastern, four New England, and others of a more local character.
These papers include the good, bad, silly, ugly, stupid, brilliant, libelous, cruel and sometimes inspired writings of ordinary youngsters. A few publications were supervised by adults; most were not. Playfulness was obvious. The description of Charles H. Fowle in one directory read in part:
The most prominent amateur was born an orphan at an early age, of poor, but honest parents, who still live. Nineteen years ago, the little village of Harvard, Mass. was the scene of his birth. His growth has however been rapid, and at present the earth and he have a mutual attraction, which is expressed concisely as 136 lbs.
The amateur papers seem to reflect honest thoughts of a wide variety of teens who enjoyed the act of communicating seriously as well as lightheartedly.
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State
Total Papers
All States
3,995
NY
729
MA
445
PA
377
OH
298
IL
245
NJ
174
CT
160
CA
149
IN
146
MI
117
IA
110
MO
100
WI
96
DC
91
ME
89
NH
86
MD
85
KY
62
MN
47
VT
39
KS
35
NC
31
VA
31
RI
27
TN
26
TX
26
LA
25
AK
24
NE
23
GA
21
DE
20
FL
17
CO
11
WV
11
AL
10
MS
7
ND
6
OR
6
AZ
4
NV
4
UT
3
SC
2
OK
1
WY
1
Table 1: This table shows the number of new papers begun in each state from 1867 through 1990 as reflected by three large collections. It does not represent the number of papers being published during the given years, because there was no way to determine those figures.
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Year
Number of Papers
66
4
67
6
68
8
69
26
70
71
71
72
72
235
73
215
74
167
75
230
76
348
77
389
78
325
79
183
80
77
81
151
82
200
83
261
84
302
85
189
86
208
87
146
88
87
89
73
90
44
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Table 2: This table shows the number of papers started in all states in a given year as reflected using the same criteria as above.
This research has identified artifacts that prove amateurdom touched the lives of youngsters in at least 44 states and verified major dates of activity as from 1872 to 1886. New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania clearly led the activity, followed by Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Indiana (See Table 1). In addition to being the leaders in population, they were also the areas where amateurs were most active in forming organizations to encourage youngsters to publish papers for pleasure. With the exception of Pennsylvania and Connecticut, each of the leading states had amateurs actively involved in national, regional, state and local groups by 1875. Pennsylvania had two strong pockets of amateur publishers, in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but due to the geography of the state, it was 1883 before they officially formed a state association. Busiest years for new papers were clearly 1872 through 1878 and again from 1882 through 1886. (See Table 2)
Strong surges of interest are reflected in Iowa, Missouri, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Tennessee. Although this study did not uncover large numbers of papers starting in North Carolina, amateurs there were very actively involved in regional and national groups and debates on social issues in the pages of the papers. It was in North Carolina's Temperance Echo in the late 1870s (exact date unknown) that the following appeared:
At the recent press convention a number of the amateur journals of the state were represented. Amateur journalism, if we may judge from what we saw there, will be a matter of consideration at no distant day, and will, doubtless, be the means not only of much pleasure, but of benefit to the young people of our country. There is no reason why we should not have a school of Journalism as well as of Science and Physics; and these amateur journals, if conducted under proper restrictions, may prove the school that is to turn out men of might, to wield the pen of journalism in such a manner that our State will have a general literature of which she can justly boast.
Still another discusses the value of the work the amateurs put out as producing a broader understanding of the times, the generation and the values of those involved:
Amateur journalism forms . . . a vast literary society, whose members express their opinions, and comment, criticize, or commend the work of one another's pen and press. Editors and authors, poets, story writers and essayists strive for literary awards, or seek official position in the various State and national associations, thus gaining experience in organization life and parliamentary practice. Amateur journalism has been called a means of mutual intellectual culture. It is often described as a "miniature world of letters," a description both accurate and comprehensive.
Conclusion
Whatever the character-building claims made by former practitioners, looking at the artifacts that have been left, it is obvious something important was going on as the movement helped make journalism an accepted field for youngsters to pursue. Whether the activities were actually the precursor to journalism schools or not, the interest generated in so many young people must have had an impact on the perceived need. And a number of former amateurs credit the experience with choices they made about careers. H. L. Mencken is quoted as saying:
That press determined the whole course of my future life. If it had been a stethoscope or a copy of Dr Ayers' Almanac I might have gone in for medicine; if it had been a Greek New Testament or a set of baptismal grappling-irons I might have pursued divinity. As it was, I got the smell of printer's ink up my nose at the tender age of eight, and it has been swirling through my sinuses ever since.
Reading the papers and tracking the liaisons between individual editors is fun. But the one- to two-page wonders are not the important lessons from this ad hoc movement. Four things deserve more study:
1. The complex organizational structure developed by the amateurs using long-distance communication;
2. The social and political commentary produced by an often silent segment of society;
3. The successful papers; and
4. The significant contributions to society made by those who practiced amateur journalism.
The amateur journalism movement not only provides us with tangible materials recording the thoughts and ideas of the youth of the period right after the Civil War, it also informs us on how new technologies become integrated into society.
Bibliography
[1] For example, the first local web server in Scituate, Massachusetts, in the 1990s was set up by a 17-year-old operating out of a converted garage in his home.
[2] Even publications designed to assist in finding rare collections, such as Untapped Sources: America's Newspaper Archives and Histories, fail to mention the amateur journalism movement.
[3] The Fossils is a group of former amateur journalists who continued to meet after they grew beyond the age originally and informally viewed as appropriate for the title "amateur" journalist. After the turn of the century, amateur journalism took on a broader meaning to encompass those who wrote for pleasure or self-published their works, regardless of age, but the group remained rooted in and mainly supported by older amateur journalists. The group still functions, and much of what is known about the Amateur Journalism movement is found in the pages of the Fossil's newsletters.
[4] The Library of Congress' collection of amateur newspapers is kept loose in boxes due to the assorted sizes of the publications, and there appears to be no index of what is in the boxes. This researcher found mixed sizes, geographic areas and years in each of the boxes. Condition of the collection has seriously deteriorated over the years, with many issues simply missing. It is almost impossible to tell from cataloguing what is where. The Library of Congress' on-line search engine, however, provides a wealth of information on the names of publications, dates they were started and who published them. The list is organized by the name of the publication.
[5] The American Antiquarian Society claims a collection of 50,000 issues of 5,500 amateur publications from every state except Alaska and Hawaii. The collection is by far the best-preserved collection included in this study. The collection focuses mainly on amateurs publishing in New England before 1890, and the society has purchased an impressive number of issues, especially of those published in Massachusetts, to provide a more consistent picture of frequency of actual publication than other collections. Each issue is preserved in individual protective materials, and the collection is accessible through a catalogue arranged alphabetically by place of publication.
[6] The William Hadley Smith collection is possibly the most complete and accessible, once it can be located. Smith was active in the amateur journalism movement from the 1860s, and he reportedly kept all of the exchange papers he received. After he became a writer in New York, he set aside part of his salary each week to have the collection bound by the Salvation Army. The copies are organized by year and bound in hard-back books with all sizes run in together. Depending on which promotional piece is consulted, the collection contains 30,000 to 50,000 issues of amateur publications. Condition of the paper has deteriorated, but the binding has kept the collection flat and the collection has been inaccessible for a number of years due to unusual circumstance. When this research was conducted, the collection was housed in stacked boxes in the attic of a printing plant.
[7] Amateur journals were published throughout the area before many of the states were part of the union, but they are included in this study because of geographic proximity and eventual affiliation with the political structure.
[8] Many papers listed multiple editors, and a number of amateurs put out more than one paper in more than one geographic location.
[9] Among those were Youth's Companion, St. Nicholas, Little Corporal and Oliver Optic's.
[10] President Abraham Lincoln's son.
[11] President Ulysses Grant's son.
[12] Brothers and members of the Scribner publishing family.
[13] Future founder of Ladies' Home Journal and publisher of the Saturday Evening Post.
[14] In 1870, amateurs challenged each other to see who could put out the smallest paper. The winner measured 5/8 inch by _ inch and was called The Giant. The first of four pages carried the title and the following: Smaller than the smallest. Devoted to nothing, and other matters. See next page. Page two read: "That Fowle" defies competition. Page three read: Beat this if you can. Page 4 was blank. That Fowle referred to amateur journalist Charles H. Fowle, a leader in organizing the movement.