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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Will Maupin's Weekly (Lincoln, Neb.) 1911-1912

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About Will Maupin's Weekly (Lincoln, Neb.) 1911-1912

Over the course of his 60-year career, Will M. Maupin (1863-1948) contributed stories, opinions, and humor to papers across Nebraska, from the Falls City Journal in the east to the Gering Midwest in the western part of the state. Maupin preferred being considered a “newspaperman” rather than a “journalist” or “author.”

A particularly remarkable period were the years 1901-13 when Maupin, an advocate for labor, Populism, and the Democratic ticket, edited a column in William Jennings Bryan’s newspaper, the Commoner. Maupin was also the sole editor and publisher of the Wageworker (1904-11) in Lincoln, Nebraska, and its successor Will Maupin’s Weekly (1911-12). The Commoner had a national audience, while the latter two papers were largely addressed to Nebraskans. The Wageworker’s motto was “a newspaper with a mission and without a muzzle,” and as a Labor paper, it defended the working man and woman, attacked monopolies such as Standard Oil, and decried imperialism. Some have described the Wageworker as more “caustic” than the Commoner. Will Maupin’s Weekly had a broader scope and, although short-lived, met its goal of being “a snappy progressive weekly journal of news and comment.”

As a dedicated member of the International Typographical Union, Maupin was strongly commitment to the interests of labor, helping found the Nebraska Federation of Labor. According to Patricia Gaster’s article on the newspaperman in Nebraska History, Maupin was appointed deputy commissioner of the Nebraska Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics in 1909, and he used his position to organize a convention that pushed for a wage earners’ organization in the state. Delegates, including Maupin, drafted a platform that included “an eight-hour work day, enforcement of child labor laws, and equal pay for equal work by men and women.” This position gave Maupin a taste for public life and fueled his newspaper writing. Although Maupin was on ballots for governor and state representative, he won only one public election, serving as a State Railway Commissioner from 1935 to 1941. The job provided some financial stability for his family, for whom money was always a concern. A practical idealist, Maupin worked hard on issues relating to wage earners when he could afford to do so, which is to say intermittently.

Maupin’s newspaper columns were often leavened with humor, anecdotes, and “poetic jabs” at personages such as Edward Rosewater, editor and owner of the Omaha Daily Bee. Among Maupin’s more popular columns, “Limnings,” and “Brain Leaks” appeared in the Omaha Morning World-Herald. During Omaha’s world fair, the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in 1898, Maupin briefly contributed to a column called “Snap Shots at the Passing Throng.” Similar Maupin columns included “Whether Common or Not” in the Commoner and “Sunny Side Up” in the Omaha Evening Bee-News, begun years after Rosewater’s death. Maupin’s columns were sometimes syndicated or collected into book form to help support his family.

By the time of his death in 1948, Maupin had edited or written for around 40 newspapers.

Provided By: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Will Maupin's Weekly (Lincoln, Neb.) 1911-1912

Names

  • Maupin, Will M. (Will Major), 1863-1948

Dates of Publication

  • 1911-1912

Created / Published

  • Lincoln, Neb. : Wageworker Pub. Co., 1911-1912.

Headings

  • -  Lincoln (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Nebraska--Lincoln
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Lancaster--Lincoln

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began with Volume 7, number 46, February 3, 1911; ceased with volume. 9, number 30, October 25, 1912.
  • -  Multiple date and numbering errors.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Nebraska State Historical Society.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Midwest (Lincoln, Neb.) (DLC)sn 98067303 (OCoLC)38277688

Medium

  • 3 volumes : illustrations ; 36-54 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2017270207

OCLC Number

  • 990307838
  • n990307838

ISSN Number

  • 2578-417x

Preceding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

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Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Will Maupin's Weekly Lincoln, Neb. -1912. (Lincoln, NE), Jan. 1 1911. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017270207/.

APA citation style:

(1911, January 1) Will Maupin's Weekly Lincoln, Neb. -1912. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017270207/.

MLA citation style:

Will Maupin's Weekly Lincoln, Neb. -1912. (Lincoln, NE) 1 Jan. 1911. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2017270207/.