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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Fort Snelling Bulletin (Fort Snelling, Minn.) 1928-1946

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About The Fort Snelling Bulletin (Fort Snelling, Minn.) 1928-1946

The Fort Snelling Bulletin was a weekly newspaper that served as the official news source for Fort Snelling, a U.S. Army military garrison located near St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Constructed between 1820 and 1825 and decommissioned in 1946, the fort sits on what is known as Bdote, a sacred gathering space for the Dakota.

The Bulletin was first published in 1928 by the garrison’s commanding officer, Colonel Walter C. Sweeney. The earliest iterations of the newspaper comprised two or four mimeographed pages resembling a newsletter. The issue from November 23, 1928 notes that the paper was growing and that, as of that writing, it was published with no financial assistance from Fort Snelling at large. It also exhorted soldiers stationed at the garrison to contribute news material for publication related to their units. Beginning with the November 20, 1943 issue, the paper began to resemble a more traditional newspaper.

The Bulletin featured content “by and for the military personnel at Fort Snelling;” it did not generally cover local news of surrounding municipalities. Numerous garrison personnel served as the paper’s editor during its run, typically for less than one year. In addition to printing general news related to the army and its local units at Fort Snelling, the newspaper also contained religious worship service schedules, theater offerings, film reviews, athletics news, cartoons, gossip, jokes, and historical tidbits about the fort’s past, among other contents. Other notable topics covered by the paper included the arrival of Civilian Conservation Corps members at the Fort in April 1933 to assist with building repairs and construction and the creation of the Recruit Reception Center in September 1940.

From 1940 until the paper ceased publication, news pertaining to World War II predominated. A major topic covered by the paper was news related to the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS), which moved to Fort Snelling in August 1944. This school helped train soldiers, many of whom were Japanese American, as Japanese linguists to support the U.S. war effort.

The Fort Snelling Bulletin published its final issue on June 21, 1946, shortly before the garrison was decommissioned. The final issue included a farewell message from Commanding Officer Colonel Harry J. Keeley and other unit commandants and a brief history of Fort Snelling.

Provided By: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Fort Snelling Bulletin (Fort Snelling, Minn.) 1928-1946

Dates of Publication

  • 1928-1946

Created / Published

  • Fort Snelling, Minn., [Garrison of Fort Snelling], -1946.

Headings

  • -  Fort Snelling (Minn.)
  • -  Minnesota--Fort Snelling
  • -  United States--Minnesota--Hennepin--Fort Snelling

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1928; ceased with volume XIII, no. 25 (21 June, 1946).
  • -  Mimeographed.
  • -  Volume numbering reverts to vol. 2 with June 8, 1934.
  • -  Also available on microfilm from the Minnesota Historical Society.
  • -  Vol. 1, No. 2 (November 2, 1928); title from caption.
  • -  Volume XIII, No. 25 (21 June, 1946).

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 36 cm

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2023271006

OCLC Number

  • 19488645

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

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:

The Fort Snelling Bulletin Fort Snelling, Minn. -1946. (Fort Snelling, MN), Jan. 1 1928. https://www.loc.gov/item/2023271006/.

APA citation style:

(1928, January 1) The Fort Snelling Bulletin Fort Snelling, Minn. -1946. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2023271006/.

MLA citation style:

The Fort Snelling Bulletin Fort Snelling, Minn. -1946. (Fort Snelling, MN) 1 Jan. 1928. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2023271006/.