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Newspaper The Arizona Post (Tucson, Ariz.) 1946-1990

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About The Arizona Post (Tucson, Ariz.) 1946-1990

The Arizona Post, self-described as the first Anglo-Jewish publication in Tucson, Arizona, began in September 1946. It was owned by husband and wife Myer and Rebecca Staman Rutz with Rebecca as publisher and editor. The newspaper provided information for and about the Jewish community, from announcements about births, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, and weddings, to news about the opening of Temple Emanu-El’s new building and New Year’s greetings from community members during Rosh Hashanah. For the first few years, Myer wrote a column, “Myer’s Diary,” about the comings and goings of community members. Published every other week, the newspaper was typically ten to sixteen pages. Its initial slogan “Keep Posted with the Arizona Post!” changed in December 1947 to “Arizona’s Pioneer American-Jewish Newspaper.”

In an interview with the Jewish Historical Society of Southern Arizona Oral History Project, Rebecca Rutz explained: “I remember I had said that we had three objectives with the paper. It would mirror the Jewish community … It would be Zionist. And it would be liberal.” Rebecca also noted that, at the time, Tucson’s Jewish community was small, “somewhere around 250 Jewish families,” so the paper “stressed Jewish activity, Jewish identity.”

In the early years of the newspaper, regular columns included “Hodge Podge,” a collection of personal anecdotes, and “What’s Going On” that informed the Jewish community of celebrations, exhibits, and other social events. A page was usually dedicated to activities of local organizations, such as the Temple Men’s Club and Hadassah. In the first year of publication, contributing editors Rabbi Joseph Gumbiner and Rabbi Marcus Breger wrote a column, “Across the Rabbi’s Desk,” in which they reflected on different issues, such as advocating against an anti-union amendment before Arizona voters, reminding readers of their communal responsibilities like visiting the sick, and reflecting on the meaning of Jewish religious holidays.

A December 1949 editorial responded to criticism that the newspaper should carry more national news by emphasizing that, in their duty as a “community paper … there cannot be too much local news,” but that they also kept their readers “reliably informed on the most important news that happens on the national and international scene.” Indeed, news in the Post ranged from the status of Jewish displaced persons in Europe to the creation of the State of Israel to national politics in the United States. Rebecca and Myer Rutz also hosted the Arizona Post Hour, a Sunday morning radio program of “American-Hebrew-Jewish music, interviews, and news,” that ran from 1949 to 1952.

The August 17, 1956 issue of the Post declared “Sholom! This is your NEW Arizona Post … fresh from its new Hebraic-script masthead to the clever rib-tickling cartoon ‘Dayenu.'” The new publishers were Abe and Mildred Chanin. Abe, who was also the new editor, was sports editor at the Arizona Daily Star, a position he continued while also editing the Post. The new masthead included the date in the Hebrew calendar; for example, printed alongside “Friday, August 17, 1956” was “10 Elul 5716.” The Chanins ran the Arizona Post until the Tucson Jewish Community Council purchased it in 1965. The newspaper is still being published today as the Arizona Jewish Post.

Research provided by the University of Arizona Libraries.

Provided By: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Arizona Post (Tucson, Ariz.) 1946-1990

Names

  • Tucson Jewish Community Council
  • Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona

Dates of Publication

  • 1946-1990

Created / Published

  • Tucson, Ariz. : R.S. Rutz, 1946-1990.

Headings

  • -  Jewish newspapers--Arizona--Tucson
  • -  Tucson (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Pima County (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Jewish newspapers
  • -  Arizona--Pima County
  • -  Arizona--Tucson
  • -  United States--Arizona--Pima--Tucson

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Biweekly (except July; one issue in Aug.),
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 24, 1946)-v. 45, no. 13 (June 22, 1990).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Published by: Tucson Jewish Community Council, May 15, 1981- ; Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, Oct. 26, 1984-
  • -  Arizona Jewish post 1053-5616 (DLC)sn 90001377 (OCoLC)22576323

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 28 cm

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn82000867

OCLC Number

  • 7254173

ISSN Number

  • 0744-1509

Succeeding Titles

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 Arizona Post Tucson, Ariz. -1990. (Tucson, AZ), Jan. 1 1946. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82000867/.

APA citation style:

(1946, January 1) The Arizona Post Tucson, Ariz. -1990. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82000867/.

MLA citation style:

The Arizona Post Tucson, Ariz. -1990. (Tucson, AZ) 1 Jan. 1946. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn82000867/.