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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Southern Shield (Helena, Ark.) 1840-1874

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About Southern Shield (Helena, Ark.) 1840-1874

Helena is along the Mississippi River in Phillips County in eastern Arkansas. Currently, Helena is combined with West Helena as the county seat, though the two were founded as separate towns. West Helena began nearby as a railroad town incorporated in 1917. Helena and West Helena were fully united in 2006 into Helena-West Helena.

The area of Helena was originally part of a Spanish land grant settled by Sylvanus Phillips in 1815. The county was later named after Phillips, who died in 1830. Helena was incorporated in 1833 and named after Phillips’ daughter, Helena Phillips, who died at age 15 just a year after her father’s death. Helena was prosperous due to the port on the Mississippi River at the eastern edge of town. The northern border is Crowley’s Ridge, on the west is the flat Mississippi floodplain, and to the south are lowland cypress swamps and oxbow lakes. As a steamboat stop between Memphis, Tennessee and Vicksburg, Mississippi, Helena experienced early growth. Later, cotton plantations and the timber industry were the main economic pursuits. By the mid-1850s, Helena had three newspapers, six private schools, and many social groups.

In 1840, Quincy K. Underwood, Sr. and his brother Washington L. Underwood established the Southern Shield in Helena. They published under the Q.K. Underwood & Bro. Publishing group, with Quincy Underwood acting as editor. Washington Underwood died in 1851, and Quincy continued on with the paper. Over the years, Quincy acted variously as sole publisher and in conjunction with others like Taylor and Wilkins. The Southern Shield suspended publication during the Civil War after secessionists burned Underwood’s newspaper office in 1861. This was in retaliation for supporting a unified United States in his newspaper. He restarted the paper soon after the Civil War ended. Underwood remained with his paper until it ceased publication in 1874. Two years later, Underwood died in his home in West Helena in his mid-50s.

The Shield ran as a weekly paper and was typically published on Saturdays. The paper supported the Whig party, of which Underwood was a prominent member. Underwood was well-regarded nationally and supported by politicians who recommended him for various political offices. In a letter addressed to President Abraham Lincoln, Richard W. Thompson (Indiana congressman and later Secretary of the Navy) commended Underwood and wanted to appoint him as military governor of Arkansas. In other praise of Underwood, a Pittsburg newspaper wrote an article in support of making Underwood a U.S. Senator representing Arkansas. Despite these commendations, the only office Underwood appears to have held was as probate and county judge in Phillips County.

Provided By: Arkansas State Archives

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Southern Shield (Helena, Ark.) 1840-1874

Dates of Publication

  • 1840-1874

Created / Published

  • Helena, Ark. : W.L. & Q.K. Underwood

Headings

  • -  Helena (Ark.)--Newspapers
  • -  Arkansas--Helena
  • -  United States--Arkansas--Phillips--Helena

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began with Feb. 8, 1840 issue; ceased in 1874?
  • -  Suspended during the Civil War. Cf. Gregory, W. Amer. newspapers.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 8 (Mar. 28, 1840).

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 52-59 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn82014892

OCLC Number

  • 8794764

ISSN Number

  • 2833-1729

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:

Southern Shield Helena, Ark. -1874. (Helena, AR), Jan. 1 1840. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014892/.

APA citation style:

(1840, January 1) Southern Shield Helena, Ark. -1874. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014892/.

MLA citation style:

Southern Shield Helena, Ark. -1874. (Helena, AR) 1 Jan. 1840. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn82014892/.