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Newspaper Abendblatt Der Illinois Staats-Zeitung (Chicago, Ill.) 1891-1894 Abendblatt

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About Abendblatt Der Illinois Staats-Zeitung (Chicago, Ill.) 1891-1894

The Illinois Staats-Zeitung (ISZ) was a German-language immigrant newspaper that existed in various formats from 1848-1922. At first a weekly paper, it added a daily run (except Sunday) beginning in 1851, and it published a daily evening edition, the Abendblatt der Illinois Staats-zeitung 1891-1894 and Abendblatt from 1894-1899. The paper was founded by Forty-Eighters: progressive revolutionaries who were forced to flee Germany and seek refuge elsewhere—including Chicago, where they quickly became the largest ethnic group. Forty-Eighters such as Editor Georg Schneider brought modern values to the paper, arguing against slavery, anti-immigrant discrimination, and liquor regulations. When the Republican Party was formed in 1854, the ISZ became a firm supporter, and “the leading Republican paper of the Northwest.” Even though most German immigrants at the time were Democrats, the ISZ grew rapidly, and within a decade, it became the biggest German-language paper west of New York.

Anton C. Hesing bought the paper in 1867. He brought Hermann Raster, a well-known correspondent from the New Yorker Abend-Zeitung, aboard as editor, and the two of them began an effort to use the ISZ to convince German Americans to support Republicans. The pair became major players in the Illinois Republican Party, especially Hesing, who acted as the political boss for Chicago Germans from the 1860s to 1875. The first German to hold elected office in Illinois, Hesing leveraged his power to put Germans in city and county offices, combat nativism, and push Republicans towards repealing liquor laws. Alcohol control was an especially strong point of contention: in 1872, Hesing and Raster forced the Republican Party to adopt an anti-Prohibition platform if they wanted the German vote. The resulting declaration of the “right to drink what one pleases” became known as the Raster resolution.

Though the ISZ‘s political influence declined after the 1870s, it enjoyed steady growth throughout the end of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth. The paper reached its peak circulation in 1915, publishing 50,000 papers a day. Unfortunately, World War I and the resulting anti-German sentiment sent the ISZ into a massive downward spiral: within three years, the paper lost 10,000 subscribers and most of its advertisers. Part of this was due to the ISZ favoring Germany in the war; former president Theodore Roosevelt attacked it as “German propaganda.” Though the paper rebuked this statement and later supported the United States, the financial damage was done, and the Staats-Zeitung Corporation suspended business in June 1918. In October, the ISZ was sold, and daily publication resumed for “government purposes” of reaching citizens who only spoke German. This revival was short-lived: from March to November 1921, it was suspended again and sold. That December, it had its final death-knell when Editor Arthur Lorenz wrote an article harshly criticizing the American Legion, an association of WWI veterans. Fewer than ten days later, he was arrested, charged with libel, and recommended for deportation. This was more than the ailing paper could stand. In 1922, the ISZ finally folded and was incorporated into the Deutsch-Amerikanische Bürger-Zeitung.

Provided By: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Abendblatt Der Illinois Staats-Zeitung (Chicago, Ill.) 1891-1894

Other Title

  • Abendblatt

Dates of Publication

  • 1891-1894

Created / Published

  • Chicago, Ill. : [publisher not identified], -1894.

Headings

  • -  German Americans--Illinois--Chicago--Newspapers
  • -  Chicago (Ill.)--Newspapers
  • -  German Americans
  • -  Illinois--Chicago
  • -  United States--Illinois--Cook--Chicago

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  Began in 1891.
  • -  -47. Jahrg., no. 252 (23. Okt. 1894).
  • -  Preservation microfilmed in cooperation with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library as part of the United States Newspaper Program; the years 1893-1894 (on 3 microfilm reels) are available for purchase from OCLC Preservation Service Centers.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  In German.
  • -  Evening ed. of: Illinois Staats-zeitung (Chicago, Ill. : 1862).
  • -  Description based on: 46. Jahrg., no. 1 (27. März 1893).
  • -  Abendblatt (Chicago, Ill.) (DLC)sn 83045004 (OCoLC)9287699

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83045003

OCLC Number

  • 9287864

ISSN Number

  • 2836-8746

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:

Abendblatt Der Illinois Staats-Zeitung Chicago, Ill. -1894. (Chicago, IL), Jan. 1 1891. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045003/.

APA citation style:

(1891, January 1) Abendblatt Der Illinois Staats-Zeitung Chicago, Ill. -1894. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045003/.

MLA citation style:

Abendblatt Der Illinois Staats-Zeitung Chicago, Ill. -1894. (Chicago, IL) 1 Jan. 1891. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83045003/.