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Newspaper The World (Seattle, Wash.) 1898-19??

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About The World (Seattle, Wash.) 1898-19??

The World was a weekly African American newspaper published from 1898 to the early 1900s in Seattle, WA. The only extant issue of the World is misdated. While the masthead date says January 4, 1899, the news printed in the issue indicates that it was published in 1900.

Daniel Walter Griffin owned and operated the newspaper and was a notable figure in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Washington political circles due to his multiple political newspapers. He was frequently mentioned in the Seattle Republican for his varied business activities and his often-violent escapades. As the first truly successful and longest running African American newspaper in Seattle, the Seattle Republican was the lone survivor among the seven African American newspapers in print at the turn of the twentieth century. The World was one of these short-lived newspapers. The Republican’s editor, Horace Cayton, scrutinized these papers and routinely criticized African Americans that failed to meet his standards. In the November 11, 1904 issue of the Seattle Republican, the newspaper printed the article “GRIFFIN SHOULD BE CHECKED” that warned readers against Griffin’s latest attempt to collect money from businesspeople under false pretenses.

Griffin’s multiple newspaper pursuits were frequently discussed, as he was reported to establish newspapers quite often, including the Seattle Bee and the Western Sun. The December 21, 1901 issue of the Seattle Republican reported on Griffin’s latest emerging project, stating that he “manages to get a new paper in the field during every campaign and manages to flop his paper into every party and faction that is to be found in the county during the same period.”

The World was one of multiple newspapers published and edited by Griffin from the 1890s to the early 1900s. The newspaper’s masthead claimed it was “THE LEADING Afro-American Journal OF THE NORTHWEST” and urged businesses to take advantage of the advertisement opportunities, stating “Business Men GET GOOD RETURNS FROM ADS DISPLAYED IN The World.” The World included many advertisements throughout the issue for businesses such as meat companies, launderers, restaurants, and machinery suppliers.

The January 4, 1900 issue of the World included articles about the Pacific Northwest, like “Granaries on the Farm” that compared farm conditions on the East and West coasts and “DESTRUCTION OF FORESTS” that discussed the destruction of regional forest reserves. The issue also included global news, like “THE BERING SEA DISPUTE” that reported on the controversy between the United States and Great Britain and “THE BOER WAR” that discussed British activity in South Africa. The World‘s society column, named “Locals,” offered brief updates about Seattle residents and church activities. Correspondent J. Morris Teel submitted news regarding residents of Roslyn, a city outside of Seattle.

The World likely ceased publication in the early 1900s. D.W. Griffin moved on to other newspaper ventures, but this is unknown. The October 11, 1907 issue of the Seattle Republican noted his recent disappearance and questioned his whereabouts.

Note: The issues digitized for this newspaper were microfilmed for and sponsored by the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and Bell & Howell, a microfilming company, by the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service in 1947, compiling African American newspapers published in the U.S. throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. For more information on the microfilm collection, see: Negro Newspapers on Microfilm, a Selected List (Library of Congress), published in 1953. While this collection contains selections from many U.S. newspapers titles, for further coverage, view a complete list of all digitized African American titles available in the Chronicling America collection.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The World (Seattle, Wash.) 1898-19??

Dates of Publication

  • 1898-19??

Created / Published

  • Seattle, Wash. : D.W. Griffin & Co.

Headings

  • -  African American newspapers--Washington (State)
  • -  African Americans--Washington (State)--Newspapers
  • -  Seattle (Wash.)--Newspapers
  • -  King County (Wash.)--Newspapers
  • -  African American newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  Washington (State)
  • -  Washington (State)--King County
  • -  Washington (State)--Seattle
  • -  United States--Washington--King--Seattle

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1898.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 18 (Jan. 4, 1899 [i.e. 1900]).

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84025812

OCLC Number

  • 10328976

ISSN Number

  • 2832-8582

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/listawardees.html.

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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 World Seattle, Wash. -19??. (Seattle, WA), Jan. 1 1898. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025812/.

APA citation style:

(1898, January 1) The World Seattle, Wash. -19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025812/.

MLA citation style:

The World Seattle, Wash. -19??. (Seattle, WA) 1 Jan. 1898. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84025812/.