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Newspaper The Montana Plaindealer (Helena, Mont.) 1906-1911 Montana plain dealer

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About The Montana Plaindealer (Helena, Mont.) 1906-1911

The Montana Plaindealer, one of three African American newspapers in Montana, began publication in Helena in March 1906, under the editorial direction of Joseph B. Bass.  Bass moved to Helena in 1906 from Topeka, Kansas, where he worshiped in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and followed the precepts of “self-improvement” promoted by Booker T. Washington. In 1910, Helena had the largest African American population in Montana with 420 individuals out of a population of 12,500. 

The four-page, six-column weekly featured a regular column entitled, “Race News,” which documented incidents of racial discrimination across the nation.  One of the first issues featured a story about a lynching of two African American men taken from a jail in Springfield, Missouri, by a white mob.  Each issue contained exhortations by the editor Bass promoting civil rights and highlighting economic opportunities for African Americans in Helena and across Montana.  Just below the masthead in the inaugural issue the editor advocated for “the principles of peace, prosperity, and union,” while reporting the results of the Republican primaries for the city of Helena and noting the participation of two “colored” delegates from Helena.  In 1909 the Plaindealer expressed its opposition to an anti-miscegenation bill passed by the Montana legislature that March. 

The Plaindealer supported its publication through an active printing business, but by 1911 that business faltered and the newspaper closed its doors.

Provided By: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Montana Plaindealer (Helena, Mont.) 1906-1911

Other Title

  • Montana plain dealer

Dates of Publication

  • 1906-1911

Created / Published

  • Helena, Mont. : Montana Plaindealer Co., 1906-1911.

Headings

  • -  Helena (Mont.)--Newspapers
  • -  Montana--Helena
  • -  United States--Montana--Lewis and Clark--Helena

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly, i.e. irregular
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Mar. 16, 1906)-v. 3, no. 36 (Sept. 8, 1911).
  • -  "We unhesitatingly subscribe to the principles of Republicanism."
  • -  "A complete Negro newspaper."
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • 3 volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84036199

OCLC Number

  • 11254801

ISSN Number

  • 2329-552x

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 Montana Plaindealer Helena, Mont. -1911. (Helena, MT), Jan. 1 1906. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84036199/.

APA citation style:

(1906, January 1) The Montana Plaindealer Helena, Mont. -1911. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84036199/.

MLA citation style:

The Montana Plaindealer Helena, Mont. -1911. (Helena, MT) 1 Jan. 1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn84036199/.