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Newspaper The Citizen (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958

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About The Citizen (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958

Conceived as a publication to entertain, inform, and uplift its readers, the Berea Citizen was inseparable from the evolving purpose of its sponsor, Berea College. From its founding in 1855 as the first interracial and co-educational institution of higher learning in the American South, Berea College was intended to serve as a counterpoint to the injustices of racial inequality and poverty. First published in 1899, the Citizen functioned as an account of college life and a source of information about the surrounding community. Most of the four-page issues carried international, national, and state news, notices of events involving students and alumni, and columns devoted to domesticity and agriculture. Stories of the pernicious influence of alcohol and the merits of temperance were also common, as was a recurrent examination of Mormonism’s supposed “errors.”

It was the paper’s role as a recruitment tool for white students, however, that most shaped the paper’s content. For almost three decades, the Citizen was the voice of William G. Frost, Berea College President from 1892 to 1920. With President Frost’s tenure, the college’s mission shifted significantly. As the school’s newspaper made clear, the previous emphasis on African-American education had been displaced. Indeed, during Frost’s tenure, the portion of African-American students at Berea declined precipitously from 52% to 16%, a proportion Frost believed more “suitable” because it more accurately reflected Kentucky’s racial composition. Under Frost, what had once been a climate of extraordinary racial tolerance gave way to a policy assuring white students they would not have to room with or even socialize with blacks. The Citizen continued in this vein for two decades, before shifting in the 1920s to a greater emphasis on the local community. Although the Berea Citizen severed its connection to the college in 1984, the paper continues to publish to this day.

Provided By: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Citizen (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958

Dates of Publication

  • 1899-1958

Created / Published

  • Berea, Ky. : T.G. Pasco, 1899-1958.

Headings

  • -  Berea (Ky.)--Newspapers
  • -  Madison County (Ky.)--Newspapers
  • -  Kentucky--Berea
  • -  Kentucky--Madison County
  • -  United States--Kentucky--Madison--Berea

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (June 21, 1899)-v. 59, no. 52 (June 26, 1958).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Berea citizen (DLC)sn 85052075 (OCoLC)12249111

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn85052076

OCLC Number

  • 12249099

ISSN Number

  • 1941-2932

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 Citizen Berea, Ky. -1958. (Berea, KY), Jan. 1 1899. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85052076/.

APA citation style:

(1899, January 1) The Citizen Berea, Ky. -1958. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85052076/.

MLA citation style:

The Citizen Berea, Ky. -1958. (Berea, KY) 1 Jan. 1899. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn85052076/.