Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Labor Argus (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915

View All Front Pages

About The Labor Argus (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915

Beginning publication in the spring of 1906, the Charleston [West Virginia] Labor Argus offered organized labor a platform in West Virginia’s public affairs. Published by Frank Snyder, the Argus hoped to foster “more cordial relations between employee and employer, rather than to foment discord between these two classes.” Published weekly, the paper fluctuated in size over the span of its existence, although it usually comprised four to six pages.

Labor issues dominated the Labor Argus‘ columns. Snyder strongly supported the United Mine Workers of America, and the Argus kept readers abreast of union news. Moreover, as Frederick Barkey’s Working Class Radicals: The Socialist Party in West Virginia illuminates, the Argus owned a political independent streak. The newspaper bypassed Republican and Democratic rhetoric and supported laborers’ attempts to organize themselves politically. The Argus proved critical of mine owners, the oppressive mine “guard” system, and those who failed to condemn violent or unsafe labor practices. For just this reason, the Argus occasionally feuded with the Charleston News and Mail and refused to back the candidacy of Republican Howard Taft in the 1908 presidential election, instead supporting Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Beyond labor issues, the Argus also covered national news and during its first year devoted significant space to literary pieces as well.

In 1911, the paper came under the leadership of new editor Charles H. Boswell and the Socialist Party. Promising to remold the Labor Argus into a “red hot radical revolutionary rag,” the paper shifted its political center further left and fully embraced socialism and the Socialist Party. Similar to other Socialist papers, the Argus often ran articles exploring the tenets of socialism, socialism’s relationship with religion, and the platform of the Socialist Party. The revamped Labor Argus continued its hardline support of laborers; the Argus criticized the first settlement of the Paint Creek labor strike in 1913, despite both the governor’s and United Mine Workers’ support for the deal. This criticism led to a search of the Argus‘ Charleston office by state authorities in April 1913 and a temporary confiscation of its equipment.

Despite the setback, however, the Charleston Labor Argus continued publication for another year and half. At the start of 1915, recognizing their mutual readership, the Charleston Labor Argus merged with the Socialist Labor Star of Huntington, West Virginia, to form the Argus Star with offices in both Charleston and Huntington.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Labor Argus (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915

Dates of Publication

  • 1906-1915

Created / Published

  • Charleston, W. Va. : [publisher not identified]

Headings

  • -  Socialism--United States--Periodicals
  • -  Working class--United States--Periodicals
  • -  Charleston (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  Socialism
  • -  Working class
  • -  United States
  • -  West Virginia--Charleston
  • -  United States--West Virginia--Kanawha--Charleston

Genre

  • Newspapers
  • Periodicals

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began May 24, 1906.
  • -  Ceased in 1915?
  • -  "Vote the Socialist ticket and free your class from wage slavery."
  • -  "Published in the interest of the great majority -- the working class."
  • -  Editor: C.H. Boswell.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  "Official organ of the Socialist Party."
  • -  Merged with: Socialist and labor star (Huntington, W. Va.), to form: The Argus-star (non-extant).
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 7, no. 9 (Jan. 2, 1913)=w. no. 348; title from caption.
  • -  Socialist and labor star 2640-3803 (DLC)sn 85059765 (OCoLC)12897672
  • -  Argus-star

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper
  • HX1 .L1313

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn85059855

OCLC Number

  • 12926141

ISSN Number

  • 2471-2213

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.

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.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://www.loc.gov/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Labor Argus Charleston, W. Va. -1915. (Charleston, WV), Jan. 1 1906. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85059855/.

APA citation style:

(1906, January 1) The Labor Argus Charleston, W. Va. -1915. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn85059855/.

MLA citation style:

The Labor Argus Charleston, W. Va. -1915. (Charleston, WV) 1 Jan. 1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn85059855/.