Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities
BETA

Newspaper The McDowell Times (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941

View All Front Pages

About The McDowell Times (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941

Founded in Keystone, in McDowell County, West Virginia in 1904, the McDowell Times served as a leading African-American newspaper in the state. Published weekly amidst the coalfields of southern West Virginia, the Times offers a unique glimpse into the state’s laboring African-American communities, its Republican politics, and the intersection of race and class in the coalfields.

The driving force behind the McDowell Times was its editor, Matthew Thomas (stylized M.T.) Whittico. Born in Virginia immediately following the Civil War, Whittico attended Lincoln University, an all-black college in Pennsylvania, and subsequently taught school in his home state. Around the turn of the century, Whittico moved to Keystone, and in 1904 he purchased a local newspaper and renamed it the McDowell Times. Lamenting that the “white press champions the cause of all people except the Negro,” the Times was published “in the interest of the Negro Race-His Social and Political Rights.”

The Times offered the usual slate of local and national news to its readers, alongside editorials, advertisements, church affairs, personal news, and more. Yet the newspaper, which belonged to the National Negro Press Association, paid especial attention to news and stories that concerned African-Americans. The Times kept tabs on local black fraternal and civic organizations, African Methodist Episcopal congregations, events sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and more. It carried news stories that reflected African-Americans in a positive light, and it chided racist and segregationist policies.

Like many African-Americans in this era, Whittico was a staunch Republican, and the McDowell Times reflected its editor’s politics. Whittico used his publishing pulpit to espouse Republican politics to African-Americans in the county and region. McDowell County was unique in West Virginia, because of its sizeable African-American population, many of whom labored in the coal fields. With no small pride, the Times declared, “Negroes are very important political factors in this county…[they] are more thoroughly organized than in any county south of New York.” The Times played no small part in this organization, enjoying a circulation of nearly 5,000. It boasted that “90 percent [of black voters] will support men and measured indorsed [sic] by their leaders and supported by the McDowell Times.” The political clout of the county’s African-American community was evidenced by Whittico’s election to Keystone’s City Council, and Whittico’s growing importance to the Republican Party was evidenced by his service on the party’s state executive committee.

Whittico’s Republican leanings extended to issues of labor as well. Despite growing labor and Socialist movements in the early 20th century that decried the abuses of coal companies and the working conditions of miners, Whittico proved sympathetic to the coal industry. He gave positive accounts of his visits to coal mines and coal towns, and the Times allied itself with local coal operators.

M.T. Whittico kept the McDowell Times flourishing until his death in June 1939. The creator and driving force behind the newspaper, it is perhaps unsurprising that the Times ceased publication within a few years’ of its influential editor’s passing. The paper still serves as a reminder of the importance of the African-American community in McDowell County and southern West Virginia.

Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The McDowell Times (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941

Names

  • Whittico, M. T. (Matthew Thomas), editor

Dates of Publication

  • 1904-1941

Created / Published

  • Keystone, W. Va. : M.T. Whittico & R.W. White

Headings

  • -  African Americans--West Virginia--Newspapers
  • -  African Americans
  • -  West Virginia--McDowell County
  • -  McDowell County (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  West Virginia
  • -  United States--West Virginia--McDowell--Keystone

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1904; ceased in 1941?
  • -  "Colored."
  • -  Publisher: Whittico & Hill, .
  • -  Editor: M. T. Whittico, -June 1939.
  • -  Afro-American.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Preceded by: McDowell herald (non-extant).
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 10, no. 10 (May 9, 1913).

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn86092050

OCLC Number

  • 13032822

ISSN Number

  • 2640-3471

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 McDowell Times Keystone, W. Va. -1941. (Keystone, WV), Jan. 1 1904. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86092050/.

APA citation style:

(1904, January 1) The McDowell Times Keystone, W. Va. -1941. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn86092050/.

MLA citation style:

The McDowell Times Keystone, W. Va. -1941. (Keystone, WV) 1 Jan. 1904. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn86092050/.