Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities
BETA

Newspaper Greenbelt Cooperator (Greenbelt, Md.) 1937-1954 Greenbelt

View All Front Pages

About Greenbelt Cooperator (Greenbelt, Md.) 1937-1954

The Greenbelt Cooperator started in 1937 as a mimeographed weekly newsletter produced for the residents of the town of Greenbelt, Maryland. Greenbelt was founded in 1935 as the brainchild of Rexford Tugwell, a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration who helped formulate the New Deal and embraced a collectivist vision of urban planning. The town became an official project of the United States Resettlement Administration, and the town welcomed its first residents in 1937.

The Cooperator, like many local newspapers, faithfully documented the growth of the community through its coverage of civic affairs, business, society, recreation, schools, and religion. Readers of the Cooperator could read about social gatherings such as a marshmallow roast, lectures by an expert in home economics, clubs such as the Veterans Legion, Girl Scouts and other children’s activities, and individual gatherings in people’s homes.

What separates the Cooperator from other small-town newspapers was its cooperative nature. The staff was organized as a cooperative, and the newspaper’s policies required that its members belong to at least one other cooperative in town. The stated purpose of the Cooperator was to promote the benefits of the cooperative movement as a social experiment. The editor and business manager were elected by the membership of the cooperative and by September 1939, copies of the newspaper were delivered to every address in Greenbelt.

Collectivist experiments came under increasing attack in the highly-charged, anti-communist rhetoric of the years following World War II. Although Greenbelt’s residents remained committed to their cooperative vision, the name of the Cooperator was changed to the Greenbelt News Review in 1954. It continued to be published by a cooperative, staffed by volunteers, and distributed to every household in the town.

The Greenbelt News Review holds a distinguished place in the annals of the freedom of the press for a case that was argued all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. In July 1966, a local developer sued the newspaper for two million dollars after a report on a town meeting quoted several citizens who accused the developer of “blackmail.” The News Review, responded with an aggressive fund-raising campaign, which ultimately raised $30,000. After local and state courts sided with the developer, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution protected the right to report in detail on public debates. The New Review wears this victory as a badge of honor and the newspaper continues to hold a special place in the life of Greenbelt.

Provided By: University of Maryland, College Park, MD

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Greenbelt Cooperator (Greenbelt, Md.) 1937-1954

Other Title

  • Greenbelt

Dates of Publication

  • 1937-1954

Created / Published

  • Greenbelt, Md. : [s.n.], 1937-1954.

Headings

  • -  Greenbelt (Md.)--Newspapers
  • -  Prince George's County (Md.)--Newspapers
  • -  Maryland--Greenbelt
  • -  Maryland--Prince George's County
  • -  United States--Maryland--Prince George's--Greenbelt

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 24, 1937)-v. 19, no. 6 (Sept. 16, 1954).
  • -  Issues for July 29, 1954-Sept. 16, 1954 published without title, pending selection of a new name; the word "Greenbelt" printed in caption for these issues.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Greenbelt news review (DLC)sn 89061522 (OCoLC)19952343

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper
  • AN41.681.G7 N4

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn89061521

OCLC Number

  • 19952288

ISSN Number

  • 2577-0071

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:

Greenbelt Cooperator Greenbelt, Md. -1954. (Greenbelt, MD), Jan. 1 1937. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89061521/.

APA citation style:

(1937, January 1) Greenbelt Cooperator Greenbelt, Md. -1954. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89061521/.

MLA citation style:

Greenbelt Cooperator Greenbelt, Md. -1954. (Greenbelt, MD) 1 Jan. 1937. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn89061521/.