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Newspaper Ohio Waisenfreund (Pomeroy, O. [Ohio]) 1874-1953

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About Ohio Waisenfreund (Pomeroy, O. [Ohio]) 1874-1953

The Ohio was established in Pomeroy, Ohio, in 1873 by Reverend John Joseph Jessing, a Roman Catholic priest and German immigrant associated with the Sacred Heart Church. Proceeds from the newspaper were intended to support St. Joseph’s Orphanage which Jessing started after seeing the hardships experienced by the orphaned boys of his community. In 1874, Jessing changed the name of the weekly newspaper to Ohio Waisenfreund (“Ohio Orphan’s Friend”), emphasizing its mission. He moved the paper to Columbus, the capital of Ohio, in 1877, hoping to build circulation by publishing in a larger city with access to more railroad lines. Subscriptions increased from around 5,000 in the 1870s to 40,000 by the end of the 1880s. The Waisenfreund was distributed across the United States and was considered a strong and important voice of the German-American Catholic community in Ohio and beyond.

In 1888, Jessing established a seminary, the Collegium Josephinum, in response to interest by some older orphans attending his trade school to join the priesthood. The college was transferred to the Holy See and granted pontifical status in 1892. From that point, the Waisenfreund was published under the auspices of the Pontifical College Josephinum, which would become the leading educational center for German-American priests in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and today is the only pontifical college in the Western Hemisphere. Initially focused on preparing its students to minister to German-speaking Americans, today Josephinum’s students mostly serve those in rural and missionary dioceses, remaining true to Jessing’s original mission of educating and supporting those in financial need.

Subscribers to theWaisenfreund not only supported the education of German-American Catholic priests, but were provided religious instruction and reports from the Holy See in Rome. The “family sheet for truth and law, to instruction and entertainment” also printed political reports; local, national and international news; and serialized literary and historical works. Two regular sections were Auskunft (“Information Desk”), covering a variety of topics from weather to household tips, and Familienkreis (“Family Circle”), which included poems and other reading matter for families. The Waisenfreund also reported on happenings at the Josephinum, donations to the college, and deaths in the community. During World War II, it published advertisements in support of the United States Armed Forces and the purchase of Liberty Bonds.

The Waisenfreund is predominantly German language, and unlike many German-American newspapers, it survived the anti-German sentiment during World War I. It began to include more English-language content and its circulation remained high until the 1940s, at times sustaining over 30,000 subscribers. In 1907, the Waisenfreund absorbed the Cincinnati Wahrheits-Freund (“Friend of Truth”), the oldest German Catholic newspaper in the United States; and in 1943, it absorbed the Buffalo Aurora und Christliche Woche (“Aurora and Christian Week”). For the last decade of publication, the Waisenfreund was printed both in Columbus, Ohio, and by the Wanderer Printing Company in St, Paul, Minnesota (as the “Ausgabe des “Wanderer” or “Wanderer Edition”). The Waisenfreund ceased publication in 1953 by which point its circulation had diminished to less than 5,000.

 

Provided By: Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Ohio Waisenfreund (Pomeroy, O. [Ohio]) 1874-1953

Names

  • Pontifical College Josephinum

Dates of Publication

  • 1874-1953

Created / Published

  • Pomeroy, O. [Ohio] : Rev. J. Jessing, 1874-1953.

Headings

  • -  Catholics--Ohio--Pomeroy--Newspapers
  • -  Catholics--Ohio--Columbus--Newspapers
  • -  German Americans--Ohio--Newspapers
  • -  Catholics
  • -  German Americans
  • -  Ohio
  • -  Ohio--Columbus
  • -  Ohio--Pomeroy
  • -  United States--Ohio--Meigs--Pomeroy
  • -  United States--Ohio--Franklin--Columbus

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Jahrg. 1, No. 43 (18. Feb. 1874)- ; -81 Jahrg. Nr. 17 (22. Aug. 1953).
  • -  "Ein Familienblatt für Wahrheit und Recht zur Belehrung und Unterhaltung."
  • -  Published in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 29, 1877-Aug. 22,1953.
  • -  Issues for -Sept. 14, 1932 called also: no. <2342>-3105; occasional irregularities in numbering.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  In German and English.
  • -  "Erscheint wöchentlich im Päpstlichen Collegium Josephinum der hl. Congregation der Propoganda zum Besten der Priesterzöglinge und Waisen", -Sept. 12, 1934; "Erscheint wöchentlich im Päpstlichen Collegium Josephinum der hl. Congregation der Propoganda zum Besten der Priesterzöglinge", Sept. 19, 1934-Jan. 18, 1939; "Herausgegeben vom Päpstlichen Kollegium Josephinum zum Besten der Priesterzöglinge", Jan. 25, 1939-
  • -  "Ausgabe des 'Wanderer'",

Medium

  • 80 volumes ; 39-54 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn91069201

OCLC Number

  • 1697207

ISSN Number

  • 2641-0109

Preceding 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:

Ohio Waisenfreund Pomeroy, O. Ohio -1953. (Pomeroy, OH), Jan. 1 1874. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn91069201/.

APA citation style:

(1874, January 1) Ohio Waisenfreund Pomeroy, O. Ohio -1953. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn91069201/.

MLA citation style:

Ohio Waisenfreund Pomeroy, O. Ohio -1953. (Pomeroy, OH) 1 Jan. 1874. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn91069201/.