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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The News-Democrat (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909

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About The News-Democrat (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909

Established in September of 1891 by John L. Heaton and his wife, Eliza P. Heaton, the Providence News was started to represent the Republican Party. Heaton had been trained in New York City. The first printing office was at 10 Pine Street in Providence.

The Providence News debuted September 21, 1891, describing itself as “A Clean Family Paper. Take it to Your Wife.”  It initially sold for one cent a copy and soon went to two cents a copy, fifty cents a month, or five dollars per year. First published by Heaton, Langtry and Co., they soon changed the name to The Providence News Co. and moved the office to 7 Weybosset Street in Providence.

It was a dedicated Republican newspaper and promoted the local Republican ticket candidates. One selling point was as “The only Republican daily of the Republican Capital of a Republican State.” According to an advertisement in the Providence City Directory (1893), “It devotes itself to the City of Providence” with its “eight bright pages.”

 Advertising rates were prominently promoted, and advertisers poured in from local merchants looking to sell their wares in the capital city with advertisements from wallpaper to tea houses. The newspaper printed births, marriages, and death notices, and featured reports on sports and the state fair.

In February 1892, the paper was enlarged, and in March of that year, the Republican convention endorsed it as the “official organ of the Republican Party of Rhode Island.” The new weekly edition started on June 15, totaled 12 pages, and a subscription was $1 per year. By October, the Heatons and the printing office moved to 24 and 25 South Water Street. D. Russell Brown took over as publisher and soon the unionized compositors were fired and replaced with non-union workers.

On June 15, 1897, the paper announced it was a “newspaper, not a party organ.” Three men bought a controlling interest and took on important roles: R.W. Bryant became publisher, Charles W. Bacon became editor, and Stephen A. Hopkins became business manager. This arrangement only lasted until September 22, when Bryant and Hopkins were replaced by J.W. Watson who became publisher and manager, while Charles H. Howland became editor.

The Providence News ran stories concerning international affairs as well as local affairs, such as the work of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The “Most Popular Pastor” contest was another local feature.

After repeated attempts to make the newspaper successful, Torrey E. Wardener came from Boston to take over as editor in 1900. He made such a splash that the newspaper faced a libel suit.

On July 1, 1902, the printing plant moved back to downtown Providence at a corner of 120-128 Washington and 105-109 Mathewson Streets. Here, they installed the first color newspaper press used in Rhode Island.

  1. Russell Brown owned the newspaper until May 10, 1906 when he sold it to Misters Trumpler and Dillenback. They changed the name to the News-Democrat and changed the newspaper’s political affiliation to support the Democratic party.

As noted in the city directory listing, a full-page advertisement in the 1906 Providence City Directory announced the News-Democrat as “the only Metropolitan Democratic Daily in the state of Rhode Island,” and described it as “Fearless, Honest, Accurate and Up to date…it has won its stand as the People’s Paper.”

The News-Democrat was published daily (excepting Sunday) by the News Publishing Co. for three dollars per year. There was also a Providence City Directory listing for a weekly edition at one dollar per year. It was continued by the Evening News and News-Democrat (1909-1913), and then followed by the Evening News (1913-1918).

Provided By: Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The News-Democrat (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909

Dates of Publication

  • 1906-1909

Created / Published

  • Providence, R.I. : [The News Pub. Co.]

Headings

  • -  Providence (R.I.)--Newspapers
  • -  Rhode Island--Providence
  • -  United States--Rhode Island--Providence--Providence

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sun. and holidays)
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (May 11, 1906)-v. 6, no. 116 (Mar. 20, 1909).
  • -  Weekly ed.: Weekly news-democrat (Providence, R.I.), May 17-June 7, 1906.
  • -  Evening news and the news-democrat (DLC)sn 91070635 (OCoLC)24949306

Medium

  • v.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn91070633

OCLC Number

  • 24949132

ISSN Number

  • 2994-9807

Preceding Titles

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 News-Democrat Providence, R.I. -1909. (Providence, RI), Jan. 1 1906. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn91070633/.

APA citation style:

(1906, January 1) The News-Democrat Providence, R.I. -1909. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn91070633/.

MLA citation style:

The News-Democrat Providence, R.I. -1909. (Providence, RI) 1 Jan. 1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn91070633/.