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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Valentine Democrat (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930

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About Valentine Democrat (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930

In its various incarnations, the Democrat served the needs of the people of Valentine and Cherry County in north-central Nebraska. Previous titles include the Democratic Blade (1885-89), the Cherry County Gazette (1889-92), and the Cherry County Independent (1892-97). The paper first took the name Valentine Democrat in 1896 under the editorship of Robert Good. On September 1, 1898, Good changed the title to the Western News-Democrat, which it kept until May 3, 1900, when Isaac M. Rice took over as editor and publisher and renamed it the Valentine Democrat. Annual subscriptions were $2.00 for the Valentine Democrat and just $1.00 for the Western News-Democrat. Rice continued as editor until 1911, and the Democrat maintained its title until 1930, when it was superseded by the Cherry County News. Editions of the Democrat typically ran four to five columns on each of its eight pages.

Hoping to forward the region’s economic prosperity, the Democrat emphasized issues important to the largely agricultural community. During his tenure as editor, Robert Good published the cattle brands of more stockmen than any other newspaper in Nebraska, often devoting two or more pages to illustrate each brand. Though the various titles’ mastheads were largely simple, their subheadings were often more informative. Through “A News, Farm and Stock Journal,” the Western News-Democrat provided tips on threshing buckwheat, cutting corn, and housekeeping and maintained a vigilant eye on livestock and agricultural prices. After Isaac Rice took over as editor, noticeable changes followed. The Valentine Democrat‘s new subheading boasted that it was the “Official Newspaper of Cherry County,” likely in an attempt to bolster advertising funds. Additionally, the earlier focus on livestock and agriculture started to give way to a greater emphasis on political reform.

Under both Good and Rice, the Democrat followed closely the life and politics of presidential candidate and reformer William Jennings Bryan. On February 8, 1900, the paper went so far as to incorporate Bryan’s personal motto–“No question is ever settled until it is settled right”–as a subheading. Beginning on July 18, 1901, each issue provided extracts from Bryan’s own paper, the Commoner. The Democrat also covered broader political, social, and economic issues of the Progressive Era, incorporating political cartoons and reprinting national and international news articles. Rice introduced his readers to a larger, global system of events, while not losing sight of local and state developments. Combining the ideals of both the Democrats and the Populists, the Valentine Democrat encouraged participation in local and national Democratic Party efforts as well as supporting Fusion candidates in Nebraska.

Provided By: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Valentine Democrat (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930

Dates of Publication

  • 1900-1930

Created / Published

  • Valentine, Neb. : I.M. Rice, 1900-1930.

Headings

  • -  Valentine (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Cherry County (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  Nebraska--Cherry County
  • -  Nebraska--Valentine
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Cherry--Valentine

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 15, no. 15 (May 3, 1900)-v. 45, no. 52 (Feb. 6, 1930).
  • -  Also available on microfilm.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Cherry County news

Medium

  • 31 v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn95069780

OCLC Number

  • 489041702
  • n489041702

ISSN Number

  • 2157-8230

Preceding Titles

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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:

Valentine Democrat Valentine, Neb. -1930. (Valentine, NE), Jan. 1 1900. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn95069780/.

APA citation style:

(1900, January 1) Valentine Democrat Valentine, Neb. -1930. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn95069780/.

MLA citation style:

Valentine Democrat Valentine, Neb. -1930. (Valentine, NE) 1 Jan. 1900. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn95069780/.