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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Matanuska Valley Pioneer (Palmer, Alaska) 1935-1936

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About Matanuska Valley Pioneer (Palmer, Alaska) 1935-1936

The Matanuska Valley pioneer was a weekly publication started by the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation (ARRC), which reported on the Matanuska Valley colony from 1935 to 1936. The ARRC hired Jack Allman, a veteran newsman, to run the paper. It was originally a 4-page mimeographed tabloid that was distributed for free by the ARRC to all of the colonists. Allman worked out of a small tent for the first several months, but in December of 1935 he went independent with the newspaper and moved to a larger tent with more room for his growing operation. Allman purchased an old press that had been used by the Skaguay News in the late nineteenth century. He also installed an old powder horn in the front of his office that people could drop questions and complaints into, and Allman would respond to these messages in the next issue of the Pioneer.

The press Allman bought was a source of constant trouble that began causing delays and requiring repairs as soon as he had installed it, as it frequently broke or had metal snap from trying to print an issue. These problems caused the publication to miss some issues and also led to a running series of costly repairs. In one of the first issues with the new press, Allman ran out of letter molds and had to intentionally misspell words just to get the issue to print.

Taking the paper independent had meant that colonists had to start subscribing instead of getting free issues from the ARRC. Outside interest in the colony began to wane after the first few months of its existence, and many of the early construction workers employed in building the settlement had left by 1936. In the penultimate issue Allman conceded that the booming early days of the colony were over and that the valley would trend towards “slower, but steady, growth,” although he admitted that some “business houses may have a hard time hanging on waiting for that growth.” With a dwindling subscription base and a faulty printing press, Allman finally called it quits on December 19, 1936. His final column, entitled “It Can’t Be Done,” explained that with the shrunken subscription base the local advertisers could not be expected to keep the publication going, and Allman had decided to leave the Matanuska Valley and find work elsewhere.

Provided By: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Matanuska Valley Pioneer (Palmer, Alaska) 1935-1936

Dates of Publication

  • 1935-1936

Created / Published

  • Palmer, Alaska : Jack Allman, 1935-1936.

Headings

  • -  Palmer (Alaska)--Newspapers
  • -  Alaska--Palmer
  • -  United States--Alaska--Palmer

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Aug. 22, 1935)-v. 1, no. 6 (Dec. 19, 1936).

Medium

  • 2 v.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn97060034

OCLC Number

  • 37740324

ISSN Number

  • 2994-2667

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:

Matanuska Valley Pioneer Palmer, Alaska -1936. (Palmer, AK), Jan. 1 1935. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn97060034/.

APA citation style:

(1935, January 1) Matanuska Valley Pioneer Palmer, Alaska -1936. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn97060034/.

MLA citation style:

Matanuska Valley Pioneer Palmer, Alaska -1936. (Palmer, AK) 1 Jan. 1935. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn97060034/.