Title
January 16, 1903
- Ayer Annual1
- Content: Republican
- Established: 1896
- Pages: 4; 8 (changed in Apr. 1903); some special issues of 30+ pages
- Size: 18 x 24
- Editor: H.R. Cayton
- Publisher: H.R. Cayton
- Frequency: Weekly, Friday, AM paper
- Coverage
- Region: King county
- County: King county
- Unique ids
- LCCN: sn84025811
- OCLC: 10328970
Digitization plan
2008-2009 grant
- Plan to digitize 1900-1913
- Sample reel - UW Microfilm # A3151, dates 1896.02.26 - 1902.12.26 (includes two issues of Daily republican and two issues of Republican).
- Reels ordered by UW
History
Essay Draft
Final
Seattle Republican - final draftDraft
The Seattle Republican was Seattle's first truly successful African American newspaper. Out of seven black newspapers to appear in
the city between 1891 and 1901, it alone survived into
the early 20th century. First issued on May 19, 1894 and continuing until 1913,
the paper (initially called simply
the Republican) represented
the political views of
the Republican Party, but not without critical scrutiny by its publisher and editor Horace Cayton Sr. Begun as a weekly,
the Seattle Republican aimed for both a national and biracial audience, reporting on events well beyond
the borders of Washington State. It covered national political news in some depth, and is a particularly rich single source of information concerning
the treatment and successes of African Americans all around
the country, particularly in
the South. But its primary focus was local party politics and Seattle's African American community. It became a daily in February 1896 in order to publish a newly revised City Charter and help
the daily
Seattle Post Intelligencer outmaneuver its rival
the Seattle Times, but it quickly reverted to a weekly a month later and remained so to
the end of its run.
The story of
the Seattle Republican is
the story of Horace Roscoe Cayton. Born into slavery in 1859, he became a college educated intellectual and made his paper a strong and respected voice in
the rapidly growing city of Seattle. Assisted by his wife Susie Revels (herself a published author), he emphasized
the advantages of this booming frontier city, growing prosperous as a supply center for
the gold fields in
the Klondyke and later in Alaska.
Cayton used his paper to encourage African Americans to migrate west where opportunity was not crushed by prejudice, or at least not openly denied. Employment was
the big issue in
the Pacific Northwest, not race relations. He never failed to recognize white citizens who treated blacks fairly, nor hestitate to criticize African Americand who failed to live up to his standards. Cayton spoke for
the New Negro, saw education and determination as
the keys to realizing
the American Dream. As did many black newspaper editors, Cayton worked closely with
the Republican Party and promoted its political agenda. But as Seattle grew, so did graft, prostitution and political corruption.
The paper took on this growing crime problem and Cayton occasionally paid
the price for his honest reporting on powerful local citizens. Arrest, lawsuits and o
ther ploys were used against him, but
the general public, once apprised of
the facts, usually rallied to his cause. Readership was racially mixed although circulation remained modest, probably never exceeding about 2,000 subscriptions.
Cayton was an avid consumer of all sorts of news coverage and during
the 1890's his was
the only West Coast paper regularly receiving cable and telegraphic news reports from both
the New York Sun and
New York World. He produced several regular columns; "Political Pot Pie," analysed local politics while
the "Afro American" and "Bro
ther in Black" usually focused on national events. "Realm of Religion" commented on local, national and international church matters.
The paper included local Jewish community news and took up
the cause of Japanese immigrants in California.
Theatre and musical events were covered. As Seattle matured into a more cosmopolitan city, race relations hardened. In 1912 Cayton wrote: "
The Negro in
the United States is half free and half serf. Those of
them in
the North, East and West are
theoretically free and enjoy equal privileges before
the law, while those of
them in
the South are serfs with no rights which
the white man is bound to or does respect. This country will be rent asunder sooner or later if it tries to maintain such a state of affairs.
The questions involving human rights can not be settle by compormises
[sic], but must be settled on
the square and in
the open. Will you do it?" (August 9, 1912,p.8) But Cayton, his family and his paper faced mounting difficulties.
The Republican Party also faltered. In 1913
the Seattle Republican ceased publication. Cayton's political activism continued but was often stymied. He edited several more papers (
Cayton's Weekly,
Cayton's Monthly and
Cayton's Yearbook) but never regained
the prominence he had once enjoyed. He died in 1940, leaving behind a published record of his unique and significant contributions to
the development of a city and its ethnic populations.
Research
- N.W. Ayer & Son's American newspaper annual -- 1897 -- 828
- NDNP Candidate Title List (Appendix A1.2)
- Chronicling America record (LOC) - Seattle Republican
- WorldCat record - Seattle Republican
- WSL record - Seattle Republican
- UW record - Seattle Republican
TopReel
- Filmed by: UW (OCLC)
- Positives held by: UW (1908-1913 also held by WSL)
- Negatives held by: UW
- UW Holdings:
- Location: MicNews
- Call Number: Microfilm A3151
- Lib. Has Feb. 23, 1900- May 2, 1913, Incomplete
Notes
Duplication and testing paid for by UW
lrobinson, 2009/03/23 11:06Data re-batched WA-NDNP_DB_20090312 and uploaded, OCLC fixed reel dates, commas and character returns, I fixed dateAsPrinted for 1900-08-05 and marc org codes in database
lrobinson, 2009/03/12 10:39Film eval data batched (WSL_Metadata_2009-02-03) and sent to OCLC Feb. 03, 2009
lrobinson, 2009/02/09 16:19Evaluation of film is finished - see results below
lrobinson, 2008/12/19 16:14Going through
the first reel and notice that
the first title for Feb. 26, 1896 is
the Daily Republican. Researching if this was an earlier title or a separate paper.
lrobinson, 2008/11/14 14:08Refilmed. Masters and service copies held by OCLC. Holdings list in UW catalog doesn't seem to match excatly. Dates begin Feb. 26, 1896.
lrobinson, 2008/11/10 10:50Evaluation
Link to
Seattle Republican Spreadsheets (Google)Totals
Top
