Page History: Seattle Republican

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Page Revision: 2009/04/29 12:15

Table of Contents [Hide/Show] Title    History    Essay Notes    Research    Digitization plan    Notes    Evaluation Reel    Evaluation Issues and pages    Evaluation    Totals

Title¶

• 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
    

History¶

• Continues: Republican
• Related titles: Daily Republican, Caytons Weekly, Caytons Monthly
  

Essay Notes¶

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. Published between 1894 and 1913, the paper 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 but particularly in the South. It became a daily in February 1896 so that it could 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.

Born into slavery in 1859, Cayton grew into a college educated intellectual, and he made his paper a strong and respected voice in the rapidly growing city of Seattle. Assisted by his wife Susie Revels (a published author in her own right), 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 constantly encouraged 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.

The newspaper itself reflected Cayton's optimism and impressive political savvy. As did many black newspaper editors, Cayton worked closely with the Republican Party and promoted its political agenda. 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 other 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.

The Republican often reported on the treatment of blacks in the Southern states, and did not temper its remarks. Cayton spoke for the New Negro, saw education and determination as the keys to the American Dream and constantly promoted the positive accomplishments of African Americans themselves. He never failed to recognize white citizens who treated blacks fairly, and did not hesitate to criticize African Americans who failed to live up to his own high expectations.

Cayton wrote most of the content of the paper but usually without byline. His columns "Political Pot Pie," written by "the piemaker" provided careful analyses of local politics. His "Afro American" and "Brother in Black" pieces usually focused on national events. A regular column called "Realm of Religion" commented on local, national and international church matters, particuarly the doings of the Catholic Church. He often included news concerning the local Jewish community. 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 and New York World.

As Seattle matured into a more cosmopolitan city, race relations began to harden and Cayton, his family and his paper faced mounting difficulties. The Republican Party, too, was in trouble. 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 he never regained the prominence he had once enjoyed. Cayton died in 1940, leaving behind printed evidence of his unique and significant contributions to the development of a city and its ethnic population.

Research¶

1. N.W. Ayer & Son's American newspaper annual -- 1897 -- 828
2. NDNP Candidate Title List (Appendix A1.2)
3. Chronicling America record (LOC) - Seattle Republican
4. WorldCat record - Seattle Republican
5. WSL record - Seattle Republican
6. UW record - Seattle Republican
   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. Published between 1894 and 1913, the paper 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 but particularly in the South. It became a daily in February 1896 so that it could 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.
   

A college educated intellectual, Horace Cayton made his paper a strong and respected voice in the rapidly growing city of Seattle. Assisted by his wife Susie Revels (already a published writer), he emphasized the advantages of this booming frontier city, growing prosperous as a supplier to the gold fields in the Klondyke and later in Alaska, and he constantly encouraged 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.

The newspaper itself reflected Cayton's optimism and impressive political savvy. As did many black newspaper editors, worked closely with the Republican Party and promoted its political agenda when convenient and beneficial to the interests of African Americans as well as whites. Readership was racially mixed although circulation remained modest, probably never exceeding 2,000 subscriptions. 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 other ploys were used against him, but the general public, once apprised of the facts, usually rallied to his cause.

The Republican often reported on the treatment of blacks in the Southern states, and did not temper its remarks. Cayton spoke for the New Negro, saw education and determination as the keys to the American Dream and constantly promoted the positive accomplishments of African Americans themselves. He never failed to recognize white citizens who treated blacks fairly, and did not hesitate to criticize African Americans who failed to live up to his own high expectations.

Cayton wrote most of the content of the paper but usually without byline. His columns "Political Pot Pie," written by "the piemaker" provided careful analyses of local politics. His "Afro American" and "Brother in Black" usually focused on national events. A regular column called "Realm of Religion" commented on local, national and international church matters, particuarly the doings of the Catholic Church. 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 and New York World.

As Seattle matured into a more cosmopolitan city, race relations began to harden and Cayton, his family and his paper faced mounting difficulties. The Republican Party, too, was in trouble. In 1913 the Seattle Republican ceased. 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 he never regained the prominence he had once enjoyed. Cayton died in 1940.

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
  

Notes¶

Duplication and testing paid for by UW lrobinson, 2009/03/23 11:06

Data 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 10:39

Film eval data batched (WSL_Metadata_2009-02-03) and sent to OCLC Feb. 03, 2009 lrobinson, 2009/02/09 16:19

Evaluation of film is finished - see results below lrobinson, 2008/12/19 16:14

Going 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 14:08

Refilmed. 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 10:50

Evaluation¶

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Reel¶

• 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
    

Evaluation¶

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Issues and pages¶

Evaluation¶

Use the Seattle-Republican: issue eval form to edit the spreadsheet below.

Totals¶

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