The Bamberg Herald (Bamberg, S.C.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
1,440 issues from 1899 to 1927, published in Bamberg, South Carolina, digitised for Chronicling America.
For nearly a century, the weekly Bamberg Herald (1891-1972) served to chronicle the aspirations of the residents of Bamberg County, located in southwestern South Carolina. Like many rural southern communities, Bamberg’s economy depended heavily on railroads and cash crops, most notably cotton. Significant events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries included: the establishment of Bamberg Cotton Mill and Carlisle Fitting School (a preparatory school affiliated with the South Carolina Methodist Conference) in 1892; the construction of the county courthouse and jail in 1897; and the infestation of cotton crops by boll weevils starting in 1918.
Henry Simms Hartzog established the Bamberg Herald in 1891. As only a few early issues exist, much of what is known about the Herald’s fledgling years has been extrapolated from other newspapers. Generally speaking, the Herald favored temperance over prohibition, supported Edgefield, South Carolina, planter and populist politician Benjamin Ryan Tillman for governor, and showcased a biting sense of humor. On April 6, 1892, the Yorkville Enquirer reprinted this facetious “guest editorial,” supposedly submitted to the Herald by “I.R. Hungry” : “I think the best way to keep things quiet is to drown 200 politicians in the Congaree River and turn the state house into a cotton factory.”
In 1899, Aquilla Wilkes Knight bought the Bamberg Herald; he would remain involved with the newspaper for over 30 years. Under his guidance, the Herald…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Bamberg, South Carolina, United States
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- 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.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress