The Oskaloosa Herald (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
1,785 issues from 1885 to 1918, published in Oskaloosa, Iowa, digitised for Chronicling America.
John R. Needham and Hugh McNeely established the Oskaloosa Herald in 1850, publishing its first issue on November 1st. Needham was a prominent Mahaska County pioneer and lawyer, and he was elected to many public offices throughout his life, including serving in the Iowa State Senate from 1852 to 1857, as mayor of Oskaloosa in 1860, and as Lieutenant Governor of Iowa in 1862. He edited the Herald until 1857, and he was succeeded by Charles Beardsley.
On November 16, 1865, Henry C. Leighton and William H. Needham, John Needham’s brother, became the owners of the Herald. Leighton was a Civil War veteran and had begun his career with the Herald as an apprentice at age 17. Leighton later served as Oskaloosa’s postmaster and chairperson of the Republican State Central Committee. Although he died at the young age of 35, Leighton had become well respected among the community. His obituary covered four columns in the Herald, and his funeral was attended by hundreds of people, including many other newspaper editors and publishers, and state officials. After Henry C. Leighton died in 1878, his brother, Charles Leighton, joined George R. Lee, and the two took over the Herald.
Three years later, Albert W. Swalm became the owner and publisher of the Herald on March 17, 1881. He was originally from Mahaska County, but he had been working in Des Moines as the city editor for the Iowa State Register. After he took over the Herald, his wife Pauline joined him in the business as an…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Oskaloosa, Iowa, 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