Scott County Kicker (Benton, Mo.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
762 issues from 1901 to 1917, published in Benton, Missouri, digitised for Chronicling America.
A Socialist newspaper, the Benton Scott County Kicker was edited by Phil A. Hafner and published by the Workers Printing Company. Prior to the Kicker, Hafner was editor of the Benton Newsboy, and according to the History of Southeast Missouri, he chose this name in honor of the newsboys who were “always bright and always much in evidence on the street cars.”
Increasingly interested in the rights of farmers and limiting corporate land ownership, Hafner sold the Democratic Newsboy and started the Kicker as an independent publication which focused on social issues, embracing many of the reform and progressive movements that were taking hold in the early 20th century. Hafner began printing the Scott County Kicker in November 1901. The Kicker claimed to be “the ONLY paper in Scott County published by, and in the interest of, those who do Useful Labor.” Indeed, Hafner proclaimed that “The Scott County Kicker is the People’s Paper. It is Not Muzzled. Wears No Man’s Collar.”
The Kicker was published every Saturday, and, initially, Hafner printed a four-page sheet, but he quickly expanded to six pages due to the large subscribing audience in Scott County which was eager for and accustomed to local news. The paper had a long run and did not cease publication until 1917, when Hafner had to “announce the suspension of the Kicker for an indefinite time ”because he was “a very sick man.” Hafner passed away on February 15, 1917, and the search for a new editor turned up nothing, so the…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Benton, Missouri, 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