The Farmville Herald and Farmer-Leader (Farmville, Va.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
438 issues from 1953 to 1957, published in Farmville, Virginia, digitised for Chronicling America.
Located in Prince Edward County on the Appomattox River, 68 miles west of Petersburg, Farmville was the fourth largest tobacco market in Virginia by 1836. During the Civil War, tobacco warehouses were converted into military hospitals and production sites for war-related materials, but the town remained relatively unscathed during the conflict. By the 1870s, Farmville had regained much of its pre-war prosperity, thanks in large part to the tobacco industry and to an influx of both white- and black-owned businesses.
Originally published on the first floor of the old Opera House, the Farmville Herald was established on November 14, 1890 “in conjunction with the Farmville Coal and Iron Company” and under the leadership of Colonel R. B. Berkeley. The weekly served Buckingham, Cumberland, and Prince Edward counties and by 1900 had reached a circulation of 750–within a town of 2,404.
James L. Hart purchased the Herald in 1893. Born in Farmville in 1863, Hart published the Herald for 30 years until his death in 1921. Described as “a born newspaper writer,” Hart also served as secretary of the Virginia Press Association from 1889 to 1915. He took an active interest in community affairs and served as postmaster during Woodrow Wilson’s administration. A lengthy remembrance printed in the Herald stated, “By his energy and ability, [Hart] made [the Farmville Herald] one of the leading weekly papers of Southside Virginia, and of the state; and under his control, it has always stood…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Farmville, Virginia, 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