Newspaper The Reformer's Dawn (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1893-1894 Dawn
About The Reformer's Dawn (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1893-1894
Robert A. Turner, a newspaperman from Missouri, moved to Washington for health reasons in 1890. He and his wife, Minnerva, first settled in Seattle, but when he could not secure an adequately affordable space for his paper plant, they moved to Ellensburg in 1891. In November 1893, Turner began publishing a 12-page monthly, The Reformer’s Dawn, to advocate for the People’s Party and the Populist movement which “was sweeping westward with wonderful strength and had just reached Kittitas county in force,” according to Turner in An Illustrated History of Klickitat, Yakima, and Kittitas Counties. The paper quickly achieved popularity, and by August 4, 1894, Turner changed the title to the Dawn. In his editorial for the inaugural issue, Turner stated, “we find we cannot successfully combat the evils that obstruct the reform movement with a monthly, hence have concluded to publish a weekly.”
After only one issue, Turner changed the name to The Weekly Dawn to reinforce and reflect the more frequent publication. The paper was published under this title from August 11, 1894 to January 12, 1895, and then reverted back to The Dawn from January 19, 1895 until March 11, 1898. On March 18, 1898, the newspaper was renamed The Ellensburg Dawn.
By 1900, the thriving town of Ellensburg had several established creameries, stock production ranches (cattle, horses, hogs, and sheep), gold and coal mines, and small-scale mills and was the division headquarters of the Northern Pacific Railway. Because interest in the Populist movement was dwindling, Turner changed tThe Ellensburg Dawn’s political affiliation to Independent and turned his and the paper’s efforts to promoting the general welfare and economic development of Ellensburg and Kittitas County. By 1906, The Ellensburg Dawn was published on a semiweekly basis.
Turner was appointed postmaster of Ellensburg in 1914 and became extremely busy with the Thrift Stamp and Liberty Bond campaigns as well as with other wartime duties. After 25 years of editing the paper, Turner leased The Ellensburg Dawn to Arthur Slemmons and Jefferson D. Mathews in 1915. It was absorbed by The Ellensburg Democrat, which was published from January 29, 1914 to June 10, 1915, when it was then sold to William Dadler who continued to publish the paper as The Inter-mountain Register until 1917.
Provided By: Washington State Library; Olympia, WAAbout this Newspaper
Title
- The Reformer's Dawn (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1893-1894
Other Title
- Dawn
Names
- Turner, Robert A., 1859-1941
Dates of Publication
- 1893-1894
Created / Published
- Ellensburg, Wash. : Dawn
Headings
- - Ellensburg (Wash.)--Newspapers
- - Populism--Washington (State)--Newspapers
- - Populism
- - Washington (State)
- - Washington (State)--Ellensburg
- - United States--Washington--Kittitas--Ellensburg
Genre
- Newspapers
Notes
- - Monthly
- - Began with: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 1893).
- - R.A. Turner, editor.
- - Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
- - Description based on: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 1893); title from masthead.
- - Latest issue consulted: v. 1, no. 3 (Jan. 1894).
- - Dawn (Ellensburg, Wash. : 1894) (DLC)sn 88085011 (OCoLC)17308839
Medium
- 1 v. ; 23 cm.
Call Number/Physical Location
- Newspaper
- F899.E4 D39
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2012252554
OCLC Number
- 781972759
- n781972759
ISSN Number
- 2333-780x
Succeeding Titles
LCCN Permalink
Additional Metadata Formats
Availability
- View All Front Pages
- Check the “Libraries that Have It” tab for additional newspaper issues, or, if present, select the LCCN Permalink for more LC holdings