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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Das Deutsche Blatt Des West Virginia State College ([Institute, West Virginia]) 19??-????

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About Das Deutsche Blatt Des West Virginia State College ([Institute, West Virginia]) 19??-????

Das Deutsche Blatt ("the German Sheet") was West Virginia State College's German language student newspaper. During the 1920s, WVSC, a historically African American college, enjoyed expansive growth and national recognition under its fifth President, John Warren Davis—Davis was instrumental in making WVSC one of the few African American colleges by 1927 to be accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The growth WVSC experienced in the late 1920s also resulted in increased resources for the German Department and its students to create the Blatt in 1929. The Blatt was operated and written by African American student editors, assistant editors, and managers. But unlike its campus counterpart, the Yellow Jacket, which was WVSC’s official student newspaper by the 1929-1930 school year, the Blatt functioned as a collaborative assignment given by the German department to its students to help them maintain fluency in the language—a common practice for language departments at the time.

The first volumes of the Blatt were edited by students Clara Spurlock, Majorie Davis, and Minerva Jordan under the faculty supervision of Dr. Harrison H. Feller, who headed the German department at WVSC in 1929. The paper ran monthly issues throughout the school's spring and fall semesters for 8 cents per issue. Written entirely in German, the experience of writing the Blatt required the student editors to become familiar with contemporary German culture and politics, which became the main subjects of Blatt's reporting. In an era of heightened German discrimination because of World War I and its aftermath, where the German language was repressed in United States schools, German American and German organizations looked favorably at the creation of the Blatt. Indeed, German language newspapers from nearby Washington D.C. to as far as Arkansas praised the African American students at WVSC for their contributions to destigmatizing Germany and the German language in the United States South. What impressed the faction of German Americans who were pro-Germany about the Blatt was its and its student reporters' unexpected stance that Germany was not to blame for World War I. Indeed, the D.C.-based German-language paper, the Washington Journal, stated on January 16th, 1931, how full of hope they were in the restoration of Germany's reputation in the US by praising Clara Spurlock's and Minerva Jordan's publication of an article titled "The War Guilt Question" which exonerated Germany's role in the origins of the war by assigning blame to all nations involved. Ultimately, though, white supremacy was the motivating factor in this tactical support for the Blatt, as the Journal makes clear at the end of their 1931 article, stating, "Must American statesmen and generals let themselves be lectured by Negroes about the value of German language skills and Germany's innocence in the World War?" Support for the Blatt was being used to shame native-born white Americans from eschewing a European, thus white, language like German.

Nevertheless, the Blatt continued into the early 1930s, garnering support from German American diplomatic organizations like the Carl Schurz Association and directing German language resources from Germany. But this continued German connection might have hurt the longevity of the WVSC German department and the Blatt in the aftermath of the rise of the Nazi Party and fascism in Germany in 1933. However, the last issue of the Blattis unknown. Provided By: West Virginia University

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Das Deutsche Blatt Des West Virginia State College ([Institute, West Virginia]) 19??-????

Names

  • West Virginia State College (Institute, W. Va.), issuing body
  • Deutsche Gesellschaft (West Virginia State College), publisher

Dates of Publication

  • 19??-????

Created / Published

  • [Institute, West Virginia] : Deutsche Gesellschaft

Headings

  • -  College student newspapers and periodicals--West Virginia--Institute
  • -  African American newspapers--West Virginia--Institute
  • -  Institute (W. Va.)--Newspapers
  • -  United States--West Virginia--Kanawha--Institute

Notes

  • -  Monthly (October through May)
  • -  Content primarily in German with some English.
  • -  Band 2, Nummer 3 (1930/1931); title from caption.
  • -  Band 2, Nummer 3 (1930/1931).

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • ISSN RECORD

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2024270775

OCLC Number

  • 1435805546
  • n1435805546

ISSN Number

  • 3067-0551

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

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. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Das Deutsche Blatt Des West Virginia State College Institute, West Virginia 19??-????. (Institute, WV), 19??. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2024270775/.

APA citation style:

(19??) Das Deutsche Blatt Des West Virginia State College Institute, West Virginia 19??-????. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2024270775/.

MLA citation style:

Das Deutsche Blatt Des West Virginia State College Institute, West Virginia 19??-????. (Institute, WV) 19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/2024270775/.