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Newspaper Douglas Daily Dispatch (Douglas, Ariz.) 1903-1961 Douglas dispatch

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About Douglas Daily Dispatch (Douglas, Ariz.) 1903-1961

Douglas, Arizona, located along the U.S.-Mexico border, saw the debut of its first two newspapers within a month of each other in early 1902. The weekly Douglas International (later titled the Daily International-American) appeared first, followed by the weekly Douglas Dispatch. Experienced publisher and editor Albert Franklin Banta started the Dispatch, but within a year, Franklin B. Dorr purchased the paper and took Banta’s place as editor and proprietor.

Under Dorr, the newspaper started publishing daily, except Mondays, in 1903, and the paper’s name was changed to the Douglas Daily Dispatch to reflect this. The Bisbee Daily Review from the neighboring town commented that “a daily paper at Douglas is but another evidence [sic] of the wonderful growth of that town.” Initially, the Daily Dispatch focused on local issues, with a 1904 slogan “What is home without the Dispatch?” The paper featured a “Local and Personal News” column and listed accomplishments of community members. Douglas was the home to smelters for nearby copper mining operations, and the paper regularly reported mining news. The Bisbee Daily Review commented on the Daily Dispatch’s Annual Industrial Edition in 1904, noting that its mining news coverage crosses the border into Mexico. Even with the local focus, the paper often ran wire stories from the Associated Press to provide readers with national and international news. The newspaper also covered local and national politics. As a Republican publication, the Daily Dispatch frequently included news about the party’s conventions and candidates.

Dorr remained at the helm of the paper until George Kelly from the Douglas International took over as manager in 1907. James Logie, who had been working at the International for several years, was placed in charge of the Daily Dispatch by Kelly. Two years later, Logie took over as manager and expanded the coverage of the newspaper, such as adding a “With Arizona Editors” section that sampled the opinions of editors of various Arizona newspapers. In 1925, the newspaper included comics, crossword puzzles, a poetry column, and a sports page. According to a special section in a 1975 issue of the Dispatch, the Democratic International and the Republican Dispatch were often at odds with each other because of their political stances. Despite these differences, the two papers merged in 1925 and ran under the Douglas Daily Dispatch name.

Logie remained proprietor of the paper until he sold it in 1945 to J. Newall Johnston, who further expanded the newspaper’s coverage. Twenty years later, Aaron Loney bought the paper and managed it until 1973. In 1966, the paper established a Spanish-language edition, La Unión, with a subtitle of “La Voz de la Frontera” (“The voice of the border”) that was published for a short time. From 1963 to 1967, the Dispatch was published weekly and returned to its original name, the Douglas Dispatch. It then became a daily again under the name Dispatch from 1967 to 1973, followed again by the Daily Dispatch, under which it continues to publish today.

Research provided by the University of Arizona Libraries.

Provided By: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Douglas Daily Dispatch (Douglas, Ariz.) 1903-1961

Other Title

  • Douglas dispatch

Dates of Publication

  • 1903-1961

Created / Published

  • Douglas, Ariz. : F.B. Dorr, -1961.

Headings

  • -  Douglas (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Cochise County (Ariz.)--Newspapers
  • -  Arizona--Cochise County
  • -  Arizona--Douglas
  • -  United States--Arizona--Cochise--Douglas

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sat.), Jan. 1, 1951-May 10, 1961
  • -  Began in Apr. 1903. Cf. Newspapers in microform, U.S., 1948-1972.
  • -  -v. 58, no. 48 (May 10, 1961).
  • -  Issue for Oct. 20, 1952 called also 50th anniversary ed.
  • -  Includes weekly color comic section, July 6, 1947-May 7, 1961.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 2, no. 236 (Jan. 28, 1904).
  • -  Douglas dispatch (Douglas, Ariz. : 1961) (DLC)sn 95060777

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations ; 61 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn84020064

OCLC Number

  • 10309567

ISSN Number

  • 2692-7209

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

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:

Douglas Daily Dispatch Douglas, Ariz. -1961. (Douglas, AZ), Jan. 1 1903. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84020064/.

APA citation style:

(1903, January 1) Douglas Daily Dispatch Douglas, Ariz. -1961. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84020064/.

MLA citation style:

Douglas Daily Dispatch Douglas, Ariz. -1961. (Douglas, AZ) 1 Jan. 1903. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn84020064/.