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Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Bossier Banner (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952

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About The Bossier Banner (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952

The Bossier Banner was a four-page weekly newspaper founded in Bellevue, Louisiana, in 1859 by William Henry Scanland (1842-1916). Born in Mississippi and orphaned at a young age, Scanland, along with his brother John, went to work for the Caddo Gazette in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the age of 11. In 1858, the Scanland brothers briefly published the Caddo Gazette, Junior, in their free time. William Henry then worked as a compositor for the Bossier Times before taking it over in July 1859, at age 17, and reissuing it as the Bossier Banner. Except for a period of service in the Confederate army during the Civil War, he would manage it until his death in 1916.

Now unincorporated, Bellevue served as the first seat of Bossier Parish from 1843 until 1888, when the parish government, along with the Banner, moved to Benton, which, unlike Bellevue, had not been bypassed by the railroad and was better connected to Shreveport, the commercial hub of northwest Louisiana.

As a “home” newspaper, the Banner‘s content was of a miscellaneous nature, ranging from local, national, and international news, to anecdotal stories, fiction, and poetry (including some written in the Lost Cause style). Many issues consisted heavily of advertisements and announcements of tax sales. The paper frequently carried religious stories and scripture, as well as sermons by Thomas De Witt Talmage, a popular late 19th-century American preacher. The discovery of oil in north Louisiana in 1908 and Bossier Parish’s subsequent transition from a cotton- to petroleum-based economy initially received little attention; the Banner did, however, carry the charters of local oil companies. The local Good Roads movement of the early 20th century was covered in some detail.

The September 27, 1900 issue of the Bossier Banner was a special souvenir edition, published as The Free State of Bossier. It contains profiles of prominent local men and a history of the parish, including a sketch of journalism.

From 1904 onward, Scanland was assisted by his son Abney Downs Scanland (1876-1950), who took over the paper after his father’s death. Publication of the Banner continued until 1952, when it was consolidated with the Plain Dealing Progress to form the Bossier Banner-Progress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provided By: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Bossier Banner (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952

Dates of Publication

  • 1859-1952

Created / Published

  • Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La. : W.H. Scanland

Headings

  • -  Bellevue (La.)--Newspapers
  • -  Bossier Parish (La.)--Newspapers
  • -  Louisiana--Bossier Parish
  • -  United States--Louisiana--Bossier--Benton
  • -  United States--Louisiana--Bossier--Bellevue

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly, Mar. 24, 1876-Sept. 4, 1952
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (July 1, 1859)-93rd year, no. 10 (Sept. 4, 1952).
  • -  Published in Benton, La., 1891-1952.
  • -  Editor: W.H. Scanland.
  • -  Suspended with Sept. 27, 1862 issue; resumed with July 16, 1865 issue.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Plain Dealing progress (DLC)sn 88064398
  • -  Bossier banner-progress (DLC)sn 88064083

Medium

  • volumes ; 54 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn85034235

OCLC Number

  • 12598239

ISSN Number

  • 2381-5116

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.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

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

Chicago citation style:

The Bossier Banner Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La. -1952. (Benton, LA), Jan. 1 1859. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn85034235/.

APA citation style:

(1859, January 1) The Bossier Banner Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La. -1952. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn85034235/.

MLA citation style:

The Bossier Banner Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La. -1952. (Benton, LA) 1 Jan. 1859. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn85034235/.