Top of page

Notice
Wednesday, January 28, 2026: Due to inclement weather, The Library will open the reading rooms to researchers at 9:30 AM following the one (1) hour delayed arrival for staff.
Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Minnesotské Noviny (St. Paul, Minn.) 1904-19??

View All Front Pages

About Minnesotské Noviny (St. Paul, Minn.) 1904-19??

The Minnesotské Noviny (“Minnesota News”) was a Czech-language newspaper published in St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1904 until 1914. At the time of its publication, Minnesotské Noviny was considered to be a newspaper for Bohemian Americans. It was only after World War I that Czechoslovakia was designated as an independent state. Minnesotské Noviny appeared weekly as a Minnesota-affiliated edition of Osvěta Americká (“American Enlightenment”), the latter published by the Národní Tiskárna (National Printing Company) in Omaha, Nebraska. The St. Paul-based editor of the Minnesotské Noviny was F. (Frank) B. Matlach, who was also a public notary and insurance and real estate agent. Matlach held English-language classes for Bohemian immigrants in his office in the evening hours. He later served as chief clerk to the Minnesota Insurance Commissioner and in 1924 was appointed as the Czechoslovak consular representative in Minnesota.

Czech immigrants settled throughout the Midwest with significant populations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Nebraska, as well as Minnesota. Immigration to Minnesota started in the 1850s, with the largest Bohemian settlements in southern Minnesota in McLeod County; in New Prague and surrounding towns such as Vesli in Scott and LeSeuer counties; around Hopkins in western Hennepin County; and in Fillmore and McLeod counties. By the early 1900s, there were Bohemian communities throughout the state, as well as in the larger cities. Much of St. Paul’s Czech community occupied the neighborhood along West Seventh Street where life often centered on the “Sokol”, the C.S.P.S. Hall (Česko-Slovanský Podporující Spolek or Czech-Slovak Beneficial Society), a center for community events. The Minnesotské Noviny‘s office was initially on West Seventh Street near the C.S.P.S. Hall and later moved to downtown St. Paul.

The Minnesotské Noviny began as a four-page, five-column paper, with both news and advertisements of local, mostly Czech, businesses as well as some advertisers from out of state. It claimed to be the “most widely read Czech-language newspaper in Minnesota.” Regular sections included reports on St. Paul’s Czech community; statewide coverage of major political and sometimes also sensational events and developments; announcements of events and activities of local fraternal organizations; and a small section featuring a digest of national news and commodity prices. Very occasionally, death and wedding announcements and letters from readers were printed on the first two pages as well. Prominent among the out-of-state advertisers in the Minnesotské Noviny was the Czech American National Printing Company from Omaha, which offered a wide variety of literature, including cookbooks, health and farming manuals, songbooks, and sheet music.

The Minnesotské Noviny also offered news from throughout Minnesota using local Czech-American agents and correspondents based in the following communities: Austin, Beroun, Blooming Prairie, Browerville, Canby, Hopkins, Hutchinson, Jackson, Le Sueur Center (Le Center), London, Monticello, Montgomery, New Prague, Myrtle, Olivia, Owatonna, Pine City, Seaforth, Silver Lake, Sturgeon Lake, Tabor, Thief River Falls, and Wesely. By 1911, each issue ran 20 pages, with four pages of Minnesota news wrapping the national coverage,which also covered Czech-American settlements in Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The Minnesotské Noviny also provided news from the old homelands of Bohemia and Moravia, and it even encouraged its readers to purchase gift subscriptions for their friends in Bohemia, at the cost of $2.50/year.

In 1908, another Czech-language newspaper, the Minnesotský Pokrok (“Minnesota Progress”), began publishing in St. Paul. The Minnesotský Pokrok was a local edition of Pokrok Západu (“Progress of the West”), a Republican paper published in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1871 to 1920. The Minnesotské Noviny ceased publication in 1914 when it was absorbed by the Minnesotský Pokrok.

Provided By: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Minnesotské Noviny (St. Paul, Minn.) 1904-19??

Dates of Publication

  • 1904-19??

Created / Published

  • St. Paul, Minn. : [Národní Tisk.], 1904-

Headings

  • -  Czechs--Minnesota--Newspapers
  • -  Czech American newspapers
  • -  Czech Americans--Minnesota--Newspapers
  • -  Saint Paul (Minn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Ramsey County (Minn.)--Newspapers
  • -  Czech-American newspapers
  • -  Czech Americans
  • -  Czechs
  • -  Minnesota
  • -  Minnesota--Ramsey County
  • -  Minnesota--Saint Paul
  • -  United States--Minnesota--Ramsey--Saint Paul

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Roč. 1, čís. 1 (27. říj. 1904)-
  • -  Ceased in 1916?
  • -  Available on microfilm from the Minnesota Historical Society.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  In Czech.
  • -  Local ed. of: Pokrok západu.
  • -  Minnesotský pokrok (DLC)sn 90059425 (OCoLC)21510945

Medium

  • volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn90059424

OCLC Number

  • 1758315

ISSN Number

  • 2640-8627

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:

Minnesotské Noviny St. Paul, Minn. -19??. (Saint Paul, MN), Jan. 1 1904. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90059424/.

APA citation style:

(1904, January 1) Minnesotské Noviny St. Paul, Minn. -19??. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90059424/.

MLA citation style:

Minnesotské Noviny St. Paul, Minn. -19??. (Saint Paul, MN) 1 Jan. 1904. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn90059424/.