Search This Blog

CivilWarCentennial-newspaper-features

Primarily, from 1960 to 1965, many daily newspapers ran syndicated features in commemoration of the Civil War Centennial.  It was perhaps the last time the fourth estate systematically treated a singular complex historical era in any depth on a national level, thereby educating the general public at large, and fostering a true sense of shared heritage, and consensus building patriotism.  (For what can still be done - albeit perhaps only regionally - access Mark St. John Erickson at the Daily Press who has won 17 awards from the Virginia Press Association.)
The two prominent and regularly published syndicated features that I have been able to find in Google News Archives (GNA) are "The Centennial Scrapbook - The War for the Union 1861-1865 in Pictures" by Clark Kinnaird distributed by King Features Syndicate and "This Was the Civil War" by Merton T Akers, distributed by the United Press International.
Actually the pickings at GNA are quite slim.
For Kinnaird's Centennial Scrapbook, I have only found it in the Rochester (Indiana) Sentinel at GNA.  There it is largely complete from 1961-1964, but with major gaps from January to June of 1962, January to June of 1963, and January to June of 1965. By accessing Fulton NY archives, and Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program (for 1965), I have obtained some of those mats in the "gap periods." The text of Kinnaird's Scrapbook but normally not the illustrations , are also to be found in the Reading Eagle, usually, below the main Akers' story, but shockingly unattributed to Kinnaird or anyone else!
For Aker's "This Was the Civil War" 1960-1965 features, one can rely on The Rochester Sentinel (IN), the Beaver County Times (PA), and the Reading (PA) Eagle (Sunday Eagle Magazine), with the subject matter closely paralleling the centennial anniversaries of key events and battles. The first available feature I found is in the Beaver County Times, Saturday Nov 12, 1960.
What follows is a personal sampling, which interweaves between Akers and Kinnaird,  and mainly focuses on my interest in Grant's and Sherman's campaigns:
-


-

-

-

-

-

-

-





































-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-



-



-


-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-


-

-


-

-

-

-

-

-

-















-

-

-

-


-



-

-

-

-

-

-


-

-

-

-


-

-


-

-

-

-

-



-

-

-

-

-


-

-



-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-



-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-
note change in series subtitle







































-


-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-






































-




-


-


-







































-


-


-


-


-

-
again the series continued under a new subtitle....






















































------

profile