Talk:New National Era

points of confusion

Here are some generally-agreed-upon facts:

• a weekly paper, first published in 1870 as New Era
• name changed to New National Era
• name changed again to New National Era and Citizen
• at some point, Frederick Douglass assumed control of the newspaper

Here are some points of dispute:

• what was the first year of publication
• what was the original name
• whether or not Frederick Douglass was actually the first owner/editor

Here are details regarding the confusion:

• At least one source claims the paper was first published in 1868 as "New Era and Citizen".
• The same source claims that Douglass assumed control in 1870, implying it was renamed to "New National Era" at that time.

Reference links:

• New York Heritage Digital Collection
• African American Registry
• Accessing America
• Frederick Douglass Newspapers, 1847-1874: Now Online

Chronicling America includes the following potentially relevant entries:

• National era. [online resource] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860
• Daily national era. [online resource] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1854
• New Era: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Apr. 12, 1864)-v. 1, no. 29 (May 14, 1864) (daily)
• New Era: Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jan. 13, 1870)-v. 1, no. 34 (Sept. 1, 1870)
• New National Era: Vol. 1, no. 35 (Sept. 8, 1870)- -v. 5, no. 40 (October 22, 1874)
• New Citizen Vol. 1, no. 1 (Mar. 22, 1873)-v. 1, no. 4 (Apr. 12, 1873). (This was published independently for just a few weeks, then was apparently absorbed into New National Era.)
• New national era and citizen: May 22, 1873-Feb. 26, 1874 (alternate title to New National Era)

observations re New York Heritage Digital Collection

This source tells us that Douglas obtained control of the newspaper in 1870 and renamed it to New National Era. That's consistent with the index at Chronicling America.

observations re African American Registry

This source implies that April 12, 1868 is the newspaper's "date of publication". No other source suggests that any version of the newspaper was being published in 1868. The issue shown on the web page is evidently not from 1868 is not actually legible, but it appears to be the January 22, 1874 issue of the newspaper, based on a comparison to this image at Chronicling America.

observations re Accessing America

This tells us about a newspaper with a name that suggests Douglass might have been trying to emulate, The National Era, which had been in publication for over a decade, but ceased publication prior to the civil war.

observations re Frederick Douglass Newspapers, 1847-1874: Now Online

This essay actually makes it clear that Douglass became editor concurrent with the name change to New National Era in September 1870. The name change is confirmed by the column titled The Change in Our Name printed in the September 8, 1870 issue of New National Era.

Fabrickator (talk) 09:40, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

updated: Fabrickator (talk) 23:25, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

updated: Fabrickator (talk) 04:38, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

updated: Fabrickator (talk) 06:23, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

updated: Fabrickator (talk) 01:01, 1 December 2022 (UTC)