Iowa's Newsworthy Past

Today’s episode unravels as follows. Iowa Capital Reporter 12/10/1842: Miner’s Bank of Dubuque. Iowa City Republican 12/10/1883: Iowa City in brief. Daily Citizen 12/10/1892: The city in brief. Iowa City Republican 12/10/1912: Farmer victim of peculiar delusion, Gets a bullet into his thigh, John DeHaan well known east of city. Iowa City Daily Citizen 12/10/1918: The city. Iowa City Press Citizen 12/10/1920: Grafter gets Gaeta’s goats, Suicide is farmer’s fate, Iowa grid wins repute, $100 is gift of children, Wanted female help, Lost, Santa Claus here tomorrow. Many thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access to old newspapers.

Today’s day in history unravels as follows. Iowa Capital Reporter 12/9/1843: Mechanics academy. Iowa City Daily Bulletin 12/9/1865: Local matters. Daily Press 12/9/1872: The non voters, Farmers bit. Daily Iowa State Press 12/9/1903: Local news items, A horse buyer wanted by Iowa county farmers. Iowa City Press Citizen 12/9/1920: Morse news, Mustard gas burns heroes, Wanted, Lost, For sale miscellany. Thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access to old newspapers.

This day in history unravels as follows. Iowa Capital Reporter 12/8/1847: Cabinet making and undertaking, A national convention. Daily Press 12/8/1873: Iowa City business directory. Iowa City Daily Republican 12/8/1883: Petitions, Call for the W.C.T.U. Convention. Daily Citizen 12/8/1892: Out on strike, Death at a banquet. Daily Iowan 12/8/1905: Help the girls. Iowa City Republican 12/8/1910: Country and town. Iowa City Press Citizen 12/8/1923: Weather, Fiske O’Hara coming here next Friday, The people’s wants, New comment about Iowa interesting stories and events gathered throughout the state. Many thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access for old newspapers.

On this day in history reports across several local news publications and years unravel in the following order. Iowa City Capital Reporter 12/7/1853: Editors note on medicine, Miscellaneous news, Home. Iowa City Republican 12/7/1883: Iowa City in brief. Daily Press 12/7/1872: Local department. Daily Iowa State Press 12/7/1908: To those interested in art and art studies, They were our’s are world’s now, Some Christmas “don’ts.” Iowa City Daily Citizen 12/7/1918: Johnson county people go to Texas, Davenport tries using the masks, The kitchen cabinet. Iowa City Citizen 12/7/1911: Wanted, For sale, For rent, Lost, Found. Many thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access to historical newspapers.

This episode includes articles from publications in the following order. Iowa City Daily Republican 12/6/1880: Artificial teeth-take notice, Chewing gum, An Arabian night, Late local news, Restaurant for sale, Items of interest. Iowa Citizen 12/6/1895: Results of “booming,” Hawkeye briefs, Personal. Iowa City Republican 12/6/1910: Second degree murder is Guy Baker’s fate, Bijou theatre advertisement, Attention elks!, Wanted Ads. Iowa City Daily Republican 12/6/1876: Squibs. Iowa City Daily Citizen 12/6/1918: New cases continue in reduced number, The city, 1850 new flu cases in Iowa, Letters from our soldiers. Thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access to old newspapers.

On this day in history, a look at four different years and three different publications in the following order. Iowa City Republican 12/5/1918, Iowa City Republican 12/5/1866, Iowa City Daily Republican 12/5/1876, and Iowa City Daily Press 12/5/1905. This episode’s content is broad and includes comings and goings, farmers advertisements, want ads, and Hawkeye basketball news. The featured story is related to the 1918 pandemic.

On this day in history, a look at three different years and publications in the following order. Iowa City Daily Republican 12/4/1878 issue’s Three Young Men Drink Poison and Squibs. Iowa Citizen 12/4/1891 issue’s The City. Iowa City Citizen Daily 12/4/1918 issue’s For Sale, For Rent, Wanted, and Lost. All are short snips with the exception of the first story’s Three Boy’s Drink poison, which was included for sentimental reasons. My great great uncle passed away at the age of 27 while drinking a similar poisonous concoction with three of his school buddies, all while attending Fordham University in New York, New York. All four were killed. Once again, many thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access to historical newspapers.

The first ~10 minutes of this episode is taken from the Iowa City Republican’s 12/3/1904 issue, underneath “Country And Town.” The last part of the segment is from 12/3/1920 Iowa Press Citizen underneath “Want Ads.” These two pieces spliced together allows modern listeners to understand a bit about the comings and goings of Johnson County. Instead of scrolling social media, Iowa Citians would give their daily/weekly newspapers a close read. Many thanks to the Iowa City Public Library for providing digital access to historical newspapers.

Read by Cristin Noonan