A Newspaper Mourning Practice: Turning the Rules

In the 19th century, mourning practices in the United States were deeply structured and ceremonial, governing social interactions, fashion, and grieving customs. Amid these strict norms, newspaper editors adhered to a unique mourning tradition.

During periods of public bereavement–such as the passing of a notable politician, military officer, or publisher–the editor engaged in a practice known as “turning the rules.” Although this tradition is no longer observed, it often grabs the attention of researchers studying old publications, and its historical significance remains intriguing.

every evening, wilington newspaper, composition room
The composition room of the Even Evening in September 1905

When a prominent individual passed, the newspaper sought to announce the death and convey collective sorry. The work to make this happen occurred in the composing room, where the pages of the paper took shape as the compositors turned the rules. These column rules typically created white space between columns of text on a page.

But once the paper was in mourning, they displayed their grief with dark printers’ ink between the columns by reversing the rules. As the pages came off the press, the normal rules—white spacing separating columns of text– framed with heavy black bands of ink, creating a visual tribute to the departed. These dark bands conveyed grief, signaling to readers that the publication mourned the loss of a significant figure.1

newspaper mourning, turning the rules, west-jersey pioneer, bridgetown, NJ
Reporting on the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the editor turned the rules on the April 22, 1865 issue of the West-Jersey Pioneer in Bridgeton, NJ, framing the paper in black mourning ink. (Source: Chronicling America at the Library of Congress)

Don Herring, a newspaper editor who began his career with the Indianapolis Star in Indiana after the Korean War, introduced me to this old practice. The turned rules, once an expression of mourning by journalists, now reside in the annals of newspaper history–a journalist’s tradition from a bygone era. 

Footnote

  1. Edmund C. Arnold, “Designing the Total Newspaper,” 1981, Harper & Row Publishers: New York. ↩︎

Salem County Newspapers Online

Chronicling America at the Library of Congress has updated its digital newspaper database with the inclusion of two historic Salem County newspapers: The Monitor and the Monitor-Register. These Woodstown, NJ papers, spanning 1884 to 1925, are now digitally accessible for historical and family history research.

The publications were successfully added through the New Jersey Digital Newspaper Project (NJDNP), a partnership involving Rutgers University Libraries, New Jersey State Archives, and New Jersey State Library. These institutions worked together to ensure this valuable resource was accessible to the public for free through a text-searchable database.

This collaboration followed their previous contribution to the online resources for Salem County when they added the Penns Grove Record in 2021. The record, which started publishing in 1865, covers 1882 to 1923.

Researchers now have an invaluable, free tool to explore various aspects of South Jersey history.  The Salem County periodicals provide a window into politics, culture, business, religion, and daily events that shaped everyday life over the generations. 

The NJDNP has over 40 newspapers from all parts of the Graden State available online. 

The comprehensive access provided by Chronicling America at the Library of Congress makes it easier than ever before for historians, genealogists, students, and anyone to delve into the rich history of South Jersey and unlock a treasure trove of information about family and local history. 

One of the Salem County newspapers, the Monitor Register from Woodstown
One of the Salem County newspapers, the Monitor Register, available at Chronicling America at the Library of Congress.

Harrington Newspaper Online–Research Tip

As part of its mission to make the past accessible and promote understanding of the past, the Greater Harrington Historical Society has digitized a Harrington newspaper.

The weekly, the Harrington Journal, runs from 1933 to 1998, and visitors to the museum’s webpage have free access to high-quality online images that brought hometown news to the community each week.

To access the newspaper, follow this link to the Harrington Journal.

While you are checking out the page, consider donating to the museum. A grant from the Delaware Humanities funded this project.

The Harrington Journal started publishing in 1913 after Frank Thomas Fleming purchased an earlier weekly, the Harrington Enterprise. The year 2020 saw the end of the town’s paper, as corporate owners, who had purchased it years earlier, shut it down.

Thanks, Harrington Historical Society, for creating greater access to the past. Developing ways to give a broader community open access to history is an important mission for heritage groups in the 21st century.

Harrington newspaper, the Journal
The Harrington Journal, a weekly Southern Delaware paper published on January 7, 1949 (Source: Harrington Historial Society)
For more on Delmarva Newspapers, see these articles

Online newspapers from the Eastern Shore of Virginia

More Online Maryland Newspapers available at Maryland Archives

Eastern Shore of Virginia Newspapers Online

Special collections institutions continue to digitize newspaper collections rapidly, making them openly available to researchers. These valuable resources aid genealogists, local historians, and public scholars in digging into the past. On those old pages are many print columns about the local community and the people.

While doing fieldwork on Lower Delmarva, I recently needed access to Eastern Shore of Virginia newspapers.  Specifically, I wanted the Peninsula Enterprise, an Accomac, Northampton County, VA weekly.  My first step, a Google query took, me to the Library of Virginia, which has created word searchable, e-copies of this serial, spanning the years 1881 to 1910.

The site has plenty of additional titles, as “this collection contains 48,934 issues comprising over 300,000 pages.  In addition to the online resource, the Library of Virginia offers an array of sources for researching newspapers from its broad collection of over 3,000 titles.”

“The Virginian Newspaper Project, established in 1993, has worked to locate, describe, inventory, preserve and provide public access to United States imprints housed thorough out the commonwealth,” according to the website.

Click here to go to the Virginia newspaper page.   Click here for other digital resources available from the Library.

“The Library is one of the oldest agencies of Virginia government, founded in 1823 to preserve and provide access to the state’s incomparable printed and manuscript holdings.”

peinsula enterprise, eastern shore of Virginia newspaper.
The Peninsula Enterprise, Accomac, Northampton County, VA, a Virginia newspaper published on the Eastern Shore