May Book Tuesday

 Wow!
Cutting it a little fine here 😁 but courtesy of the awesome Richard Baker at the "Frontier Citizen " we have this fascinating book review.

Take a look and also check out the Frontier Citizen on FB.

Enjoy
The Victorian Society of Alberta

BOOK REVIEW

Here is the eighth review of a book in my collection related to old west journalism. (I do not have many so am always grateful for readers’ suggestions of others I may wish to obtain.)

This time:

“Little Newspapers on the Prairie - The Frontier Press Career of Carrie Ingalls" 

by Julie Hedgepeth Williams.

I found out about this book whilst browsing online and looking at the website of the Laura Ingalls Wilder home and museum (www.lauraingallswilderhome.com).

Most people my age will have watched "Little House on the Prairie" on television and many will have also read the original books by Laura. We know some things about Ma & Pa Ingalls and their children but, apart from Laura, what do we know about the family after the setting of the books and TV show?

In this book, the author tries to fill that gap, at least  regarding Carrie.

Whilst the show and books finish with Carrie still a child, she grew up to be a strong-minded, independent woman who worked very successfully on a variety of newspapers in the late 19th and early 20th century. Her career only ended when, at the age of almost 42, she married a mining entrepreneur.

Julie Hedgepeth Williams is a media historian of many years experience who has written a number of related books. In this one, she has pulled together as much evidence as possible to give Carrie's newspaper story. There isn't much - mostly family diary entries and surviving newspaper articles with a few photos - but Williams has collated everything to give as full a biography as possible. It is an interesting, if short, read and we learn a lot about the transient nature of the newspapering job (especially on final proof newspapers) and of Carrie herself.

This is a well-written book. It is an easy read and, due in part to the scant source material, does not take long. The author has provided a coherent, logical biography without any made-up elements.  It is clear that what we have here is as much as we can get. And it is well worth getting.

If you wish to obtain a copy of this book, it is easily obtainable in the USA direct from the museum (the only source). However, they will not ship internationally so, if you wish to get one outside the States, you will need an American resident to buy it for you and send it on (I used my brother).

Hedgepeth Willams, J. (2019), Little Newspapers on the Prairie - The Frontier Press Career of Carrie Ingalls, Rapid City: The Little Print Shop.

Richard F. Baker

Frontier Citizen®

#livinghistory #newspapering