The Menace (newspaper)

The Menace was a weekly newspaper published in Aurora, Missouri that developed a circulation of 1.5 million nationwide with a virulently anti-Catholic editorial stance. It promoted itself as "The World's Headquarters for Anti-Papal Literature."

History

The newspaper was founded in 1911 and grew so quickly that new railroad tracks were laid to accommodate all the paper and printing materials it ordered. Roman Catholic leaders took notice and clipped articles from the paper that alleged lewd behavior by priests, leading to federal prosecutors indicting the editors on suspicion of mailing obscene materials. The Menace won the obscenity trial held in Joplin, Missouri, in 1916.

Circulation declined as the nation entered World War I. It ceased publication after the printing plant burned down in 1919.

The Menace, a weekly newspaper, was founded in 1911 by Wilbur Franklin Phelps. Phelps was already publishing the local newspaper for Aurora, Missouri. The Menace became so popular that within the first three years there were a million subscribers. It was an anti-Catholic publication that fed upon the Ku Klux Klan hysteria of the 1910's-1920's. Along with the paper, the company also published anti-Catholic books and arranged engagements for anti-Catholic speakers. The Menace was published in Aurora from 1911 to 1920. In December of 1919, The Menace plant burned down, arson was suspected. Publishing was moved to Branson, Missouri and the newspaper's name was changed to The New Menace. It was published there from 1920 to 1922. It then moved back to Aurora from 1922 to 1931. It was succeeded by The Monitor which was also published in Aurora from 1931-1942. It ceased publication in December of 1942.[2]

Wilbur Franklin Phelps started The Menace newspaper in Aurora, Missouri in 1911. The Menace proved to be a very beneficial asset to Aurora. In 1911 the town had a population of less than four thousand. The Menace became a great industrial and financial boon to the town. The Menace Publishing Company would receive an average of two carloads of white paper and other printing material weekly. This necessitated the construction of extra side track due to the enhanced traffic on the two railroads, the Frisco and the Missouri Pacific, running into Aurora. One hundred and thirty-five people were regularly employed in The Menace's various departments. Aurora merchants and farmers noted an increase in business as did the local post office. Soon after the paper was established, the city secured free mail delivery and the post office employed eleven to fourteen people when before only three people had been employed. The output of mail from the Menace office averaged about eighty-five thousand pounds a week and mail was shipped out on the railroads daily. [3]

References

2. The Menace Newspaper Collection, Kansas Collection, RH MS 1266, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries

3. The Menace Newspaper Collection, Kansas Collection, RH MS 1266, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries

http://hdl.handle.net/10407/7201365233