Arkansas Staats-Zeitung

A German-language newspaper with the moniker Arkansas Staats-Zeitung existed four separate times, which is unsurprising given that the name literally means “State Newspaper” and is an obvious choice for editors who wanted all German speakers in the state as potential subscribers. The first was published in 1866 by A. Deutelmoster and an editor by the name of Fischer. Kelian L. Bach relaunched the paper in 1869, but it folded again within a year and a half. Carl A. Fischer ran a paper of the same name in 1870. The longest run was from 1877 to 1917 in Little Rock (Pulaski County), during which time the paper was edited by Wilhelm Fischer (1877–1880), Philip Dietzgen (circa 1880–1896), A. von Landberg (1897), George Doerner (1898–1913), J. F. Kratoville (circa 1914–1916), and Curtis (Carl) Ackermann (1917). The self-reported circulation numbers of the paper ranged from 800 to 1,860 over this span.

Wilhelm Fischer founded the paper with his brother Adolph. Both were committed labor activists. Wilhelm was a socialist who served in the Union army and worked as a printer in St. Louis, Missouri, and Adolph was a communist and later anarchist who was executed for his role in the Haymarket Affair of 1886. In his time at the helm, editor Philip Dietzgen tried to sabotage the founding of a rival German-language newspaper, Das Arkansas Echo, and carried out a years-long war against his competition before moving to Kansas City, Missouri, and promptly starting a new feud with another German editor. Editor Doerner is noted in the historical record as a literal larger-than-life figure at a height of over six feet and a weight in excess of 250 pounds and with extra digits on each of his hands and feet.

The last editor, Curtis Ackermann, faced charges in 1917 of obstructing enlistment and violating the Espionage Act—the former for joking that he could give a fellow German American a powder to make him appear sickly and unable to serve, and the latter for advocating for Germany’s cause in World War I. Before a trial could be held, Ackermann was sent to Fort McPherson in Georgia for internment at the direction of Woodrow Wilson. English-language coverage of the affair unsurprisingly reflected an anti-German bias. Carl Meuer, editor of Das Arkansas Echo, reported briefly on Ackermann’s woes and advised his fellow Germans not to engage in politics, explaining that the time to promote the German cause again would be after the war. The Arkansas Staats-Zeitung likely folded after Ackermann’s removal from the state, but the last entry for the paper in N. W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual and Directory shows publication for 1918 with Ackermann as editor.

There are few extant copies of the paper. One surviving edition is from August 10, 1917. The tagline boasted it was the “älteste und einflußreichste” (oldest and most influential) German paper of the state, a clear jab at the competing Echo. Articles and advertisements were in both English and German, including not just reprints but editorials, although most content was in German. It was typical of other German-American publications and featured articles about the war and other current events, editorials, and local news as well as history, fiction, humorous anecdotes, and recipes. One article related how two young men shot themselves to avoid serving in the military, but another noted that a general said it was possible for immigrants to serve in the military before gaining citizenship. In a foreshadowing of Ackermann’s own case, an editorial written in English highlighted a New York editor who was arrested for criticizing the government and a judge who said it was his right to do so under the Declaration of Independence, although Ackermann’s own efforts to defend freedom of speech did not have the same positive outcome. The extant copy also serves to refute the prosecuting attorney’s intimation that Ackermann spoke and understood only German.

For additional information:
Allsopp, Fred W. History of the Arkansas Press for the First Hundred Years and More. Little Rock: Parke-Harper, 1922.

“Am Donnerstag stand Curt Ackermann (On Thursday Curt Ackermann stood…).” Das Arkansas Echo, August 16, 1917, p. 8.

“An Old-Fashioned Judge.” Arkansas Staats-Zeitung, August 10, 1917. p. 2.

“Arkansas Staats Zeitung (Ger.)” N. W. Ayer & Son’s American Newspaper Annual and Directory. Philadelphia: N. W. Ayer & Son.

Condray, Kathleen. “Arkansas’s Bloody German Language Newspaper War of 1892.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 74 (Winter 2015): 327–351.

“Curt Ackerman [sic] to Fort M’Pherson.” Arkansas Gazette, September 9, 1917, p. 4.

“Curt Ackermann ist auf Befehl (Curt Ackermann is on the order…).” Das Arkansas Echo, August 23, 1917, p. 8.

“C. Ackermann, früher Besitzer und Redakteur (C. Ackermann, former owner and editor…).” Das Arkansas Echo, September 13, 1917, p. 8.

Dougan, Michael. Community Diaries: Arkansas Newspapering, 1819–2002. Little Rock: August House, 2003.

Durning, Dan. “The Fischer Brothers: The St. Louis Socialist and the Haymarket Anarchist Who Founded the Arkansas Staats-Zeitung (1877–1917).” Pulaski County Historical Review 70 (Winter 2022): 116–133.

———. “‘The ‘Trouble’ is in Existence’: Philip Dietzgen of the Arkansas Staats Zeitung Wages War on the Arkansas Echo.” Eclectic (at Best), July 31, 2016. https://www.eclecticatbest.com/2016/07/the-trouble-is-in-existence-philip.html (accessed November 8, 2024).

“Freundlichen Ausländern steht Dienst im Heer frei (Military service allowed for sympathetic foreigners).” Arkansas Staats-Zeitung, August 10, 1917, p. 8.

“German Editor to Face U.S. Jury.” Arkansas Gazette, August 9, 1917, p. 1.

“German Editor Is Ordered Interned.” Arkansas Gazette, August 22, 1917, p. 6.

“‘I Von’t Vork,’ Says Curt Ackerman [sic], in Farewell.” Arkansas Gazette, September 12, 1917, p. 1.

Meuer, Carl. “Unseren Lesern zur Beachtung (To the attention of our readers).” Das Arkansas Echo, August 16, 1917, p. 4.

“Verkrüppeln sich lieber, als in den Krieg zu ziehen (Prefer to injure themselves to going to war).” Arkansas Staats-Zeitung, August 10, 1917, p. 8.

Kathleen Condray
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville