Silk Edition of the Milwaukee Journal
Charitable causes do not extend further than our living memory. Throughout history, acts of good faith from people in position have advanced American society. For one day in Milwaukee, such an act not only helped the less fortunate, but gave us a glimpse of the future by transforming a local newspaper. A group of Milwaukee women, looking boost Milwaukee’s aid to the poor, sought to report and print a daily edition of the Milwaukee Journal, on silk. Journal editor Lucius Nieman saw the opportunity to aid charity and thought that, “It might be a downright good thing to have the women run the Journal for a day”.
After weeks of training, the women had organized their editors, reporters and managers to run the Journal. On February 22, 1895, all men were banished from the editorial and business offices, while male workers assisted the women in running the presses. A day’s work produced the 56-page silk edition and the paper edition, both of which were identical: 250 columns of advertising, articles written on politics, sports and other local issues. Suffragist Susan B. Anthony even submitted an article, specifically for inclusion in the silk edition. 100 issues were printed and sold for $100 each. In the end, $3,775.90 was raised, which would equal over $96,000 in 2010. While the ladies put out the paper for one day only, the “silk” edition was a symbol of change to come; a sign that women in the newsroom, belonged.
