A Brief Reflection on the History of Our Local Newspapers

The Townie is an opinion website. The views expressed in this piece belong solely to the author, do not represent those held by The Townie, and should not be interpreted as objective or reported fact.

A couple of decades ago there was another newspaper here in Newburyport. It was a small but worthy print publication known as The Liberator. The name paid tribute to an earlier, 19^th-century paper that had been published by our honored son, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. Born on School Street, Garrison put out his Liberator in Boston. He and his successors did so for 35 years until 1865, when his cause was vindicated with the passage of the 13^th Amendment, which abolished slavery.  

A statue of the man stands today in Brown Square outside City Hall. We might believe that Garrison represented a typical Newburyporter of his day, but that was not the case. During the controversial days leading up to the Civil War there were many Northerners who endorsed slavery. Their ranks included another prominent native son, Caleb Cushing, whose family owned the Cushing House, now home of the Museum of Old Newbury. His nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected because he had supported slavery. In that he was like numerous Northerners. Many endorsed slavery, since southern slave cotton was necessary for Yankee factories which produced cloths as well as the wealth of elites like the Cushings. Undoubtedly, Cushing was no fan of Garrison or his Liberator. Such is the consequence of engaged journalism; any publication will inevitably have its detractors.

That original Liberator was succeeded generations later, in the early aughts of our century, by our locally-published Liberator. This modern version was created and maintained by James Charles Roy, my dear friend and scholar from Fruit Street. Like Garrison, Jim Roy began his newspaper because of genuine concern for public affairs. Of course his 20^th-century Liberator dealt with matters primarily local, and not nearly as consequential as its predecessor. Jim’s paper expressed strong opinions on Newburyport politics, tax overrides, and cultural matters. Like Garrison, Jim and his Liberator never hesitated to take on controversial matters. Though his paper lasted only a few years, to this day he remains vocal on matters such as the recent brick sidewalk controversy. He actually resembles Garrison’s foe Caleb Cushing in the sense that he also held public offices, though his highest position involved serving on the Newburyport Parking Commission. Not as grand, say, as Cushing’s having negotiated America’s first treaty with China. Nevertheless we do owe today’s parking garage in part to his attentions. I josh about this, but the point is that over time ordinary citizens, and the journalists who report on them, help create the substance and legacy of a community.

I offer this brief history of local journalism because this new online publication joins a long tradition of Newburyport publications. Over the years there have many, many journals published here. Digital AI guru “Claude,” consulted via the internet, informed me that between 1773 and 1854 Newburyport was served by 35 newspapers. Since the 1850’s there have been many more. That’s a lot of reporting and opining. Today, in addition to this new Townie enterprise, we should be grateful for the journalists at The Newburyport Daily News. At a time when thousands of communities are losing local publications, and becoming information deserts, we are fortunate to have the News as an outlet that regularly informs us about community goings-on. No journal is perfect, and neither the News nor this publication will ever please all readers. But by God I will never give up my paid, printed Daily News subscription. We would be a community adrift in obliviousness and ignorance without it.

Meanwhile, smaller journals like this one and the Liberator of two decades ago also deserve to be recognized for their contributions, present and past, to the public good. Putting together any publication requires real effort, effort that is rarely properly compensated. Garrison had to personally typeset his paper. Mr. Roy’s publication entailed a literal pain in the butt, since he actually pedaled around Newburyport delivering his Liberator!

One expects there will be opportunities on these digitized pages to say more about our community, its character, its tempo, its cycles of decay and prosperity. It’s an interesting place, one that’s obviously changed enormously since the days of my youth when half the buildings on State Street appeared to lack roofs. The dozens of local journals that have blessed Newburyport over the years undoubtedly observed numerous quirks and details about local changes. In our little city and our surrounding towns there’s always a lot of activity to consider. May this journal describe and reflect upon this broad range of local matters. May The Townie – and the Daily News – live long and prosper! And may the Liberators of the past not be forgotten.

Hugh Kelleher
Newburyport resident

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