The ''Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter'' icwas an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

paper printed in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. Founded in 1847,

Jane Swisshelm Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm (December6, 1815July22, 1884) was an American Radical Republican journalist, publisher, abolitionist, and women's rights advocate. She was one of America's first female journalists hired by Horace Greeley at his ''New ...

was the editor and Robert M. Riddle printed the paper. It had good circulation numbers and ran until 1854.

History

Journalist

was the founder of the ''Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter'' icand she funded the work through money in her own estate and printed the paper with Robert M. Riddle. Swisshelm served as the editor and Riddle printing the paper. At the time, the

newspaper in

had closed and a new paper was needed. She launched the ''Saturday Visiter'' on December 20, 1847. There were crowds actually waiting in the streets for the first issue. Swisshelm spelled "visitor" as "visiter" and believed her

spelling Spelling is a set of conventions for written language regarding how graphemes should correspond to the sounds of spoken language. Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spelli ...

was correct. The ''Saturday Visiter'' published

, temperance, and abolitionist editorials. She also endorsed

Free Soil The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was focused on opposing the expansion of slav ...

arguments against

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

. The paper had a good circulation with around 6,000 subscribers, though more subscribers actually lived outside of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. Eventually, Swisshelm started looking to sell the ''Visiter'' in 1853, and looked for someone with similar political views as herself. After Swisshelm had a child, she realized that she was neglecting the work on the ''Visiter''. The paper itself went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

by 1854, despite its good circulation and was sold to Riddle. Riddle merged the paper with the weekly edition of his ''

Commercial Journal __NOTOC__ The ''Commercial Journal'' was a mid-19th century newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Beginnings The paper was founded as the ''Spirit of the Age'' by J. Heron Foster, J. McMillin and J. B. Kennedy on 19 April 1843, wi ...

'', keeping Swisshelm on as editor.

Reception

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

said, "There are few papers exerting greater influence than the ''Saturday Visiter'', edited by Mrs. Swisshelm."

References

Sources

* * *{{Cite book, last=Pierson, first=Michael D., url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UQWmfcHrUWoC, title=Free Hearts and Free Homes: Gender and American Antislavery Politics, publisher=University of North Carolina Press, year=2003, isbn=9780807854556, location=Chapel Hill

External links

*
Pittsburgh Saturday Visiter
' Feminism in the United States Newspapers established in 1847 Abolitionist newspapers published in the United States Defunct newspapers published in Pittsburgh Women in Pennsylvania Publications disestablished in 1854 Feminist newspapers Abolitionism in Pennsylvania 1847 establishments in Pennsylvania