As I work through cataloging the American Antiquarian Society’s collection of amateur newspapers, I’m often amused by both the content of the material and the stories of the people who published them. The Acorn (Catalog Record), published in North Attleboro, MA, by Fannie Hamilton, delights on both accounts.
Hamilton published the first issue of the Acorn on January 1, 1878. In it, she included poetry, fiction, puzzles, and an “improvised primer” which has been cut out of the AAS copy. She captioned her articles to fit with her acorn theme: “Splinters” gave notes on other amateur journalists and “Oak Leaves” contained little tidbits of wisdom.
This is all pretty standard material for an amateur newspaper. What makes the Acorn stand out is the controversy that followed its publication.
In March 1878, the editor of the Anchor (Catalog Record), an amateur newspaper from Bristol, PA, wrote, “the Acorn, North Attleboro, Mass. claims to be edited and published by Fannie Hamilton. Though we are inclined to believe that the name used is a nom de plume. However, it is not our intention to make any insinuations in regard to the editress or editor.” Several other newspapers published similar articles questioning her real identity.
Dennie Sullivan, publisher of the Index (Catalog Record) in Lowell, MA, decided to take up the case. He wrote to Hamilton asking her to confirm her sex and printed their correspondence in the April 1878 issue of his paper with the title A question settled: Honor to whom honor is due. He tells Hamilton that he believes she is a woman but that rumors have been circulating that she is not. He writes, “I am unable to enlighten you as to the cause of this unbelief and can only surmise that it is an outgrowth of that traditional absurdity of the male amateur mind which ignores all editorial ability in the youth of the other sex, particularly when it attains to the superiority shown in the Acorn.”
Hamilton responds that she is a woman and questions how she should prove it. She jokes “I would suggest that an investigating committee be dispatched to N. Attleboro for the purpose of satisfying themselves by ocular demonstration that ‘I am what I am,’ but for the adage: ‘Believe nothing you hear and only half what you see.’” She suggests that he write to the postmaster, her landlady, and to the publisher of the Chronicle, a newspaper in North Attleboro, where she prints her paper. The postmaster and printer both respond, affirming that she is a woman.
The printer’s detailed response gives us unique insight into how Hamilton’s paper was printed: “She sets type for her paper herself and we do the printing.” She was trained by a female compositor and has “picked up the art of setting type without any regular instruction.” She even helped out at the shop when they were running behind.
Though I couldn’t find a record of Hamilton living in North Attleboro, her landlady is listed as owning a boarding house in the 1880 census. Fannie moved to Montreal shortly after printing the first few issues of her paper and I wasn’t able to find any evidence of her life there or that she had resumed publishing the Acorn.
Hamilton’s record in the amateur newspaper world is brief but enlightening. Not only do we get to read her thoughts and ideas as printed in her paper, but we are also able to see the reaction of her contemporaries. Through Dennie’s letters, we can imagine the life that she led in those few months — a single woman living in a boarding house, enjoying a friendship with a compositor from whom she learned to set type, assisting at the print shop when they are running behind, and creating content, publishing, and printing her own paper in her spare time.