"The Relationship Between A Transient Scientific Phenomenon and Local J" by Thomas Hockey
 

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First published in Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, v27 i4 (2024) published by University of Science and Technology of China. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2024.04.06

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Keywords

journalism, nineteenth century USA, religious naturalism, solar eclipse

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage

Volume

27

Issue

4

First Page

786

Last Page

795

Abstract

In the United States, the nineteenth century was the halcyon era for local newspapers. These publications were the primary source of public information at a time when other periodicals and books had low circulation. The purpose of this paper is to explore how local journalism in the nineteenth-century United States dealt with an occasion outside the boundaries of the commonplace: an unfamiliar natural phenomenon. My example is the total solar eclipse of 7 August 1869. Editors and journalists of the time largely were unaccustomed to covering celestial events. Nevertheless, they sensed—correctly—an interest in the solar eclipse. Articles about the approaching wonder provided a diversion in a way that more usual fare (politics, crime, news relevant to agriculture) did not. The press decided that it was up to the task. Newspapers are designed to be time-sensitive. However, such a newsworthy marvel as a total eclipse of the Sun presented the fourth estate with two problems, each involving one of two major functions attributed their product: alerting the public to future events and describing, for that public, events in the near past. First, how was one to obtain printable information about the total solar eclipse ahead of time, with particulars of use to a readership, especially when virtually no one had seen such a thing before? Second, after the total eclipse, how was one to approach description of the phenomenon? This was a challenge because potentially everyone within a given readership had seen it for themselves. Local newspapers arrived at solutions to these dilemmas in a variety of ways. A newspaper profits from circulation. Therefore, local news reflects local opinion. I conclude by positing how the plurality of the public viewed their experience under a totally eclipsed Sun.

Department

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Original Publication Date

12-1-2024

Object Description

1 PDF File

DOI of published version

10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2024.04.06

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Copyright

©2024 The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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