What's Online?
This collection contains issues of The Bulletin, and its succeeding titles the Pittsburg Bulletin, and The Bulletin Index.
Here is a summary of coverage:
The Bulletin (click here to view all issues)
May 17, 1887 (Vol. 15, No. 4) - November 5, 1892 (Vol. 25, No. 12)
Pittsburg Bulletin (click here to view all issues)
November 12, 1892 (Vol. 26, No. 1) - December 24, 1892 (Vol. 26, No. 7)
January 4, 1896 (Vol. 32 No. 9) - December 25, 1897 (Vol. 36, No. 8)
January 7, 1899 (Vol. 38 No. 11) - December 28, 1901 (Vol. 44, No. 10)
July 1, 1905 (Vol. 51, No. 11) - April 7, 1906 (Vol. 52, No. 25)
November 2, 1907 (Vol. 56, No. 3) - August 22, 1908 (Vol. 57, No. 19 )
August 14, 1909 (Vol. 58, No. 18) - June 25, 1910 (Vol. 60, No. 11)
January 6, 1912 (Vol. 63, No. 13) - December 27, 1913 (Vol. 67, No. 11)
The Bulletin Index (click here to view all issues)
February 15, 1930 (Vol. 96, No. 6) - December 28, 1933 (No. 103, Vol. 26)
March 22, 1934 (Vol. 104, No. 12)
April 19, 1934 (Vol. 104, No. 16)
May 31, 1934 (Vol. 104, No. 22)
July 5, 1934 (Vol. 105, No. 1) - January 6, 1944 (Vol. 124, No. 1)
February 3, 1944 (Vol. 124, No. 6) - February 19, 1949 (Vol. 33, No. 8)
(Note: Starting on January 1, 1949, the volume numbering dropped the first digit at started at 33 instead of 133).
About the Bulletin
The Bulletin was first published in 1876 as a weekly paper under the title the East End Bulletin by editor John Wesley Black, a former correspondent to the Pittsburgh Telegraph. By 1888, the title was shorted to The Bulletin and the subtitle "A Weekly Journal of Social and Literary Life" was added. The publication focused on the cultural and social events of late-nineteenth-century Pittsburgh and included literary excerpts, theatre reviews, and updates on prominent people and events. The covers of each issue and many of the articles were accompanied by intricately detailed illustrations.
In 1892, the publication changed its title to the Pittsburg Bulletin and adopted the subtitle "A Weekly Journal for the Home" to account for its diversifying content. John W. Black died in 1898 and his wife, Sarah, along with the administrators of his estate, oversaw the continued publication of the magazine. By 1912, Sarah and John's son, T. Howard Black, took over the management of the weekly edition.
In early 1930, The Bulletin merged with another local publication, The Index, and was then published under the title The Bulletin Index. After the merger, the paper kept a similar format on reporting in local society news and events, however, as the 1930s progressed the new staff began to pursue more in-depth and investigative stories about Pittsburgh, often copied from other newspaper sources. During this time there was purportedly little fact checking and there were often errors, both factual and typographical, frequently printed. A change in the editors in the early 1940s worked to correct this reputation the magazine had gained of publishing false and inaccurate information.
In 1942, The Bulletin Index was sold to Allen F. Clark and William S. Walker. They held onto the paper for three years until it was sold to Richard J. Cook in 1945. The weekly edition was becoming increasingly expensive and to reduce costs with was switched to a monthly paper from 1947 to 1948. The publication was once again sold to J. F. Hedding and J. D. Evans. Anson B. Campbell, a current staff writer, was promoted to editor. Under his direction, the paper changed the name to BI (the abbreviated version of Bulletin-Index) and added many different columns and features. However, the financial problems that plagued previous owners continued, and the publication remained unprofitable. In the February 12, 1949 issue an open letter was published seeking more support from subscribers and advertisers to keep the paper in operation. These attempts were unsuccessful, and the last issue was released just a week later on February 19, 1949. You can read the entire history of the publication in its final issue (click here to view).