Trona Argonaut Newspaper Collection, 1936-1999

Summary

Title:

Trona Argonaut Newspaper Collection

Dates:

1936-1999

Creators:

American Trona Corporation, Searles Valley Historical Society, and Casebier, Dennis G.

Abstract:

The Trona Argonaut Newspaper Collection contains nearly sixty-three years of news related to the company mining town of Trona, California. The weekly paper was published from 1923 to 1999. During the war years the newspaper won several national awards for excellence. Although the collection has no issues for the first 13 years of the paper's existence, it does provide examples of each publication year from 1936 until its last issue in 1999.

Extent:

5.0 Linear Feet

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Trona Argonaut Newspaper Collection. AR-2015-001. Mojave Desert Archives, Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association, Goffs, California. Date accessed.

Background

Scope and content:

The Trona Argonaut Newspaper Collection contains nearly sixty-three years of Trona newspapers starting in 1936 and continuing until its final issue in 1999. The set is incomplete, although it contains examples from each publication year from 1936 to 1999. The collection contains no issues for the first 13 years of the paper's existence.

Biographical / historical:

Trona is a former American Trona Corporation company mining town on the western edge of Searles Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert region of San Bernardino County, California.

A weekly newspaper covering news for the town of Trona was published from 1923 to 1999. The first incarnation of the paper was called the Trona Pot-Ash. It was a mimeograph sheet containing news and comments on local events.

American Trona Corporation, seeing the interest and need for a weekly newspaper, took over publication in 1924. The sheet evolved into a professional six-page newspaper printed in Los Angeles. It lasted for 17 years and had 10 editors.

During World War II, the company town of Trona became a defense plant. The newspaper staff increased, the paper expanded to 10 pages, and the name changed to the Trona Argonaut. During this period, the newspaper won several national awards for excellence.

In the 1950s, the mining company divested itself of homes and services and Trona transitioned away from being a company town. Publication of the newspaper was suspended in March of 1953 for three years.

From 1957 to 1964, a new weekly newspaper called the Searles Review was published in Trona. In 1964, the name changed back to the Trona Argonaut. The final issue of the Argonaut is dated February 4, 1999.

Acquisition information:

Gifted by Dennis G. Casebier to the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association, 11 July 2015.

Processing information:

Processed by Chris S. Ervin

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in chronological order in 14 series by publication name.

1. Trona Pot-Ash, 1936-1941

2. Trona Argonaut, 1942-1949

3. Trona Argonaut, 1950-1953

4. Searles Review, 1957-1959

5. Searles Review, 1960-1963

6. Trona Argonaut, 1964-1971

7. Trona Argonaut, 1972-1975

8. Trona Argonaut, 1976-1979

9. Trona Argonaut, 1980-1983

10. Trona Argonaut, 1984-1986

11. Trona Argonaut, 1987-1989

12. Trona Argonaut, 1990-1992

13. Trona Argonaut, 1993-1995

14. Trona Argonaut, 1996-1999

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Bibliography:

Pipkin, George. 1978. "Trona Memories." Searles Valley Slate.

Brush, Margaret. 2014. "From the Curator." Searles Valley Slate.

Related resources

Additional collection guides:

Details on the number of issues per year contained in the collection are enumerated in the Trona Argonaut Newspapers Collection Inventory spreadsheet compiled by Chris S. Ervin. The issue dates included or excluded in each series are listed on cover sheets in each box by year.

Other descriptive data:

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Archivist, Mojave Desert Archives, 37198 Lanfair Road # G-15, Essex, CA 92332. Consent is given on behalf of the Mojave Desert Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Searles Review
Trona Pot-Ash
Trona Argonaut
Searles Valley (Calif.)--Newspapers
San Bernardino County (Calif.)--History, Local--Periodicals

Names:

American Trona Corporation
Searles Valley Historical Society
Casebier, Dennis G.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Chris S. Ervin

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2017-02-06 11:44:44 -0800 .

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research. For access, please contact the Archivist at the Mojave Desert Archives at archivist@mdhca.org.

Terms of access:

Property rights reside with the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Archivist at the Mojave Desert Archives.

Preferred citation:

Trona Argonaut Newspaper Collection. AR-2015-001. Mojave Desert Archives, Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association, Goffs, California. Date accessed.

Location of this collection:

Mojave Desert Archives

37198 Lanfair Road # G-15

Essex, CA 92332, US

Contact:

(760) 733-4482

chris.s.ervin@gmail.com

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