The Legacy of Helena’s Montana Plaindealer Newspaper

Published from March 1906 to September 1911, Helena's Montana Plaindealer was one of the most popular African American newspapers in the state. This newspaper represented a small but vibrant African American community in early Montana.

In the early 1900’s, Helena was the home of Montana’s largest African American population with over 400 individuals, which was about 3% of the city’s population. In the entire state of Montana there were about 2,000 African American residents. Joseph B. Bass, founder and editor of the Montana Plaindealer, was an active member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a strong believer in the “hard work and self-improvement" doctrine of Booker T. Washington. He was previously employed at the Topeka Plaindealer in Kansas. He worked on the paper with the help of Joseph Tucker, an African American man who had lived in Helena for over a decade and worked as a printer.

Four pages long and printed weekly, The Montana Plaindealer was a trusted news source in the community. The newspaper was strongly Republican and one of their taglines stated, “We unhesitatingly subscribe to the principles of Republicanism.” It preached the goal of “racial uplift” through entrepreneurship and civic work and supported Progressive political reform. The inaugural edition stated, “This enterprise shall at all times strive for a greater Helena, and for mutual progress of all people in the community, and for a greater activity of our people in the business world.” These sentiments were expressed in the stories, editorials, and information conveyed in the newspaper.

Additionally, Bass wrote about community news, such as church information, and other national interest stories. An example of a national story was the 1907 Brownsville Incident. An important column in every edition was the “Race News” column that published stories about racial discrimination, economic opportunities, and Civil Rights news. The newspaper also included results of political battles. An example of these battles is seen in local primaries and elections on the state and national levels. Additionally, the newspaper also protested discriminatory legislative action. This is illustrated in their protest of an anti-miscegenation bill passed in Montana in 1909.

The newspaper’s impact and reach are difficult to explain with statistics, but Bass stated that over 3⁄4 of all African Americans in Helena subscribed to the paper. The paper also had a number of white subscribers as well, a number that tripled the amount of African American subscribers. The paper was partially funded by fundraising social events, like dinners, that were thrown by White Republicans. Unfortunately, these fundraising events were not enough as The Montana Plaindealer underwent financial difficulties and had to suspend publication due to a lack of money in September 1911.

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