MIA: Glossary: Publications: Proletarec
Proletarec
1906-1952
In 1905, Frank Petric and Joze Zavertnik began publishing in Chicago Glas Svobode ("Voice of Freedom"), a socialist newspaper intended for Slovene workers in the United States. A year later Petric and Zavertnik left the Svobode to publish Proletarec under the South Slavic Workers Publishing Co., becoming the first editors of a paper aimed at promoting socialism and the cultural values of the Slovenian population. Proletarec served the interests of the Slovenian members of the Yugoslav Socialist Federation (YSF), a political and cultural organization composed of Serbs, Croats, and other Slavic immigrants. Based in Chicago, Proletarec began circulation in January of 1906 as a monthly publication with only 100 subscribers. In 1908, Proletarec became a weekly publication under the direction of Ivan Molek, who acquired the position of editor-in-chief the previous year. In 1907, Proletarec increased its readership by publishing an additional section in Croatian, which effectively extended its ability to reach the Croat members of the YSF. Proletarec's conscious efforts to maintain and extend readership to immigrant Slovene socialists continued throughout its history.
Proletarec experimented with publishing a magazine format from 1918 to 1929, but reverted to newspaper format on April 4, 1929. Also on that date, the newspaper released the following statement: "Our aim: Education, organisation, cooperation, Commonwealth... Proletarec will publish regularly one or more pages of English reading matter for the benefit of our American born Slovene and other Yugoslav friends. This is especially for our youth." Printing in English enabled Proletarec to expand its readership to include second-generation Slovenian Americans. In re-centering their audience to a new generation, Proletarec began to focus on sustaining elements of Slovene culture through fraternal organizations, dances, and organized concerts.
By 1930, Proletarec had almost 3,000 subscribers spanning three generations, the majority of whom lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, and New York. Outside of the United States, Proletarec had subscribers in Mexico City and in Slovenia, making it an international publication. Throughout its history, Proletarec seemed to have almost as many editors as it did subscribers. Following Molek's retirement in 1912, Leo Zakrajsek took over for a brief stint before he left the paper in 1913 due to a disagreement with Joze Zavertnik. The latter held the position of editor until 1916, at which point he left to edit another Slovenian-American newspaper, Prosveta ("Enlightenment"). Upon returning to Slovenia in 1916, Etbin Kristan took over for Zavertnik and held the position of editor until 1920. Frank Zaitz then took over editing Proletarec until it ceased publication in 1952.
—https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045377/
1906
Volume 1, No. 1, January, 1906
Volume 1, No. 2, February, 1906
Volume 1, No. 9, September, 1906
Volume 1, No. 10, October, 1906
Volume 1, No. 11, November, 1906
Volume 1, No. 12, December, 1906
1907
Volume 2, No. 1, January, 1907
Volume 2, No. 2, February, 1907
Volume 2, No. 9, September, 1907
Volume 2, No. 10, October, 1907
Volume 2, No. 11, November, 1907
Volume 2, No. 12, December 3, 1907
Volume 2, No. 13, December 10, 1907
Volume 2, No. 14, December 14, 1907
Volume 2, No. 15, December 24, 1907
Volume 2, No. 16, December 31, 1907
1908
Volume 3, No. 17, January 7, 1908
Volume 3, No. 18, January 14, 1908
Volume 3, No. 19, January 21, 1908
Volume 3, No. 20, January 28, 1908
Volume 3, No. 21, February 4, 1908
Volume 3, No. 22, February 11, 1908
Volume 3, No. 23, February 18, 1908
Volume 3, No. 24, February 25, 1908
Volume 3, No. 25, March 3, 1908
Volume 3, No. 26, March 10, 1908
Volume 3, No. 27, March 17, 1908
Volume 3, No. 28, March 24, 1908
Volume 3, No. 29, March 31, 1908
Volume 3, No. 30, April 7, 1908
Volume 3, No. 31, April 14, 1908
Volume 3, No. 32, April 21, 1908
Volume 3, No. 33, April 28, 1908
Volume 3, No. 35, May 12, 1908
Volume 3, No. 36, May 19, 1908
Volume 3, No. 37, May 26, 1908
Volume 3, No. 38, June 2, 1908
Volume 3, No. 39, June 9, 1908
Volume 3, No. 40, June 16, 1908
Volume 3, No. 41, June 23, 1908
Volume 3, No. 42, June 30, 1908
Last updated on 12 Februarys̄ 2020