Younkin
Family News Bulletin
Family History Newspaper Archives from the 1930s
and Early '40s Published by Charles Arthur Younkin
The
original Younkin Family News Bulletin was the brainchild and focus of Charles
Arthur Younkin, of Charleroi, Washington County, PA. "Charleroi
Charley," as he was nicknamed, was a businessman, reunion organizer, journalist, letter writer and
family cheerleader. His pioneering genealogy publishing, in coordination with his distant
cousin Otto Roosevelt Younkin, resulted in a national
reunion and following involving
thousands of cousins. This all happened during the height of the Great Depression, a phenomenon he called the "Great Younkin
Awakening." His efforts set the stage for the renewed interest in Younkin family
connections today, and the establishment of the Younkin Reunions in the 1990s.
The original YFNB was a six-page, five-column tabloid, priced at $1.00 per year. The first issue, dated Christmas 1937, was loaded with family stories and obituaries, a reunion wrap-up and letters from readers. All told, eight editions were printed -- Christmas 1937; April 30, 1938; August 5, 1938; December 20, 1938; August 10, 1939; March 15, 1940; Sept. 25, 1940; and June 30, 1941.
In 1938, a subscriber in Ashville, Ohio, showed
his copy to newspaper columnist
Clyde Michael of the Pickaway County News. Mitchell later devoted an
entire "Meanderings" column to the reunion and the family newspaper (July 28, 1938), writing:
"[Horton]
showed me what I believe to be the only newspaper whose news is devoted entirely
to one family and which is written and published as a family newspaper...."
In 1940, the Connellsville (PA) Daily Courier published an editorial praising the newspaper and the reunion's size and national reach, saying:
Of the numerous family reunions which run through the summer season in ever increasing numbers, that of the Younkins is one of the few which take on a national scale. According to Attorney Fred E. Younkin of this city who has been vice-president since the organization was formed, they come all the way from California and Maine. The association has a national printed bulletin... The usual big gathering is anticipated for the reunion August 18.
The last known YFNB, dated June 30, 1941, contained a foreshadowing of world war. A subscriber from Arizona wrote: "We are certain to be called upon to sacrifice much, to work hard and long with no thought of the dividends which might accrue...."
This webpage contains "above the fold" images of all eight known copies.
The first edition, dated Christmas 1937
Volume 1, No. 2 - April 30, 1938
Volume 1, No. 3, dated Aug. 5, 1938
Volume 1, No. 4, dated Dec. 20, 1938, just in time for Christmas
Volume 2, No. 1 and 2, dated August 10, 1939
Volume 2, Numbers 3 and 4, dated March 15, 1940
Volume 3, Numbers 1 and 2, dated Sept. 25, 1940
Volume 3, Numbers 3 and 4, dated June 30,
1941 -- the last issue
Copyright © 2006-2008 Mark A. Miner