Cat

The following is a list of New York City newsgirls named in newspaper articles from the 1870s to the early 20th century.

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The Horn Sisters-

The most well known newsgirl was Winnie Horn, dubbed "Queen Winnie" and "the queen of the newsgirls" by the press. She was the oldest of eight children and the daughter of a Civil War veteran. In 1896 she was twenty years old and already a well established figure at the foot of the elevated railroad station at the intersection of Twenty-third Street and Sixth Avenue. Sadie Horn, Winnie's sister, sold at the opposite corner. In 1896, 16 year old Emma Horn began selling papers, and later newspaper articles would also note Jennie Horn as among the "Soubrette newsgirls." Winnie was blind in one eye. She was known for her eccentric way of dress, for speaking in Shakespearean English to her customers, and for her support of Roosevelt's mayoral campaign by writing political messages in the margins of her papers. She also wrote quotes from Shakespeare and the Bible on her papers. Winnie's likeness was recreated both on the stage at the Olympia Theatre, and in wax at the Eden Musee. Winnie died of asthma in 1910.

"Newsgirl," Alice Austen, 1896. Believed to be Winnie Horn.

1874- "Little Addie" who sold in City Hall Park.

1877- Ellen Noonan, wounded on the cheek in a "shooting affair" outside of the United States Hotel where she sold papers.

1890- Lillie Slitzka, 15 years old, went missing. Lillie began selling papers in 1881 in the rotunda of the Equitable Building and was described as being shy and modest. Her mother, a widow, and her two brothers were also in the business of selling papers. Lillie attended public school for two years prior to her starting work, and she and her family lived in a flat at 162 Webster Avenue in Jersey City Heights. Whether she was ever found or her disappearance explained is unfortunately unknown.

1891- Newsgirls Kate Flynn, Mary Williams, and Polly Morris charged a man for the abduction of newsgirls and assault.

1896-

Emma Albert, 12 years old, was arrested by the Gerry Society. She lived at 542 West Twenty-seventh Street with invalid parents, three little brothers, and three little sisters. After her family went two days without food, Emma borrowed a few pennies and went out to buy herself a stock of evening papers to sell in order to help her family. Emma continued to attend school during the day and sold just the evening papers along Broadway, sometimes long into the night and sometimes in the saloons. When she was arrested, her father said in a broken voice "I suppose we will all starve now. Emma has been our only support." The trial ended with the court taking up a collection of $12 for her and her family.

Seven newsgirls were arrested by the Gerry Society for selling papers in City Hall Park. Eleven year old Anna Grossco of 10 Baxter Street, "easily 111 in experience," who remained calm and conversational throughout the whole ordeal, 13 year old Maria Ferrari of 18 Roosevelt Street, 12 year old Anna Stemler of 294 Cherry Street, 13 year old Maria Accario of 18 Roosevelt Street, sisters Lizzie and Ida Reinburg (10 and 11) of 6 Monroe Street, and 10 year old Sarah Gruberman of 48 Chrystie Street. Sarah didn't speak a word of English and her 13 year old brother Max, a newsboy, attempted to rescue Sarah from the Gerry Society wagon.

Mary Welter, 16 years old, sold at the Twenty-third Street Ferry beginning at 4 o'clock in the afternoons. Mary went to school until she was 13 and was "crazy to go back." She supported her two elderly parents, making about $1 a day and $3 extra at the end of every week from "trusties." Mary was very business minded, getting the newsboys' customers while they scuffled and played ball.

Ten year old Anna Flahery proudly hailed from an Irish family of ten and kept a stand with her older brother (who was blind) at the elevated station near the East Thirty-fourth Street Ferry. Anna went to school in Brooklyn and crossed the ferry every day at noon to tend the stand while her brother went to dinner. She would then sell again after school well into the evening and she aspired to have her own stand one day all to herself just as soon as she was done with school.

Sara Karp, 17 years old, was the oldest of seven children from a Jewish family. She sold in Park Row at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and in 1896 was in a bout of bad luck. Sara couldn't make more than 80 cents, and was under the stress of her mother being ill and the family recently having had a baby. She sold from six in the morning well into the night.

Jennie Epstein of 131 Madison Street, Mary Pelsmerick of 60 Montgomery Street, Bessie Silverstein of 29 Ludlow Street, Lena Shapiro of 294 Cherry Street, and Augusta Balima of 330 Cherry Street were arrested by the Gerry Society for selling the Hebrew and evening papers near their homes on East Broadway.

1897- Lillie Retchford of 508 West Forty-ninth Street sold papers to support her family of six while her father was out of work. As a reward for attending school all year, Lillie and a large group of boys visited the Barnum & Bailey circus in April on a trip with the Mutual Aid Benefit Club. Lillie worried that a man at the circus might be a Gerry agent, and she delighted when the acrobats jumped on the backs of galloping horses.

1898- Katie Shay, "the newsgirl at the Bridge." Newsboy Paul Genitzsky lost 60 cents of Katie’s to a “mighty mean man” who swindled him by pretending that he needed Paul to deliver a package.

1899- "Jennie the newsgirl," possibly Jennie Horn. In July of 1899, a newsgirl named Jennie valiantly scared off a group of scabs, dubbed "Joan of Arc" by the Daily Tribune.

1900- Rosie Corcoran, the daughter of newspaper woman Ellen Corcoran, died in May. Rosie had sold papers at the Brooklyn Bridge with her mother and her sister, Katie. Mrs. Corcoran had a well known rivalry with another newspaper woman named Mrs. Shea, and both of the women continued to sell papers throughout the 1899 strike. Despite this, most of the Park Row newsboys attended Rosie's funeral and several took up the Corcorans' place selling at the Brooklyn Bridge to carry on the family's business for them under the supervision of Mrs. Shea, who was anxious that the Corcorans' grief wouldn't cost the family too much.

1904-

Josephine Beck left her home in Newark New Jersey on April 14 when her mother left to visit a sick friend. She cut her hair short, dawned a suit of her father's and took her little brother's hat. About a week later, she showed up at the Newsboys' Lodging House in New York City asking for lodging, giving her name as "Joseph Becker." "Joe" mostly kept to herself except for selling papers. She asked a boy named Pete to show her how to sell and ended up beating him at his own game. Officially, she wasn't found out until she was sent to the Children's Aid Society farm at Kensico. However, many of the boys at the lodging house seemed to have figured her out much sooner and called her "sis."

Newsgirl Carrie Albrecht, 13 years old, took a lawyer to court. The lawyer was sentenced to fifteen years in the state prison.

Eight year old Mary Scherer delivered the afternoon paper to a congressman's family.

1908- Newsgirl May Stehno had a stand in the uptown station of the subway at Canal Street. During a rush, she caught a man stealing two 15 cent magazines from her and attempt to make his escape on the train. She quickly chased after him and, with the help of a detective, May identified the man who had stolen from her and recovered her magazines. The man was arrested.

1912- Nan Corrigan was a newsgirl who was in charge of a stand at the Vanderbilt hotel. She married a wealthy jewelry manufacturer in 1912 who had been one of her first customers and who regularly bought out her stock every day. In 1915, Nan unsuccessfully sued for divorce and a year later her husband died leaving Nan to inherit a fraction of his wealth.

1916- Lillian Kaplan, 12 years old, began selling papers at the age of six at the corner of Nineteenth Street and Third Avenue. She dreamed of becoming a Broadway actress. Lillian read all of Shakespeare along with any other play she could get her hands on. Her father took her to see many Yiddish plays.

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captain jack just wants to close his eyes and go!

and he can’t outpace the filth & pain & fear — they will always stick to the interior of his memory. he’s haunted by his own absence. the what ifs, the converse, stalk him, taking the form of michael’s voice and david’s hands and charlie’s smile and spot’s bracelet…

INTRODUCING THE NEWSIES COMIC I GUESS??

Excellent questions! Before I delve into the history, don't forget that our very own Swifty the Rake of Newsies (1992) fame is an Asian newsie!

Here's what I know:

When it comes to the backgrounds of the real newsies involved with the 1899 strike, I think it's important to understand that these children were a reflection of late 20th century immigration patterns to New York.

A July 1899 article in the New York Tribune notes the following:

Only a few years ago nine-tenths of the newsboys were of Irish parentage, but other elements have come into the business, and, according to the figures given by “Dave” Simons, the ex-president of the Newsboys’ Union, two-fifths are now Jews, one-fifth Irish, one-fifth Italian, and one-fifth “[Black], goils, cripples, old women, fakirs, beggars an’ sich.”

These figures provided by Dave Simons agree with the fact that the largest groups of immigrants to New York in the 1890s included the Irish, Italians, and Eastern European Jews. The following map by the Tenement-House Committee details the "Proportion of each Nationality" in Manhattan based on data from the 1890 census. (Note that here "Natives" refers to "Native" New Yorkers aka those born in New York.)

The Tenement-House Committee maps, c. 1895.

I personally have not found any Asian newsies in researching the strike, however this doesn't mean that Asian newsies are out of the question! The backgrounds of the newsies weren't very often noted in newspapers, and it is very difficult tracking down newsies in the census. Historically, the largest group of Asian immigrants to New York in the 1800s were Chinese, and by the 1870s Chinatown was a vibrant community concentrated around Mott, Pell, and Doyers streets in Manhattan. Just years later in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act greatly restricted all further immigration from China to the United States, but small numbers may still have managed to settle in New York either illegally or through family connections.

I've found the following excellent maps from the University of Washington's America's Great Migrations Project detailing the total number of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders living in each state by decade:

In 1880, there were 614 Chinese people living in New York state.

By 1900, this number had increased to 6716! There were also 101 Japanese people living in New York state.

In regards to your second question, past decades had seen pierced ears among sailors and explorers, but by the late 20th century earrings were very much considered "feminine" in western culture, and you likely wouldn't find very many men sporting them as a result.

It might interest you to know that at the same time, pierced ears weren't necessarily the norm among women! Instead, clip-on or "screw-back" earrings were often worn and were very popular and practical. Also, earrings in general (even beyond western culture) weren't really worn by children at the time, as piercings most commonly took place in adulthood. It wouldn't be until the 21st century that childhood piercings become more widespread.