Valentin J. Peter (1875–1960) was a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

publisher of a

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

newspaper called the '' Omaha Tribüne'' in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. He had immigrated to the United States from Bavaria in 1889. Active in the ethnic German community in the city, he became founding president of the

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

chapter of the

National German-American Alliance The National German-American Alliance (NGAA; German: Deutschamerikanischer National-Bund), was a federation of ethnic German associations in the United States founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 6, 1901. Charles John Hexamer was elected ...

About

Born in Bavaria, Peter

immigrate Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

d to the United States in 1889, settling first in Illinois. As a young man, he wanted to be a teacher but worked at a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

before apprenticing with Friedrich von Parrot, publisher of a weekly German newspaper called the ''Volkszeitung.'' Within several years Peter became involved with German language

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s in Peoria and

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is now called Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island. The popul ...

. In 1904 when the ''Volkszeitung'' went bankrupt, Peter purchased the paper for $1,500 and at twenty-two years old, he became the youngest editor in all of Illinois. In 1907 Peter moved to

, and bought the ''Westliche Presse''. The following year purchased and revived a newspaper called the ''Omaha Tribüne''. Peter consolidated the two papers to create the ''Omaha Tribüne-Westliche Presse,'' which he published in German. On March 14, 1912, Peter introduced the ''Tägliche Omaha Tribüne,'' (Daily Omaha Tribune). It was published under than name until 1926, when it was changed to ''Omaha Tribüne'' and split to offer a separate Sunday paper. During World War I, Peter continued to merge German-language newspapers from across the region into his enterprise. The German-language paper would serve the German populations of Nebraska, Iowa, and other Midwest states until 1960. Luebke, F.C. (1999) ''Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration''], University of Illinois Press. p 15. Peter was a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. He also belonged to the

Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...

, and to a number of social and charitable German immigrant organizations in Omaha. In November 1910 Peter founded and became the president of the

chapter of the

. Using his position as publisher and editor of the ''Omaha Tribüne'', Peter followed the NGAA's policy against

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

and rallied against Nebraskan politicians and policies he saw as working against the distribution of alcohol. An active businessman, Peter continued buying and consolidating other German-language newspapers throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

for several years. His dominance of the German-language newspaper industry in the United States was established by the 1930s. After spending 50 years operating the only German-language newspapers in the U.S., Peter's company sold its final publications in 1982. In 1950 Peter was awarded the Knight of St. Gregory by Pope

Pius XII Pius ( , ) Latin for "pious", is a masculine given name. Its feminine form is Pia. It may refer to: People Popes * Pope Pius (disambiguation) * Antipope Pius XIII (1918-2009), who led the breakaway True Catholic Church sect Given name * Pius B ...

. Val J. Peter died in Omaha on February 19, 1960, after a brief illness. He is buried in Saint Mary Magdalene Cemetery there.

Politics

Peter and his newspapers were initially against American involvement in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. At a NGAA meeting, he was quoted as saying, He changed his position before the US entered the war in 1917 on the side of Great Britain and France, and supported the Allies.Luebke, F.C. (1999) ''Germans in the New World: Essays in the History of Immigration.'' University of Illinois Press. p 17. Following the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

attack on

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

in December 1941, Peter published a statement in his newspapers strongly supporting the US and its allies. He wrote, "time for political disagreement about international affairs has passed" and that "all American citizens of German blood" needed to "stand behind their government."

Legacy

Peter married and had a family. Two of his sons have carried on some of his commitments to the Catholic Church, civil organizations, and the printing business. The family of one of his sons, Eugene Peter (b. 1925), still operates the Interstate Printing Company in Omaha, which printed the ''Omaha Tribüne'' for decades. The company has been located in the Near North Side neighborhood of

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 (Iowa-Nebraska), Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River a ...

since the 1950s. Another son, Valentin J. Peter, Jr., became a Roman Catholic priest with the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

(SJ). He served as the executive director of Boystown (Father Flanagan's Home for Boys) near Omaha for several years."About US: Past Directors"
Boystown website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter, Valentin J. Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Newspaper people from Omaha, Nebraska American newspaper editors 1875 births 1960 deaths

About

Politics

Legacy

See also

References