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The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle is now 105 years old — one of the nation’s longest-running Jewish newspapers still in print. Many newspapers have risen and fallen over the past century — in fact, many empires have risen and fallen. Why is this publication still around when so much else isn’t?
Certainly, The Chronicle has seen its fair share of difficulties that could’ve torpedoed a weaker newspaper — the Great Depression, World War II, inflation, the internet and COVID-19, to name a few. In fact, not much at all has remained constant in its history. Only one external factor has always been there: the support of the Kansas City Jewish community.
The community’s spirit and encouragement continue to buoy The Chronicle unlike any other factor. Reader engagement and subscription revenue, two of the most important aspects of this paper’s continued existence, are solely facilitated by community members.
The transactional relationship between the community and The Chronicle, however, pales in comparison to the experiential relationship — a fact most effectively summarized by Rabbi Gershon Hadas upon The Chronicle’s 10th anniversary in 1930.
“That The Chronicle has rendered a great service to Kansas City Jewry is without question, but this service could not have been accomplished by its editor alone; it was due, in considerable measure, to the constructive response of The Chronicle audience, the Jewish community of this city,” Rabbi Hadas wrote. “Our community is, therefore, clearly reflected in this, our paper. Whatever faults we may find in The Chronicle are our faults, whatever virtues are our virtues. It is clear, therefore, that we can serve the interest of each and all of the many groups constituting our community by strengthening the work of The Chronicle.”
Rabbi Hadas wrote that 95 years ago — it’s likely that no one alive today read that upon publication, and yet its words still ring true. The state of The Chronicle is the state of the community, and vice versa.
In this paper’s special section, you will see a timeline of global, local and Chronicle milestones that filled the pages of our newspaper for the past 105 years (of course, we couldn’t cover everything, or else the timeline would become a history textbook). You will also find recollections from five of The Chronicle’s longest-serving editors who stewarded this paper throughout its long history.
We ask you to continue to support this paper, both through your subscription and at kcjc.com/donate, to help us survive and thrive for the next 105 years.
If we don’t cover the community, who will?
