The Monett Times Archive

David A. Peters, a newspaper man from Iowa, moved his wife and two daughters to Monett, Missouri, in 1898. The following year, he established a semiweekly newspaper called the Monett Times. As with many small town newspapers, the Monett Times was a family affair. Peters's two daughters, Pearl and May, were experienced in helping their father with the newspaper press by setting type by hand. Pearl would later become one of only three women who owned and edited a daily paper in Missouri.

D. A. and Pearl Peters shared the management of the paper from 1899 until January of 1917, when D. A. Peters died suddenly. In their co-management, they changed the Times from a semiweekly to a weekly paper of four to eight pages published each Friday with a focus on local news and events. The Peters also planned and implemented improvements to the printing office. In 1914, they purchased an Intertype machine, which freed Pearl from having to handset the type for the news and for much of the advertising. Fort 22 years after her father's death, Pearl Peters took on sole management and responsibility for the growth of the Monett Times. She and her father had planned a larger building for the newspapers in a more central location. Pearl carried out these plans, moving into the new building in 1920. She also contributed to changes in the format of the newspaper, initiating a "Home Magazine" supplement for domestic tips and advice. Another of her contributions was the weekly "Ramblings," a column in which she would cleverly describe local personalities one week and follow the next week with an account of her travels in her car. Pearl Peters was a female pioneer in Missouri journalism, as well as an active and respected member of the community. She was elected the "most useful woman" by the Monett Business and Professional Women's Club and served as secretary of regional and statewide press associations. Throughout her career as a journalist, Pearl hired women as bookkeepers, assistants, and proofreaders.

In the 1930s, Pearl expanded the Monett Times to include both the existing weekly and a new daily version. She prided herself on printing news that was wholesome and that could be read and shared with the entire family. Pearl Peters continued her work as editor of the Monett Times until 1939, when she sold the paper and retired to care for her mother and sister, who were both in failing health. Pearl Peters continued to live in Monett and read the newspaper that she and her father had created. She died in 1951, but her family's legacy lives on in the daily version of the Monett Times which is still published today.