Frank Leslie's Weekly

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, later renamed Leslie's Weekly, was America’s first illustrated newspaper.

Visuals of current events—in print for the first time—gave readers a new kind of immersive experience.

When photography was young and before television, the images in Leslie’s profoundly influenced public opinion, capturing readers from barely literate to sophisticated.

No one could match the paper's publishing speed. Detailed engravings of major events, from the Civil War to the Spanish American War, were available within weeks.

Articles covered American culture, the arts, and literature—capturing the zeitgeist of the time.

Stories and news reports on the major issues of the day

There are accounts of attacks on union members that precipitated the Haymarket Riot; photos of the 1906 Springfield, Ohio, race riot; details of the Columbia Exposition.

Topics include

• Woman Suffrage and other women's issues
• Indian Wars of the West
• Railroads and advances in transportation
• Spanish-American War
• Klondike Gold Rush of
• Rise of labor and progressivism
• San Francisco earthquake
• Immigration
• Business and commodities
• Politics, elections, and political parties
• World War I
• Agricultural developments
• Laying of the Transatlantic Cable
• John Brown's Harper’s Ferry arsenal raid
• The rise of cities
• On the battlefield and in camps of the Union and Confederate armies
• Westward movement
• Native American life and culture
• Industrial Revolution and technology
• Recreation and sports development
• Society and culture

International coverage

The publication took Americans to places they had never seen before, with unimaginable realism. Asia, Latin America, the British Empire worldwide, the war in South Africa, natural disasters and famine in China, expansion of American trade, the rise of colonial empires in Africa, various monarchies, political intrigues, ethnic minorities, emigration to America and Canada, the League of Nations, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Russo-Japanese War—all were covered.

Notable illustrators

• Norman Rockwell—covers and illustrations early in his career
• Winslow Homer—early assignments including depictions of the Civil War
• Thomas Nash (the “Father of the American Cartoon”)—political cartoons
• James E. Taylor, special artist for Frank Leslie's Weekly during the Civil War—sketches and drawings of battles, camps, and everyday life
• Joseph Becker, chief artist—sketches from the Civil War front
• Henry Worrall, artist and musician—illustrations depicting life in the American West

Notable authors

There are commissioned, sponsored, and published short stories; serialized novels; firsthand accounts of historical events; and narratives offering personal perspectives.

• Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women
• Helen Worden Erskine, noted journalist
• Ambrose Bierce, known for satirical works
• H. Irving Havelock