The Rising Sun and its successor The Circulator are manuscript newspapers from the students of the Highland Park Normal School in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. It contains hand-drawn illustrations, short stories, including the "Runaways" and "Adventure" series, articles on new inventions such as electricity, and advertisements. Some of the advertisements include "Pears Soap," "Cuticura Remedies," and "Chickering Pianos." One of the advertisements includes a quote in which a Col. J.R. Pole of Devonshire, England, says "Dear sirs it is with great pleasure that I state that I was cured of a remarkable complication of diseases through the agency of Hoods Sarsaparilla." The newspaper is priced at 2 cents per issue or 50 cents per year. Names of other amateur newspapers at the time are also listed on some of the issues, including the "American Republic" and the "Wekly [sic] Greeting." There is a small letter by E. Adams to the editors asking for the addition of a correspondence column to the newspaper. Vol. 1 no. 9 is contained in a separate box under the call number Amateur 048.
The Highland Park Normal School was a school specializing in pedagogy and part of Highland Park College in Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa. Highland Park College was opened in 1890 by a group of businessmen who sought to increase the real estate value of the Highland Park suburb. It had strong attendance during the 1910s, with an average of 2,000 students. The college merged with Central College and Des Moines College in 1920 and became Des Moines University. However, the university closed in 1929 and is currently the site of the Park Fair Mall.