Posted on Dec 9, 2018
Joseph Pulitzer - Historic Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri
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On December 9, 1878, Joseph Pulitzer buys St Louis Dispatch for $2,500. From the article:
"Joseph Pulitzer - Historic Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri
Pulitzer returned to New York City after the war to find work. Competition from other Civil War veterans for jobs left Pulitzer often unemployed and sometimes homeless. He left New York and took a train to St. Louis, Missouri. Arriving in East St. Louis October 10, 1865, Pulitzer was penniless and had no way to cross the Mississippi River. He agreed to shovel coal on the ferry to gain passage across the river.
Tony Faust’s restaurant
Pulitzer worked many jobs while in St. Louis. He was a deckhand, a hack driver, a grave digger during the cholera epidemic in 1866, and briefly a waiter at Tony Faust’s restaurant. His worst job was caring for mules at the Jefferson Barracks. His big break came when he was hired to record land rights for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and he got to travel by horse throughout Missouri. This job prompted him to study the law. He became a naturalized citizen on March 6, 1867, and was admitted to the bar in 1868.
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Pulitzer continued to learn English while in St. Louis and spent many hours at the Mercantile Library. There he met Carl Schurz, coeditor and part owner of the German newspaper, the Westliche Post. Schurz admired the young Pulitzer and hired him as a reporter in 1868.
Pulitzer tirelessly sought the facts and got the story first, often irritating his peers in the process. While he covered the Republican state convention in Jefferson City in 1869, Pulitzer was nominated to run in a special election against Democrat Samuel Grantham as a representative for the Fifth District in St. Louis. Against the odds, the 22-year-old Pulitzer won and took his seat January 5, 1870.
While a representative, Pulitzer tried to root out corruption in his district. He introduced a bill to abolish the St. Louis County Court, which hired county officials and awarded money for building projects. Pulitzer saw that contracts were being given to friends of the court. One such friend was Captain Edward Augustine, a building contractor and supervisor of registration for St. Louis County. On the evening of January 27, 1870, at the Schmidt Hotel in Jefferson City, Augustine became angry at Pulitzer’s accusations that he was corrupt, and called Pulitzer a liar.
Pulitzer's shooting scrape
Pulitzer left to get his gun, returning to the hotel to demand an apology, which Augustine refused to give him. Instead, he threw a punch at Pulitzer, who shot him in the leg with his old army pistol. Pulitzer pleaded guilty and was fined a large sum. His friends helped pay the fine, and his bill to end the county court eventually passed. Pulitzer ran for the House seat again in 1870, but lost to Nicholas M. Bell. Shortly after his loss, Pulitzer switched parties and became a Democrat.
divider
Pulitzer loved politics, but his true passion was journalism. When offered part ownership and a position as managing editor of the Westliche Post in 1872, Pulitzer accepted. He sold his interest in the paper in 1876 and took time off to travel and visit home in Hungary. He returned to St. Louis and bought the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 at a public auction for $2,500. John A. Dillon, owner of the Post, agreed to merge his paper with Pulitzer’s, and the St. Louis Post and Dispatch was born December 12, 1878. The name was soon shortened to the Post-Dispatch, and the paper grew from four to eight pages.
Image of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch building
Pulitzer worked on every aspect of his paper and attacked the evils of St. Louis with as much energy as he had in the state legislature. He exposed tax evaders, gambling rings, insurance fraud, monopolies, bankers, and city corruption. He considered his paper a vehicle for the truth and made many enemies in the process. He also increased circulation by the thousands and made the paper a huge success.
During this time, Pulitzer began courting Kate Davis. They married on June 19, 1878, at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C. The Pulitzers had seven children together: Ralph, Lucille, Katherine, Joseph Jr., Edith, Constance, and Herbert.
divider
By the early 1880s, Pulitzer’s health declined further. He decided to take a vacation with his family, but before leaving, he bought the New York World from Jay Gould on May 10, 1883. The family moved to New York City, although Pulitzer continued to own the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He left his partner, John Dillon, in charge. Pulitzer managed his new paper with the same intensity that he had in St. Louis. By the 1890s, he had become nearly blind, and his nerves were so fragile he had to soundproof his bedroom at home, as well as his yacht, the Liberty, the one place he could find peace and quiet.
Pulitzer went on to do great things in his new city. He became a congressman from New York in 1884. Finding it difficult to run the World and be in Washington, D.C., at the same time, he gave up his seat on April 10, 1886.
The New York World building
Pulitzer built a sixteen-story building for the World in 1890, the tallest building in New York City at the time. He continued to fight crime and criticize the rich with his paper. Some of his proudest moments include breaking up Standard Oil in 1911 and making campaign contributions public. He was very proud that his paper helped to elect Grover Cleveland as president in 1884 and his readers helped raise enough money to pay for the pedestal to erect the Statue of Liberty in New York City’s harbor.
The World was known for its investigative journalism. Pulitzer hired Nellie Bly to report on wrongdoings in New York’s institutions. Her investigative reporting and publicity stunts were hugely popular with readers.
divider
The motto Pulitzer displayed in his newsroom was “Accuracy! Terseness! Accuracy!” He believed in reporting the facts and nothing but the facts in his papers; however, when William Randolph Hearst bought a competing paper, the New York Journal, in 1895, Pulitzer forgot his standards.
To sell more papers, both Pulitzer and Hearst began to write shocking stories, gory headlines, and use lots of photographs and cartoons to attract readers—a journalism style now known as “yellow journalism.” The start of the Spanish-American War in 1898 intensified the rivalry. After several years of trying to outdo Hearst, Pulitzer finally realized his folly and again tried to report only the facts."
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen F. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen TSgt David L. SPC Woody Bullard Lt Col Charlie Brown SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Shirley Whitfield PVT Mark Zehner SPC Margaret Higgins Maj Marty Hogan LTC Greg Henning Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT John " Mac " McConnell SPC Douglas Bolton Alan K.. CPL Dave Hoover. Sgt Randy Wilber
"Joseph Pulitzer - Historic Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri
Pulitzer returned to New York City after the war to find work. Competition from other Civil War veterans for jobs left Pulitzer often unemployed and sometimes homeless. He left New York and took a train to St. Louis, Missouri. Arriving in East St. Louis October 10, 1865, Pulitzer was penniless and had no way to cross the Mississippi River. He agreed to shovel coal on the ferry to gain passage across the river.
Tony Faust’s restaurant
Pulitzer worked many jobs while in St. Louis. He was a deckhand, a hack driver, a grave digger during the cholera epidemic in 1866, and briefly a waiter at Tony Faust’s restaurant. His worst job was caring for mules at the Jefferson Barracks. His big break came when he was hired to record land rights for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad and he got to travel by horse throughout Missouri. This job prompted him to study the law. He became a naturalized citizen on March 6, 1867, and was admitted to the bar in 1868.
divider
Pulitzer continued to learn English while in St. Louis and spent many hours at the Mercantile Library. There he met Carl Schurz, coeditor and part owner of the German newspaper, the Westliche Post. Schurz admired the young Pulitzer and hired him as a reporter in 1868.
Pulitzer tirelessly sought the facts and got the story first, often irritating his peers in the process. While he covered the Republican state convention in Jefferson City in 1869, Pulitzer was nominated to run in a special election against Democrat Samuel Grantham as a representative for the Fifth District in St. Louis. Against the odds, the 22-year-old Pulitzer won and took his seat January 5, 1870.
While a representative, Pulitzer tried to root out corruption in his district. He introduced a bill to abolish the St. Louis County Court, which hired county officials and awarded money for building projects. Pulitzer saw that contracts were being given to friends of the court. One such friend was Captain Edward Augustine, a building contractor and supervisor of registration for St. Louis County. On the evening of January 27, 1870, at the Schmidt Hotel in Jefferson City, Augustine became angry at Pulitzer’s accusations that he was corrupt, and called Pulitzer a liar.
Pulitzer's shooting scrape
Pulitzer left to get his gun, returning to the hotel to demand an apology, which Augustine refused to give him. Instead, he threw a punch at Pulitzer, who shot him in the leg with his old army pistol. Pulitzer pleaded guilty and was fined a large sum. His friends helped pay the fine, and his bill to end the county court eventually passed. Pulitzer ran for the House seat again in 1870, but lost to Nicholas M. Bell. Shortly after his loss, Pulitzer switched parties and became a Democrat.
divider
Pulitzer loved politics, but his true passion was journalism. When offered part ownership and a position as managing editor of the Westliche Post in 1872, Pulitzer accepted. He sold his interest in the paper in 1876 and took time off to travel and visit home in Hungary. He returned to St. Louis and bought the St. Louis Dispatch in 1878 at a public auction for $2,500. John A. Dillon, owner of the Post, agreed to merge his paper with Pulitzer’s, and the St. Louis Post and Dispatch was born December 12, 1878. The name was soon shortened to the Post-Dispatch, and the paper grew from four to eight pages.
Image of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch building
Pulitzer worked on every aspect of his paper and attacked the evils of St. Louis with as much energy as he had in the state legislature. He exposed tax evaders, gambling rings, insurance fraud, monopolies, bankers, and city corruption. He considered his paper a vehicle for the truth and made many enemies in the process. He also increased circulation by the thousands and made the paper a huge success.
During this time, Pulitzer began courting Kate Davis. They married on June 19, 1878, at the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C. The Pulitzers had seven children together: Ralph, Lucille, Katherine, Joseph Jr., Edith, Constance, and Herbert.
divider
By the early 1880s, Pulitzer’s health declined further. He decided to take a vacation with his family, but before leaving, he bought the New York World from Jay Gould on May 10, 1883. The family moved to New York City, although Pulitzer continued to own the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He left his partner, John Dillon, in charge. Pulitzer managed his new paper with the same intensity that he had in St. Louis. By the 1890s, he had become nearly blind, and his nerves were so fragile he had to soundproof his bedroom at home, as well as his yacht, the Liberty, the one place he could find peace and quiet.
Pulitzer went on to do great things in his new city. He became a congressman from New York in 1884. Finding it difficult to run the World and be in Washington, D.C., at the same time, he gave up his seat on April 10, 1886.
The New York World building
Pulitzer built a sixteen-story building for the World in 1890, the tallest building in New York City at the time. He continued to fight crime and criticize the rich with his paper. Some of his proudest moments include breaking up Standard Oil in 1911 and making campaign contributions public. He was very proud that his paper helped to elect Grover Cleveland as president in 1884 and his readers helped raise enough money to pay for the pedestal to erect the Statue of Liberty in New York City’s harbor.
The World was known for its investigative journalism. Pulitzer hired Nellie Bly to report on wrongdoings in New York’s institutions. Her investigative reporting and publicity stunts were hugely popular with readers.
divider
The motto Pulitzer displayed in his newsroom was “Accuracy! Terseness! Accuracy!” He believed in reporting the facts and nothing but the facts in his papers; however, when William Randolph Hearst bought a competing paper, the New York Journal, in 1895, Pulitzer forgot his standards.
To sell more papers, both Pulitzer and Hearst began to write shocking stories, gory headlines, and use lots of photographs and cartoons to attract readers—a journalism style now known as “yellow journalism.” The start of the Spanish-American War in 1898 intensified the rivalry. After several years of trying to outdo Hearst, Pulitzer finally realized his folly and again tried to report only the facts."
COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Stephen F. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen TSgt David L. SPC Woody Bullard Lt Col Charlie Brown SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth SFC Shirley Whitfield PVT Mark Zehner SPC Margaret Higgins Maj Marty Hogan LTC Greg Henning Maj William W. 'Bill' Price SP5 Mark Kuzinski SGT John " Mac " McConnell SPC Douglas Bolton Alan K.. CPL Dave Hoover. Sgt Randy Wilber
Joseph Pulitzer - Historic Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri
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