The ''Buffalo Courier-Express'' was a morning

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. It ceased publication on September 19, 1982.

History

The ''Courier-Express'' was created in 1926 by a merger of the ''Buffalo Daily Courier'' and the ''Buffalo Morning Express.''

William J. Conners William James "Fingy" Conners (January 3, 1857 – October 5, 1929) was an American newspaper publisher, businessman, and politician from New York. Life Conners was born on January 3, 1857, in Buffalo, New York, the son of Peter Conners and Mary ...

, the owner of the ''Buffalo Courier'', brought the two papers together. The combined newspapers claimed a heritage dating to 1828. One notable part-owner and editor of the ''Buffalo Express'' was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, whose tenure at the newspaper lasted from 1869 to 1871. In August 1979, The ''Courier-Express'' was purchased by the

Cowles Media Company Cowles Media Company ( ) (1935–1998) was a newspaper, magazine and information publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The company operated Cowles Business Media, Cowles Creative Publishing, and Cowles Ent ...

, a publishing company based in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. After a change in corporate leadership, Cowles Media decided to close the paper in September 1982. After the local

Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practic ...

members voted to oppose a deal to sell the ''Courier Express'' to

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

, the September 19, 1982 issue was the last issue published. That left Buffalo with only one daily newspaper, the ''Buffalo Evening News'', now known as ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, th ...

''. Cowles Media donated the library to the

Buffalo History Museum The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue an ...

and

Buffalo State College The State University of New York Buffalo State University (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State University, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college, public university in Buffalo, New York. It is part of ...

. The library is now housed in the E. H. Butler Library at Buffalo State College. The library consists of approximately one million news clippings, 100,000 photographs and several pieces of artworks and framed photographs. The news clippings and photographs, arranged by subject and person, cover the late 1950s to September 19, 1982. The collection served as the library for the reporters of the paper. The librarians weeded both the clippings and photographic files, discarding older files on a routine basis. As a result, many subject areas are not covered. The library is currently being digitized. While that may take years, photographs will continually be added to the Butler Library Archives Flickr site.

Editors

Editors of the ''Buffalo Courier''

* Douglas A. Levien, 1850s"Death of Douglas A. Levien," ''New York Times'', April 28, 1897. * David Gray, 1870s

Editors of the ''Buffalo Express''

* Almon M. Clapp, editor, founded ''Express'' in 1846(6 April 1899)
Mr. A.M. Clapp Stricken
'' Evening Star'' * Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as '

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

', 1869–1871, co-editor *

Josephus Nelson Larned Josephus Nelson Larned (May 11, 1836 – August 15, 1913) was an American newspaper editor, author, librarian, and historian. As superintendent of the Young Men's Association Library, he presided over its transformation into what is now the Buf ...

, co-editor with Twain *

James N. Matthews James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Jame ...

, 1878–1888 * George E. Matthews, 1888–1911 *

Burrows Matthews Burrows may refer to: * Plural of burrow * Burrows (surname), people with the surname ''Burrows'' Places * Burrows (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada * Burrows, Saskatchewan, Canada * Burrows, Indiana, Uni ...

, 1911–1925

Editors of the ''Buffalo Courier-Express''

* Burrows Matthews, 1926–1955 * Cy B. King, 1956–1970 * Douglas L. Turner, 1971–1980 * Joel R. Kramer, 1981–1982 * Theo C. Meier, 1950s

General Managers of the ''Buffalo Courier-Express''

* Gordon Bennett, 1960s * Richard C. Lyons, 1971–74 * Donald J. Maul, 1970s

Notable alumni

Tom Toles Thomas Gregory Toles (born October 22, 1951) is a retired American political cartoonist. He is the winner of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. His cartoons typically presented progressive viewpoints. Similar to Oliphant's use ...

* Wilbur Porterfield, photo pictorialist, 1926–1958

References

History of Buffalo, New York Newspapers established in 1926 Defunct newspapers published in New York (state) Newspapers published in Buffalo, New York Publications disestablished in 1982 1926 establishments in New York (state) 1982 disestablishments in New York (state) Daily newspapers published in New York (state)