James Edmund Scripps (March 19, 1835 – May 28, 1906) was an American newspaper publisher and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Early life and education

Scripps was born in 1835 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to James Mogg Scripps and Ellen Mary (Saunders) Scripps. His father was a bookbinder. After the death of Ellen Mary, his father immigrated to America in 1844 with their six motherless children. There he acquired land, and the boy Scripps grew up on a

Rushville, Illinois Rushville is a city in Schuyler County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,005 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Schuyler County. It was first settled by Euro-Americans in 1823. History In 1823, Calvin Hobart and his fami ...

, farm.

Career

By his early 20s, Scripps was working at the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' in 1857. He moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in 1859, where he again worked in the newspaper business. By 1862 he had become manager of the ''

Detroit Tribune The ''Detroit Tribune'' was a newspaper in Detroit. It started as the ''Daily Tribune'' in 1849 and used the name until 1862, the same year the ''Tribune'' joined with the (Detroit) ''Daily Advertiser'' which then absorbed other papers, becomin ...

'', and he later became part owner and manager of the ''Detroit Daily Advertiser''. When the ''Advertisers premises burned in 1873, Scripps took his $20,000 insurance money and with it started his own newspaper. Scripps decided to tap the growing literate class of working men and women by launching a newspaper, ''The Evening News'' (later, ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United S ...

''). Running with an idea new for its time, he filled the paper with inexpensive advertising and instructed his reporters to write "like people talk". His competitors called the ''News'' "a cheap rag" and labeled his reporters "pirates", but Detroiters loved it. Scripps later had an interest in

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

with his younger half-brother, E. W. Scripps. They controlled newspapers located in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. After a lengthy European acquisition tour, Scripps aided prominently in founding the Detroit Museum of Art (later, the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...

). In 1889 he presented it with a collection of

old masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

, such as

Cima da Conegliano Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (), was an Italian Renaissance painter, who mostly worked in Venice. He can be considered part of the Venetian school (art), Venetian school, though he was also influenced by Antonello da ...

's ''

Madonna and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

'', costing $75,000 (in 1889 dollars). This was among the first major accessions of early paintings for any American museum.
catalogue of the collection
was published in 1889 and has been digitized by the Research Library & Archives of the Detroit Institute of Arts. In 1900, Scripps wrote a letter for the

Detroit Century Box The Detroit Century Box is a time capsule that was created in the U.S. city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan on December 31, 1900. Mayor William C. Maybury organized the capsule which consists of a copper box filled with photos and letters containi ...

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

Family life

Scripps's sister and one-time partner

Ellen Browning Scripps Ellen Browning Scripps (October 18, 1836 – August 3, 1932) was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She and her half-brother E. W. Scripps, E.W. Scripps creat ...

was instrumental in helping establish their younger brother E. W. Scripps in the newspaper industry, resulting in the

E.W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

media conglomerate. She later became the founding donor of the

Scripps Institute of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, California, La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma, San Die ...

located in

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

and was the founder of

Scripps College Scripps College is a private liberal arts women's college in Claremont, California. It was founded as a member of the Claremont Colleges in 1926, a year after the consortium's formation. Journalist and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps pr ...

, located in Claremont. Scripps's eldest daughter, Ellen Warren Scripps (1863–1948), married

George Gough Booth George Gough Booth (September 24, 1864 – April 11, 1949) was the publisher of the privately held Evening News Association, a co-founder of Booth Newspapers (now MLive Media Group), and a philanthropist. Biography He was born on September 24, 1 ...

. He joined the family business and subsequently became the publisher of the Evening News Association. With his brothers, he independently founded Booth Newspapers, now

MLive Media Group MLive Media Group, originally known as Booth Newspapers, or Booth Michigan, is a media group that produces newspapers from the state of Michigan in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded by George Gough Booth with his two brothers, Booth Newspapers was sold ...

. It was acquired by S.I. Newhouse's

Advance Publications Advance Publications, Inc. is a privately held American media company owned by the families of Donald Newhouse and Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., the sons of company founder Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr. It owns publishing-related companies inc ...

in 1976. Together, George and "Nellie" also founded what became the world-renowned

Cranbrook Educational Community The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property t ...

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is ...

Death

Scripps died in 1906 at the age of 71 years old and is buried in Detroit's

Woodmere Cemetery Woodmere Cemetery is at West Fort Street and Woodmere Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, in the neighborhood of Springwells Village in what was originally the township of Springwells. Woodmere Cemetery is operated by the Midwest Memorial Group. Hist ...

Books

* ''Five Months Abroad'' (1881) * ''Memorials of the Scripps Family'' (1891) * ''A Genealogical History of the Scripps Family and its Various Alliances'' (Detroit: privately printed, 1903) * numerous pamphlets

References

Sources

External links

Detnews.com: official website of ''The Detroit News''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scripps, James E. Philanthropists from Illinois 1835 births 1906 deaths James E. The Detroit News people American male journalists Businesspeople from Detroit Philanthropists from Michigan People associated with the Detroit Institute of Arts 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American newspaper founders 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) People from Rushville, Illinois British emigrants to the United States