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The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...
. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dominant newspaper first of the American Whig Party, then of the Republican Party. The paper achieved a circulation of approximately 200,000 in the 1850s, making it the largest daily paper in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
at the time. The ''Tribune''s editorials were widely read, shared, and copied in other city newspapers, helping to shape national opinion. It was one of the first papers in the North to send reporters, correspondents, and illustrators to cover the campaigns of the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. It continued as an independent daily newspaper until 1924, when it merged with the '' New York Herald''. The resulting '' New York Herald Tribune'' remained in publication until 1966. Among those who served on the paper's editorial board were Bayard Taylor, George Ripley, and Isidor Lewi.


History

The ''Tribune'' was created by
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...
in 1841 with the goal of providing a straightforward, trustworthy media source. Greeley had previously published a weekly newspaper, ''The New Yorker'' (unrelated to the later modern magazine of the same name), in 1833 and was also publisher of the Whig Party's political organ, ''
Log Cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...
''. In 1841, he merged operations of these two publications into a new newspaper that he named the ''New-York Tribune''. Greeley sponsored a host of reforms, including
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...
and
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
and especially the ideal of the hardworking free laborer. Greeley demanded reforms to make all citizens free and equal. He envisioned virtuous citizens who would eradicate corruption. He talked endlessly about progress, improvement, and freedom, while calling for harmony between labor and capital. Greeley's editorials promoted social democratic reforms and were widely reprinted. They influenced the free-labor ideology of the Whigs and the radical wing of the Republican Party, especially in promoting the free-labor ideology. Before 1848 he sponsored an American version of Fourierist socialist reform, but backed away after the failed
revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
in Europe. To promote multiple reforms, Greeley hired a roster of writers who later became famous in their own right, including Margaret Fuller, Charles Anderson Dana, George William Curtis, William Henry Fry, Bayard Taylor, George Ripley, Julius Chambers, and Henry Jarvis Raymond, who later co-founded ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. In 1852–62, the paper retained
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
as its London-based European correspondent.
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
isstudies", noting that since much of his work was reporting on current economic events, "I was compelled to become conversant with practical detail which, strictly speaking, lie outside the sphere of political economy". Engels wrote "It doesn't matter if they are never read again.". In the same correspondence Marx disparagingly referred to the publication as a "blotting paper vendor". Nevertheless, Engels cited this career as a positive achievement of Marx's during a eulogy given at his funeral.
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
's poem " Annabel Lee" was first published in the newspaper as part of his October 9, 1849, obituary, "Death of Edgar A. Poe", by Rufus Griswold. In addition, Poe's "The Bells" was published in the October 17, 1849, issue as "Poe's Last Poem".


Political influence

Founded in a time of civil unrest, the paper joined the newly formed Republican Party in 1854, named it after the party of
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
, and emphasized its opposition to slavery. The paper generated a large readership, with a circulation of approximately 200,000 during the 1850s. This made the paper the largest circulation daily in New York City—gaining commensurate influence among voters and political decision-makers in the process. During the Civil War Greeley crusaded against slavery, lambasting Democrats while calling for a mandatory draft of soldiers for the first time in the U.S. This led to an Irish mob attempting to burn down the ''Tribune'' building in lower Manhattan during the Draft Riots. Greeley ran for president as the nominee of the Liberal Republican Party (and subsequently the Democratic Party) in the 1872 election against incumbent
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
in his bid for a second term. Greeley was unsuccessful and, soon after the defeat, checked into Dr. George C.S. Choate's Sanitarium, where he died only a few weeks later. ''Tribune'' editor Whitelaw Reid purchased the paper following Greeley's death. In 1886, with Reid's support, the ''Tribune'' became the first publication in the world to be printed on a
linotype machine The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing which is manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for one-time use. Li ...
, which was invented by a German immigrant, inventor Ottmar Mergenthaler. This technique allowed it to exceed the standard newspaper size of only eight pages while still speeding up printing time per copy, thereby increasing the overall number of copies that could be printed.


''New York Herald Tribune''

Under Reid's son, Ogden Mills Reid, the paper acquired and merged with the '' New York Herald'' in 1924 to form the '' New York Herald Tribune.'' The ''New York Herald Tribune'' continued to be run by Ogden M. Reid until his death in 1947.


Former Tribune buildings today

* The New York Tribune Building was the first home of
Pace University Pace University is a private university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, United States. It was established in 1906 as a business school by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace. Pace enrolls about ...
. Today, the site where the building once stood is now the One Pace Plaza complex of Pace University's New York City campus. Dr. Choate's residence and private hospital, where Horace Greeley died, today is part of the campus of Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. * On December 15, 1921, ''The New York Tribune'' bought two plots of ground at 219 and 220 West 40th Street. The headquarters that ''The New York Tribune'' built at that site is now the home of the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.


Archives

Copies of the ''New-York Tribune'' are available on microfilm at many large libraries and online at the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
.About New-York tribune. (New York [N.Y.]) 1866–1924
" Library of Congress.
Also, indices from selected years in the late nineteenth century are available on the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

website
The original paper articles from the newspaper's
morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...
are kept a
The Center for American History
at the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
.


See also

* History of American newspapers


References


Further reading

* * * * * * Guarneri, Carl J. ''Lincoln's Informer: Charles A. Dana and the Inside Story of the Union War'' (University Press of Kansas, 2019). * Holzer, Harold. ''Lincoln and the Power of the Press: The War for Public Opinion'' (Simon & Schuster, 2014). * * * Lundberg, James M. ''Horace Greeley: Print, Politics, and the Failure of American Nationhood'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019). * * Seitz, Don C. ''Horace Greeley: Founder of the New York Tribune'' (1926
online edition
* Tuchinsky, Adam. ''Horace Greeley's 'New-York Tribune': Civil War-Era Socialism and the Crisis of Free Labor'' (Cornell University Press, 2009). * Van Deusen, Glyndon G. ''Horace Greeley, Nineteenth-Century Crusader'' (1953), standard biograph
online edition


See also

* The New Era Illustrated Magazine


External links

* *
Library of Congress digitized all issues 1842–1866

Library of Congress digitized all issues 1866–1922
{{Authority control 1841 establishments in New York (state) 1924 disestablishments in New York (state) Abolitionist newspapers published in the United States Defunct newspapers published in New York City New York (state) in the American Civil War Publications disestablished in 1924 Newspapers established in 1841 Richard Morris Hunt buildings Daily newspapers published in New York City