Eugene C. Pulliam
Encyclopedia
Eugene Collins Pulliam (May 3, 1889 - June 23, 1975) was an American
newspaper
publisher and businessman who was the founder and longtime president of Central Newspapers Inc., a multi-billion dollar media corporation
.
Pulliam was born in a sod dugout house in Ulysses, Kansas
, the son of the Reverend Irvin and Martha Ellen Collins Pulliam, Methodist missionaries
sent to plant churches in the frontier
towns of western Kansas. The Pulliams moved frequently and young Eugene grew up in a variety of dusty prairie
towns. Pulliam got his first taste of the newspaper business as a six year old paperboy selling papers to Missouri Pacific Railroad
passengers at the railroad station in Chanute, Kansas
.
In 1907, Pulliam entered DePauw University
in Indiana. At DePauw, Pulliam was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Psi Phi chapter) and founded the DePauw Daily, a student newspaper. He also helped found Sigma Delta Chi
.
Pulliam dropped out of college after his junior year and moved to Atchison, Kansas
where he got a job at the Atchison Champion. A few months later, he received a job offer from The Kansas City Star
, then the largest newspaper in the lower Midwest. He moved to Kansas City
and became a reporter.
In 1911, aged 23, he became one of the youngest newspaper editors in the nation when he took over operation of the Atchison Champion. A year later he married Myrta Smith, a former college classmate. With financial backing from her family, he purchased the Atchison Champion, the first of 46 newspapers he would come to own.
After giving birth to a son, Eugene S. Pulliam
, Myrta died in 1917. In 1919, Eugene married Martha Ott and fathered two more children, Corinne and Suzanne. Eugene and Martha divorced in 1941. Later in 1941 he married his third and last wife, Nina Mason.
Pulliam's publishing empire would come to include the Franklin (IN) Evening Star, the The Lebanon Reporter
, The Indianapolis Star
, the Muncie Star, the Arizona Republic and its one-time rival the Phoenix Gazette
, the Indianapolis News
, and the Huntington Herald-Press
. He would also own several radio stations including WIRE radio in Indiana
and KTAR
in Arizona
.
In 1934, Pulliam consolidated his holdings into Central Newspapers, Inc., a holding company
designed to streamline the operations of his far flung assets. Central Newspapers continued to grow until it became a billion dollar media conglomerate owning outlets in Indiana, Arizona, Georgia
, Oklahoma
, Kentucky
, North Carolina
,
New Jersey
, Pennsylvania
, and Massachusetts
.
Son Eugene S. Pulliam joined the family business in 1935 as director of WIRE. Son-in-law James C. Quayle
joined the business and would lead several newspapers including the Arizona Republic. Grandson Dan Quayle
, the future Vice President of the United States
, began his career at the Huntington Herald-Press.
Pulliam was for the most part a noted conservative and an active supporter of the Republican Party, although he endorsed Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater
in the 1964 presidential race. However he was also an outspoken advocate of freedom of the press
.
contributed to the Indianapolis Stars 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning stories on police corruption.
On August 1, 2000 Central Newspapers, Inc. was acquired by the Gannett Company, Inc., for US$2.6 billion. His estate, the Eugene C. Pulliam Trust, owned 78% of the company's stock and was the principal beneficiary of the transaction.
As a condition of his will, Pulliam ordered that the trust could not sell the corporation unless it was "seriously threatened" by a "substantially complete loss" of value. In a somewhat controversial move the trustees interpreted this clause loosely and declared that the merger would be the only way to prevent the corporation from suffering a long term loss of value.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
publisher and businessman who was the founder and longtime president of Central Newspapers Inc., a multi-billion dollar media corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
.
Pulliam was born in a sod dugout house in Ulysses, Kansas
Ulysses, Kansas
Ulysses is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,161.-Geography:Ulysses is located at...
, the son of the Reverend Irvin and Martha Ellen Collins Pulliam, Methodist missionaries
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
sent to plant churches in the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
towns of western Kansas. The Pulliams moved frequently and young Eugene grew up in a variety of dusty prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
towns. Pulliam got his first taste of the newspaper business as a six year old paperboy selling papers to Missouri Pacific Railroad
Missouri Pacific Railroad
The Missouri Pacific Railroad , also known as the MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers, including the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway , Texas and Pacific...
passengers at the railroad station in Chanute, Kansas
Chanute, Kansas
Chanute is a city in Neosho County, Kansas, United States. Founded on January 1, 1873, it was named after railroad engineer and aviation pioneer Octave Chanute. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 9,119...
.
In 1907, Pulliam entered DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
in Indiana. At DePauw, Pulliam was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Psi Phi chapter) and founded the DePauw Daily, a student newspaper. He also helped found Sigma Delta Chi
Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
.
Pulliam dropped out of college after his junior year and moved to Atchison, Kansas
Atchison, Kansas
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,021. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County...
where he got a job at the Atchison Champion. A few months later, he received a job offer from The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Star
The Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes...
, then the largest newspaper in the lower Midwest. He moved to Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and became a reporter.
In 1911, aged 23, he became one of the youngest newspaper editors in the nation when he took over operation of the Atchison Champion. A year later he married Myrta Smith, a former college classmate. With financial backing from her family, he purchased the Atchison Champion, the first of 46 newspapers he would come to own.
After giving birth to a son, Eugene S. Pulliam
Eugene S. Pulliam
Eugene Smith Pulliam was the publisher of the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News from 1975 until his death....
, Myrta died in 1917. In 1919, Eugene married Martha Ott and fathered two more children, Corinne and Suzanne. Eugene and Martha divorced in 1941. Later in 1941 he married his third and last wife, Nina Mason.
Pulliam's publishing empire would come to include the Franklin (IN) Evening Star, the The Lebanon Reporter
The Lebanon Reporter
The Lebanon Reporter is a daily newspaper serving Lebanon, Indiana, and adjacent portions of Boone County, Indiana. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc.The paper's marketing slogan is "Something for Everyone."- External links :* *...
, The Indianapolis Star
The Indianapolis Star
The Indianapolis Star is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903. It has won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by the Gannett Company.-History:...
, the Muncie Star, the Arizona Republic and its one-time rival the Phoenix Gazette
Phoenix Gazette
The Phoenix Gazette was a newspaper published in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. It was founded in 1881, and was known in its early years as the Phoenix Evening Gazette....
, the Indianapolis News
Indianapolis News
The Indianapolis News was an evening newspaper published for 130 years, beginning December 7, 1869, and ending on October 1, 1999. At one time it had the largest circulation in the state of Indiana, and was the oldest Indianapolis newspaper in existence....
, and the Huntington Herald-Press
Huntington Herald-Press
The Herald-Press is the only daily newspaper published in Huntington County, Indiana.The newspaper was founded in 1848 as the Indiana Herald. In 1887 it was renamed to Huntington Herald, and in 1930 it merged with Huntington Press and became the Herald-Press. In the early 1960s, the paper was...
. He would also own several radio stations including WIRE radio in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
and KTAR
KTAR
KTAR may refer to:* KTAR , a radio station licensed to Phoenix, Arizona, United States.* KTAR-FM, a radio station licensed to Glendale, Arizona, United States.* Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman...
in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
In 1934, Pulliam consolidated his holdings into Central Newspapers, Inc., a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
designed to streamline the operations of his far flung assets. Central Newspapers continued to grow until it became a billion dollar media conglomerate owning outlets in Indiana, Arizona, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Son Eugene S. Pulliam joined the family business in 1935 as director of WIRE. Son-in-law James C. Quayle
James C. Quayle
James Cline Quayle was an American newspaper publisher and businessman who owned several newspapers in the United States including the Huntington Herald-Press in Indiana and the Wickenburg Sun in Arizona. He was the father of Dan Quayle, the 44th Vice-President of the United States.Quayle was...
joined the business and would lead several newspapers including the Arizona Republic. Grandson Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
, the future Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
, began his career at the Huntington Herald-Press.
Pulliam was for the most part a noted conservative and an active supporter of the Republican Party, although he endorsed Lyndon Johnson over Barry Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
in the 1964 presidential race. However he was also an outspoken advocate of freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
.
Death/Posthumous
Eugene C. Pulliam died at his home in Arizona in 1975, aged 86. His widow Nina Mason Pulliam took over the presidency of Central Newspapers holding the office until 1979. She also became the publisher of the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Gazette. His son Eugene S. Pulliam took over as publisher of the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis News. His granddaughter Myrta PulliamMyrta Pulliam
Myrta Jane Pulliam is the granddaughter of Eugene C. Pulliam, former publisher of the Indianapolis Star, and the daughter of Eugene S. Pulliam, Star publisher from 1975 to 1999...
contributed to the Indianapolis Stars 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning stories on police corruption.
On August 1, 2000 Central Newspapers, Inc. was acquired by the Gannett Company, Inc., for US$2.6 billion. His estate, the Eugene C. Pulliam Trust, owned 78% of the company's stock and was the principal beneficiary of the transaction.
As a condition of his will, Pulliam ordered that the trust could not sell the corporation unless it was "seriously threatened" by a "substantially complete loss" of value. In a somewhat controversial move the trustees interpreted this clause loosely and declared that the merger would be the only way to prevent the corporation from suffering a long term loss of value.