Joseph Medill
by David Bearden
Title
Joseph Medill
Artist
David Bearden
Medium
Photograph
Description
Joseph Medill, (born April 6, 1823, near Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada died March 16, 1899, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.) Canadian-born American editor and publisher who from 1855 built the Chicago Tribune into a powerful newspaper. He was the grandfather of three newspaper publishers: Robert R. McCormick of the Chicago Tribune, Joseph M. Patterson of the New York Daily News, and Eleanor M. Patterson of the Washington (D.C.) Times-Herald.
After publishing newspapers in Ohio (Coshocton, 1849 51, and Cleveland, 1851 55), Medill joined a partnership that acquired the Chicago Tribune (founded 1847), and from the first he largely determined the papers editorial policy. He wrote antislavery editorials and worked for Abraham Lincolns nomination by the Republican Party (which Medill had helped to found in 1854 and may have named) and for his election as president in 1860. He supported Lincolns administration throughout the American Civil War (1861 65) and favored the Radical Republicans program for reconstruction of the defeated South.
In November 1871, a month after the great Chicago fire, Medill was elected mayor of the city. Taking emergency powers, he reorganized the municipal government, especially its finances. He also was instrumental in establishing the Chicago Public Library (1872 74). In 1874, after resigning as mayor, he purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago Tribune and became editor in chief, advocating a free hand for business and fighting liberal reformers and labour unions. Strongly nationalistic in foreign policy, the Chicago Tribune was in the forefront of interventionist newspapers during the Cuban crisis preceding the Spanish-American War of 1898. Medill helped to obtain for Chicago the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893. His family endowed the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Uploaded
June 26th, 2016
Statistics
Viewed 315 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/23/2024 at 8:47 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (1)
Joyce Dickens
You have really done a wonderful job of capturing this series David, the wonderful pov(s), good use of light, outstanding depth....really great work David! :-)) jd
David Bearden replied:
Joyce, glad you liked...is a fascinating place...thanks for your kind comments...