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William Thompson Dewart collection of Frank A. Munsey and New York Sun papers

Call Number

MS 168

Date

1833-1944, inclusive

Creator

Dewart, William Thompson, 1875-1944

Extent

30.84 Linear feet (22 document boxes, 37 negative boxes, 13 volumes, 1 oversize folder, and 6 printing plates)

Language of Materials

The documents in this collection are in English.

Abstract

A collection of materials relating to newspaper and magazine publisher Frank Munsey, his general manager William T. Dewart, and their publishing and business activities, especially their work on the New York Sun, purchased by Munsey in 1912. Includes correspondence, photographs, early issues of theSun and other early New York newspapers, and a complete run of theSun Rays, an in-house newspaper produced by theSun's staff.

Biographical / Historical

The New York Sun was the first successful penny daily newspaper in the United States. Founded by printer Benjamin Day in 1833, theSun was purchased in 1865 by Charles Dana, and within three years reached a circulation of 130,000. An evening edition was added in 1887, and in 1916, the morningSun and theEvening Sun were sold to publisher Frank A. Munsey.

Munsey was born in Mercer, Maine, in 1854. As a young man with (in his own words) "insatiable ambition," he rose to the position of manager in the Augusta, Maine, telegraph office. Becoming interested in the publishing business, in 1882 he moved to New York City and founded theGolden Argosy, a magazine for boys. After six years, Munsey revamped it into an adult magazine, renamed the Argosy, and now generally regarded as the first "pulp" magazine. In 1889, Munsey started Munsey's Magazine, America's first cheap general-circulation illustrated magazine, which was selling 800,000 copies monthly by 1906. Having made a fortune with his magazines, Munsey began expanding his publishing empire to include newspapers: the Star (1891), the Press (1912), the Sun and the Evening Sun (1916), the Herald and associated papers (1920) and The Globe (1924). In addition to these New York papers, Munsey also owned the Baltimore News, which he purchased in 1908.

After purchasing the Sun papers, Munsey merged the morning edition with his New York Press. In 1920, he closed the morning Sun, and the evening edition was renamed simply The Sun. Munsey bought The Globe and merged it with the Sun in 1924 in order to obtain an Associated Press membership. In addition to his publishing activities, in 1913 Munsey founded the "Munsey Trust Corporation," which was subsequently re-organized as the "Equitable Trust Company" with Munsey as chairman of the board.

Munsey's ceaseless buying, selling and merging of competing publications earned him a reputation as a ruthless entrepreneur, and he is remembered more for his business activities than as an author or editor. However, Munsey also wrote five novels, and during the 1912 presidential campaign became the mouthpiece for "bull-moose" candidate Theodore Roosevelt, co-founding the Progressive Party and writing a series of articles supporting the former president's bid for election.

In December, 1925, Munsey died of a burst appendix, and the paper was purchased by William Thompson Dewart, president and treasurer of the Sun company and the executor of Munsey's estate (Munsey left the bulk of his vast estate, including his newspapers, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Dewart's son, Thomas W. Dewart, succeeded him as president and publisher in 1944. In 1950, the Dewart family sold the Sun to the New York World-Telegram.

Arrangement

This collection is organized in seven series:

Series I: Correspondence and related documents
Series II: Pamphlets and speeches
Series III: Publications
Series IV: Photographs, prints & drawings
Series V: Photograph morgue
Series VI: Scrapbooks
Series VII: Printing plates (replicas)

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, drawings, and scrapbooks relating to publisher Frank Munsey, his general manager William T. Dewart, and their publishing and business activities, especially their work on the New York Sun, purchased by Munsey in 1912. The collection also includes bound issues of the Sun and other early New York City newspapers, and a complete run of the Sun Rays, an internal paper published from 1926 to 1947 by New York Sun employees.

The collection is organized into seven series. Series I, Correspondence and related documents, includes business and personal correspondence of Frank Munsey and William Dewart; correspondence and pamphlets relating to Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 presidential campaign; correspondence with other U.S. Presidents; condolence letters, reminiscences and other biographical material solicited by Dewart after Munsey's death; letters and newspaper clippings regarding special issues and publications; and other loose newspaper clippings, including copies of articles by Dewart's sons when they were reporters for the Albany Evening News.

Series II, Pamphlets and speeches, consists primarily of pamphlets, addresses and articles by Frank Munsey relating to advertising, journalism and business. A few speeches by other figures are also included.

Series III, Publications, includes bound copies of the first 18 months of the New York Sun (September, 1833 to December, 1834); special issues of the Sun and other papers; a complete run of the Sun Rays, a paper published by Sun employees reporting on staff weddings and vacations, office developments, and other events of personal and business interest; and a book (The Story of the Sun by Frank M O'Brien) about the history of the paper.

Series IV, Photographs, prints & drawings, includes photographs of Frank Munsey and William Dewart; interior and exterior photographs of the old New York Herald building at Herald Square; a carte-de-visite portrait of William Gordon Bennett; a photograph of Charles Lindbergh receiving an award from Thomas Dewart; and nine drawings (caricatures and cartoons) of or about Munsey.

Series V, Photograph morgue, consists primarily of portraits of prominent figures from the 1930's and 1940's.

Series VI, Scrapbooks, includes three volumes of newspaper clippings relating to Frank Munsey's death, one volume of newspaper clipping regarding William Dewart's subsequent purchase of theSun, and one volume of newspaper clippings relating to the 100th anniversary edition of theSun on September 2, 1933. Also included is a Tiffany presentation box containing a memorial to Munsey following his death.

Series VII, Printing plates, includes replica printing plates of an October 1797 issue (the first?) of theCommercial Advertiser, and the Armistice Day issue of the New YorkSun.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the William Thompson Dewart Collection of Frank A. Munsey and New York Sun Papers, MS 168, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection includes material donated by Mary Dewart Dooney in 2002, and by Frederick B. Gleason III (grandson of William T. Dewart) in 1985.

Collection processed by

Susan Kriete

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:34 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is in English

Processing Information

The collection was processed by archivist Susan Kriete in 2013. An oversize folder of caricatures and cartoons was found in February 2022 and added to the finding aid at that time by archivist Larry Weimer.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024