Title
- Ayer Annual1
- Content: Republican
- Established: 1868/1876
- Pages: 12
- Size: sn83045610 (daily intelligencer - morning ed.) 24x36
Note: these measurements seem to be for a spread rather than individual pages - documented reduction ratio based on 18x24
; sn83045610 (daily intelligencer - sat. ed.) 30x44; Note: Not sure what years these measurments cover or where they came from - LR 17x24 "24x36, 36x48 on Fridays in 1884"
- Editor:
- Publisher: Post Intelligencer Company
- Frequency: daily
- Coverage
- Region: King
- County: King county
- Unique ids
- LCCN: sn 83045604
- OCLC: 9563195
Digitization plan
e.g. 2010-2012 grant
- Plan to digitize 1876-1892 - 35 reels (UW) (originally planned 73 reels (to 1900) but ran out of room in grant)
- Title carried into 2012-14 grant cycle and will digitized all 73 reels 1876-1900. ss
History
- Preceding title:
- The daily intelligencer. : (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881 sn 83045610
- The weekly intelligencer. : (Seattle, Wash. Territory [Wash.]) 1867-1881 sn 84022788
- Seattle weekly post. : (Seattle, Wash. Terr.) 1878-1881 sn 86072000
- The Seattle daily post. : (Seattle, Wash. Terr.) 1878-1881
- Succeeding title:
- Related titles:
- Seattle daily post-intelligencer. : (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888 sn 83045611
- Seattle weekly post-intelligencer. : (Seattle, Wash. Territory [Wash.]) 1881-1888 sn 86072001
- The Weekly post-intelligencer. : (Seattle, Wash.) 1889-1901 sn 86072003
NEH Approved Essay
Daily Intelligencer LCCN sn83045610
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer LCCN sn83045611
Seattle Post-Intelligencer LCCN sn86072001
Orig
inally founded
in 1863 as the
Seattle Gazette LCCN sn86076446 only to be renamed the
Weekly Intelligencer LCCN sn84022788 by new owner Samuel L. Maxwell
in 1867, the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I) served as the region’s pioneer
ing newspaper and Seattle’s oldest cont
inually operat
ing bus
iness.
In a land rich with timber, m
inerals, and waterways, the
P-I served a grow
ing community of 150 persons
in 1860. Hav
ing survived over 11 moves and more than 17 owners, the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer as of March 2009 no longer pr
ints news
in broadsheet, but rema
ins an active force
in the world of digital publish
ing.
Soon after its creation, the
Post-Intelligencer experienced a number of challenges and frequently changed owners for over a decade. After acquir
ing the paper
in 1874 and publish
ing under the name the
Daily Intelligencer, David Higg
ins resold the paper
in1878 to then editor Thaddeus Hanford who quickly expanded the
P-I while absorb
ing two rival publications: the
Puget Sound Dispatch LCCN sn84022793 and
Pacific Tribune LCCN sn86071976. The follow
ing year, Thomas W. Prosch and Samuel L. Crawford assumed ownership. Meanwhile, the
Seattle Daily Post LCCN sn87093452 (also published on Sundays as the
Seattle Weekly Post-Intelligencer LCCN sn86072000) emerged as its rival. Unable to susta
in both papers
independently, Hanford merged the
Post with the
Intelligencer, becom
ing the
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer and the
Seattle Weekly Post-Intelligencer in 1881.
After the merger, Prosch managed the flourish
ing paper until its sale to a jo
int-stock company
in early 1886. Later that year, Leigh S. J. Hunt, who purchased controll
ing
interest
in the paper from Clarence B. Bagley, used profits from his m
ining and real estate ventures to improve the
P-I with new technologies and progressive journalism. Hunt not only secured a new pr
int type, but also dropped the “daily” and “weekly” designations from the title
in favor of the shortened
Seattle Post-Intelligencer and published the paper daily
LCCN sn83045604 (except Mondays) and weekly
LCCN sn86072002. Additionally, he enlarged the Sunday edition and expanded the editorial staff to
include famed political reporter Horace R. Cayton, who became Seattle’s first African American journalist.
Although strengthened by
innovation and new technology, the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer faced external challenges that threatened to destroy the news agency. When the Great Fire of June 6, 1889, razed most of downtown Seattle,
includ
ing the
P-I’s build
ing, Hunt salvaged and relocated his press to a house he owned and published the newspaper from his barn without miss
ing an edition. The follow
ing month, still operat
ing out of his residence, the Post-
Intelligencer reported on the historic constitutional convention
in Olympia, which prepared Wash
ington for statehood. Hit hard dur
ing the national f
inancial Panic of 1893, Hunt was forced to sell the paper to a group of Ohio-based
investors
in 1894. Under new leadership and with a renewed fiscal commitment, James D. Hoge
increased the
P-I’s circulation and elim
inated many of its previous competitors; only the
Seattle Daily Times LCCN sn86072007 rema
ined.
Hav
ing survived fire, f
inancial disasters, and feverish competition, the newspaper reported
in July 1897 that gold had been discovered
in the Klondike region. Beriah Brown Jr., son of a former Seattle mayor and
P-I editor, first broke the news
in an article announc
ing: "GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! ... STACKS OF YELLOW METAL!" Almost immediately the paper experienced a rush of activity and prosperity as it published special guides for would-be Yukon prospectors. The
P-I's "Klondike Edition" pr
inted 212,000 copies and became the largest newspaper run produced west of Chicago. Postmasters, various newspaper editors, mayors, librarians, and members of town councils across the nation received copies for redistribution. The campaign was so successful that
international news agencies
in France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland repr
inted the
P-I’s circulars.
The viral Klondike Edition resulted
in a boom economy for Seattle that not only enhanced its reputation as the major trade port to Alaska but also permanently
increased its population, which doubled from 42,837
in1890 to 80,671
in 1900. After so much success, Hoge decided to sell the paper to nearby Spokane
investors headed by George Turner.
In 1899 Turner resold the
P-I to former Wash
ington state senator John L. Wilson who ran the paper until 1912.
Essay Notes
Bagley, Clarence B.
History of Seattle from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Vols. 1-2. Chicago/Seattle: S. J. Clarke Publish
ing Company, 1916. (Chapter X. “The Press,” pp. 189-207).
http://uwashington.worldcat.org/title/history-of-seattle-from-the-earliest-settlement-to-the-present-time/oclc/7372062&referer=brief_resultsBagley, Clarence B.
History of King County, Washington, Vol. 1. Chicago/Seattle: S. J. Clarke Publish
ing Company, 1929. (Chapter XXI. “Newspapers,” pp. 466-472).
http://uwashington.worldcat.org/title/history-of-king-county-washington/oclc/16690641&referer=brief_resultsGrant, Frederic James, ed.
History of Seattle, Washington: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers. New York: American Publish
ing and Engrav
ing Co., 1891. (Chapter XX. “Newspapers” pp. 362-371).
http://uwashington.worldcat.org/title/history-of-seattle-washington-with-illustrations-and-biographical-sketches-of-some-of-its-prominent-men-and-pioneers/oclc/2617374&referer=brief_resultsHanford, C.H., ed.
Seattle and Environs, 1852-1924, Vol. 1. Chicago: Pioneer Historical Pub. Co., 1924.
“Post-
Intelligencer Changes Hands.”
Editor & Publisher 51: 15 (September 21, 1918).
http://uwashington.worldcat.org/title/editor-publisher/oclc/1567511&referer=brief_resultsResearch
- N.W. Ayer & Son's American newspaper annual -- 1880 -- image 271
N.W. Ayer & Son's American newspaper annual -- 1897 -- 828
N.W. Ayer & Son's American newspaper annual -- 1884 -- 346 - NDNP Candidate Title List (Appendix A1.2)
- Chronicling America record (LOC) - Seattle Post Intelligencer
- WorldCat record - Seattle Post Intelligencer
- WSL record - Seattle Post Intelligencer
- UW record - Seattle Post Intelligencer
TopReel
- Filmed by: unknown
- Positives held by: UW
- Call Number: A329
- Library holds: 1876-06-05 through 1969-07-15
- Film condition: 1A position, not targeted, quality varies
- Negatives held by: UW
Notes
- film eval notes, 1876-06-05 1876-12-05: generally good; some images have a transferred image, sometimes the letters look a little smudgy, probably and artifact of the old printing technique, and the early issues are taped together. reduction ratio estimated by measurement, not sure if the dimension are correct either.
- film eval notes, 1890-09-11 1890-11-30: acceptable. There is slight information loss in the gutter, but very little distortion or shadow and pages seem evenly lit and legible.
- film eval notes, 1899-02-26 1899-04-25: contrast and lighting seem good, but the print is tiny and sometimes difficult to read due to fading of type. Focus seems to be more of a problem on this reel than the others. About 1/10 of images are at least slightly out of focus or very light, which greatly impacts legibility of the very small typeface and may impact OCR. Positive was very scratched.
Evaluation
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