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Newspaper Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972 Sunday issues for Mar. 26, 1905-July 9,1972 called: Sunday star / Star

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About Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Evening Star was one of the nation’s premiere afternoon newspapers. During the Star’s 128 years of publication, it was considered the “paper of record” for the nation’s capital.  Reaching its peak in circulation and national influence by the early 1950s, its pages were full of ads, political cartoons, and bylines from around the world.  Between 1944 and 1981, Star writers, reporters, and cartoonists received 10 Pulitzer Prizes.

The Daily Evening Star began in December 1852, when Joseph Burroughs Tate, a printer by trade and captain in the District of Columbia militia, founded what was initially known as the Daily Evening Star. According to the 1850 US Census, Washington, DC, was a growing community of approximately 51,000. Other District newspapers were primarily concerned with politics. The National Intelligencer reported on Congressional activities, while titles like the Whig Standard served as mouthpieces for political parties and their candidates. Tate later said, he wanted a paper “dedicated to the interests of…the beautiful city of Washington, DC.” He borrowed $500 from friends and started printing the Daily Evening Star, published daily except Sundays. Tate was interested in following the example of papers like the New York Tribune that published stories of local interest, as well as national and international events.

Tate’s tenure was brief. In 1853, he sold the paper to William Douglas Wallach and William H Hope. Soon after, Hope left the partnership, and Wallach was the sole owner. He began publishing a Sunday morning edition, the Weekly Star (1853-1891) and in 1854, the Evening Star changed its title. Wallach had strong social and political connections in the city; his brother was the current mayor. Wallach continued to pursue Tate’s vision of a local paper and expanded the staff. Under his leadership, the paper was known for its provocative editorials. He was very critical of the abolitionist movement and opposed the election of Abraham Lincoln fearing that both would lead to civil war, yet when the war broke out, Wallach remained a committed unionist.

The Civil War changed the city and the Star. Both soldiers and administrators came to the area to fight and manage the war effort. Through proximity, Wallach and the Star’s reporters were able to develop personal connections with cabinet members and military officers who were now living in the city. This access gave them an advantage over reporters from other newspapers.

In 1867, Wallach sold the Star to one of its most prominent reporters, Crosby Noyes, for $100,000. In less than two days, Noyes raised the funds with the help of a group of investors, after which the paper’s circulation grew and Noyes and his partners, later known as the “families,” became rich and influential.

Noyes became a crusader for the city, using his influence to push for civic improvements. Members of the “families” were placed on boards of local banks and businesses. In 1881, the Star moved into a new eight-story office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The paper also hired cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman from the rival Washington Post. Berryman was already well known for his political caricatures and his teddy bear mascot that appeared in his cartoons. In 1908, Noyes retired and passed ownership to his son Theodore who would continue his father’s advocacy.

Washington continued to grow and change: the two World Wars and the New Deal expanded the Federal government and the local population. The new residents were more liberal, reformist-minded, and racially diverse. One of their central causes was home rule. Since Washington, DC’s founding, Congress appointed city leaders instead of people electing their representation. The home rule supporters wanted to elect the city’s mayor and city council. Noyes chose to focus the paper on infrastructure improvements, such as transportation and sanitation. He was close to the current political and business elite which made him reluctant to support the change to elected representation.

After the World War II, the Star’s fortunes began to decline. The rival Washington Post purchased another local paper, the Times Herald in 1954, to become the Washington Post and Times Herald, which gave it a larger share of the market. The Star had hired highly respected editor Benjamin McKelway after Noyes’ death in 1946. Later, they formed a syndicate that distributed editorials from prominent conservatives like William F. Buckley Jr. and James J. Kilpatrick as well as comic strips such as “Alec the Great.” This did little to increase circulation; the conservative editorial stance was out of step with the city’s increasing left-leaning population. There were more mundane problems as well, such deliveries frequently being delayed by rush-hour traffic.

The paper steadily lost circulation and advertising revenue. In 1972, the Evening Star merged with the Washington Daily News to become the Evening Star and Washington Daily News (1972-1973), the Washington Star-News (1973-1975), and the Washington Star (1975-1981). After several new owners under the Evening Star Newspaper Company failed to increase profitability, the Evening Star ceased publication on August 7, 1981, the words “FINAL EDITION” blaring in large, bold print from its front page.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Other Title

  • Sunday issues for Mar. 26, 1905-July 9,1972 called: Sunday star
  • Star

Dates of Publication

  • 1854-1972

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : W.D. Wallach & Hope, 1854-1972.

Headings

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily, Mar. 26, 1905-July 12, 1972
  • -  Vol. 4, no. 553 (Oct. 9, 1854)-120th year, no. 194 (July 12, 1972).
  • -  "From April 25 through May 24, 1861 one sheet issues were published intermittently owing to scarcity of paper." Cf. Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Publisher varies: Noyes, Baker & Co., <1867>; Evening Star Newspaper Co., <1868->
  • -  Suspended Jan. 1-6, 1971 because of a machinists' strike.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as part of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from Microfilming Corp. of America and the Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Washington daily news (Washington, D.C.) (DLC)sn 82016181 (OCoLC)9186073
  • -  Evening star and the Washington daily news (DLC)sn 83045463 (OCoLC)9567065

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83045462

OCLC Number

  • 2260929

ISSN Number

  • 2331-9968

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Evening Star Washington, D.C. 1854 to 1972. (Washington, DC), Jan. 1 1854. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045462/.

APA citation style:

(1854, January 1) Evening Star Washington, D.C. 1854 to 1972. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045462/.

MLA citation style:

Evening Star Washington, D.C. 1854 to 1972. (Washington, DC) 1 Jan. 1854. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83045462/.