Chicago American

TheChicago Americanwas an afternoonnewspaperpublished inChicagounder various names from 1900 until its dissolution in 1975.

ChicagoHerald-Examinerheadline; in reality, thedeath toll was in excess of 695,not 1,000.

History

The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, asHearst's Chicago American.It became theMorning Americanin 1902 with the appearance of an afternoon edition. The morning and Sunday papers were renamed as theExaminerin 1904.James Keeleybought theChicago Record-HeraldandChicago Inter-Oceanin 1914, merging them into a single newspaper known as theHerald.William Randolph Hearstpurchased the paper from Keeley in 1918.

Circulation figures for Chicago newspapers appearing inEditor & Publisherin 1919. TheAmerican's circulation of 330,216 placed it third in the city, behind theChicago Tribune(424,026) andChicago Daily News(386,498), and ahead of theChicago Herald-Examiner(289,094).

Distribution of theHerald Examinerafter 1918 was controlled bygangsters.Dion O'Banion,Vincent Drucci,Hymie WeissandBugs Moranfirst sold theTribune.They were then recruited byMoses Annenberg,who offered more money to sell theExaminer,later theHerald-Examiner.This "selling" consisted of pressuring stores and news dealers. In 1939, Annenberg was sentenced to three years in prison for fraud and died in prison.

The newspaper joined theAssociated Presson October 31, 1932.

Under pressure from his lenders, Hearst consolidated theAmericanand theHerald-Examinerin 1939. It continued as theChicago Herald-Americanuntil 1953 when it became theChicago American.TheAmericanwas bought by theChicago Tribunein 1956, and was renamed asChicago's Americanin 1959.

As with many other afternoon daily newspapers the paper suffered in postwar years from declining circulation figures caused in part bytelevisionnews and in part by population shifts from city to suburbs. The paper continued as an afternoon broadsheet until 1969 when theTribuneconverted the paper to the tabloid-formatChicago Today.Measures to bolster the paper were unsuccessful, andChicago Todaypublished its final issue on September 13, 1974. TheChicago Tribuneinherited many of theToday's writers and staff and became a 24-hour operation.

TheAmericanwas the product of the merger or acquisition of 14 predecessor newspapers and inherited the tradition and the files of all of them.

As an afternoon paper, theAmericanwas dependent on street sales rather than subscriptions, and breaking news helped bring in street sales.

WhenFrank Lloyd Wrightannounced plans to build a mile-high building inChicago,theAmericanstole the drawings and printed them.

The tradition was exemplified by the longtime night city editor of theAmerican,Harry "Romy" Romanoff,who could create news stories almost at will with only a telephone. He ran the city room at night with the help of two rewrite men (including Mike McGovern, noted below), one night photo editor, a sports desk editor (Brent Musburger's first job out of journalism school), and one night copy boy who cut and pasted AP and UPI wires for Harry's review. Since the afternoon paper was put together the previous evening, the night city editor was the key news editor. Romanoff enjoyed the fearful but absolute regard of pressmen, the composing room and the entire night staff of theTribune Tower,which owned and housed theChicago American's operations in its final decades.

One night, floods threatenedSouthern Illinois,and theAmericandid not have a big story for the front page. Romanoff called fire departments and police stations throughout the region, posing as "Captain Parmenter of thestate police"(a nonexistent individual), urging them to take action.One fire department, bemused by the call, asked what they should do. "Ring those fire bells! Call out the people!" Romanoff then turned to hisrewrite manto dictate the lead story:

Fire bells rang over southern Illinois aspoliceand fire departments called out the people to warn them of impending floods.

It never did flood, but theAmericanhad its banner headline. These headlines were necessary for sales of the early editions. Later in the day, breaking news would generally replace them or reduce their importance. Of course, many stories developed in this way were genuine scoops that would be expanded in later editions.

TheAmericangave the same attention to smaller stories as to large ones. It was usually first with police news. One notable headline:

Mother of 14 kids kills father of 9 in police station

Headquarters for the paper was the Hearst Building, located at 326 West Madison Street in Chicago. In 1961, the offices ofChicago's Americanwere moved adjacent to theTribune Towerat 435 North Michigan Avenue, where they would remain until the ultimate demise ofChicago Todayin 1974.

Notable people

In addition to Romanoff, notableAmericanstaff members included:

• Frank R. Adams,reporter forHerald-Examiner,author, songwriter and screenwriter
• Ann Barzel,dance critic, 1951-1974
• Seymour Berkson,reporter forHerald-Examiner,later general manager of theInternational News Serviceand publisher for theNew York Journal-American
• Claude Binyon,reporter for theExaminer,became a Hollywood screenwriter and director
• Arthur Brisbane,named editor of theHerald-Examinerin 1918; later became a renowned New York newspaper editor and syndicated columnist
• Warren Brown,sportswriter, covered 50 consecutiveWorld Series;winner ofSpink Awardfrom baseball's Hall of Fame;
• John P. Carmichael,sportswriter 1927-32, thenChicago Daily Newscolumnist and sports editor until 1972
• S. S. Chamberlain,Chicago Examinereditor; later editor ofCosmopolitanmagazine
• Bartlett Cormack,reporter for theAmerican,then a Hollywood screenwriter whose films includedThe RacketandFury,as well as the original adaptation ofThe Front Page
• Homer Davenport,cartoonist, came toChicago Heraldin 1893 duringWorld's Columbian Exposition
• Billy DeBeck,cartoonist, creator of comic stripBarney Google
• John Denson, editor; executive editor ofNew York Journal-American;managing editor ofNewsweek
• Eddie Doherty,reporter for theExaminerandAmerican,then Oscar-nominated screenwriter ofThe Fighting Sullivans
• Charles Dryden,considered the best baseball writer of his era; first hired in 1898 by theNew York Journal;capped his career with theTribuneandHerald-Examiner;coined the name "Hitless Wonders" for the1906 White Sox
• Carl Ed,cartoonist, creator of comic stripHarold Teen
• James Enright,sportswriter and basketball referee, inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
• Dave Feldman,theAmerican's horse-racing writer and handicapper from 1939-1968, then the same for theDaily NewsandSun-Times
• Leo Fischer,sports editor of theAmericanfrom 1943-1969, and also after the paper becameChicago Today;for four years, simultaneously was president of theNational Basketball League,precursor to today'sNBA
• Tom Fitzpatrick,worked as a reporter for theAmericanbefore joining theSun-Timesand winning a1970 Pulitzer Prize
• Hugh Fullerton,while covering the1919 World Seriesfor theHerald-Examiner,became suspicious of theChicago White Sox's play; his articles culminated in eight Sox players being accused of conspiring with gamblers and subsequently being banned from baseball for life
• Chester Gould,cartoonist; creator ofDick Tracy;drew a number of comic strips for theEvening Americanbefore being hired away by theChicago Tribunein 1931
• Robert Gruenberg,Washington bureau chief for theAmerican,1963–65
• Richard Hainey, theAmerican's executive editor. Bob Hainey, his brother and aSun-Timescopy chief, was found dead on a Chicago street at 35; the circumstances were addressed by Bob's son,GQmagazine editor Michael Hainey, in a 2013 book,After Visiting Friends.
• Sydney J. Harris,wrote for theHerald-Examinerfrom 1934-41 before launching a long career as a columnist with theDaily News
• George Wheeler Hinman,Herald-Examinerpublisher, after first being owner and editor of theChicago Inter Ocean;died in 1929
• Walter Howey,managing editor of theAmerican,beginning in 1917; widely presumed to be the inspiration for the colorful character of editor "Walter Burns" in the playThe Front Pageand subsequent film adaptations, includingHis Girl Friday
• Harold L. Ickes,reporter for theRecordat the turn of the century; U.S. Secretary of the Interior 1933-46
• James Keeley,owned theHeraldfrom 1914–18; also served it as a World War I correspondent
• Frank King,cartoonist 1906-09; creator ofGasoline Alley
• Ring Lardner,writer forExaminerin 1900s before becomingTribunecolumnist and renowned author
• Jonathan Latimer,crime reporter, coveringAl Caponeand others for theHerald-Examiner,before becoming a novelist and Hollywood screenwriter; his scripts includedTopper Returns,The Glass KeyandThe Big Clock
• Jack Mabley,columnist and associate editor for theAmericanandChicago Today1961-1974; one of his most famous columns was about the measured water pressure during commercial breaks on national TV broadcasts, determining that viewers were using the toilet during the breaks
• Hazel MacDonald,born in 1890, wrote forPhotoplaymagazine, then reviewed films for theAmericanuntil she was let go for crossing a picket line in 1938; became a war correspondent for theChicago Daily Times
• Charles Archibald MacLellan,illustrator for theExaminer,later drew many covers for theSaturday Evening Post
• Tiny Maxwell,football player; cub reporter for theRecord-Herald;college football'sMaxwell Awardis named for him
• Maxwell McCrohon,Americanreporter in 1958; became managing editor ofChicago Todayin 1970; named editor of theTribunein 1972, and later was theLos Angeles Herald-Examinereditor when that paper closed
• Michael McGovern,New York Daily Newsinvestigative reporter; once went door-to-door throughEvanston, Illinoisasking each woman in one neighborhood if she was the illegitimate daughter ofWarren G. Harding
• Buddy McHugh, thinly disguised as "McCue" inThe Front Page
• Arthur Meeker, Jr.,novelist and socialite, wrote travel articles for theAmerican
• Merrill C. Meigs,publisher during the 1920s; also an aviator, for whomMeigs Fieldwas named
• Edgar Munzel,baseball writer, later of theSun-Times,winner ofSpink Award,earning him induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Brent Musburger,night sports editor of theAmerican;became a prominenttelevisionsports personality for CBS and ABC; penned an infamous column describingTommie SmithandJohn Carlosas "black-skinned storm troopers" for their protest ofracial injustice in the United Statesduring the1968 Summer Olympics
• George Murray, was once sent toCentral Americaand told to "find a lost city," which he promptly did; wrote a memoir about the paper calledThe Madhouse onMadison Street
• Wallace Rice,reporter for theHerald-American;author; designed theFlag of Chicago
• Charles Edward Russell,muckraking journalist for theAmericanin the early 20th century;1928 Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• E.C. Segar,cartoonist for theAmerican,creator ofPopeye
• Vaughn Shoemaker,two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist; ended his career withChicago's AmericanandChicago Today,retiring in 1972 after drawing approximately 14,000 cartoons
• Sidney Smith,cartoonist for theExaminer,1908–11
• Wallace Smith,correspondent, coveredPancho Villacampaigns and Washington D.C. politics; became a Hollywood screenwriter, his films including 1927'sTwo Arabian Knightsand 1934'sThe Captain Hates the Sea
• Wendell Smith,pioneeringAfrican Americansports reporter who was requested byBranch Rickeyto travel withJackie Robinsonwhile he was breaking into triple-A and Major League Baseball; later a sportscaster forWGN-TV
• Ashton Stevens,drama critic forExaminerandHerald American;inspiredJoseph Cotten's character inCitizen Kane
• Roger Treat,vocal critic of segregation and editor of the firstPro Football Encyclopedia
• William Veeck, Sr.,sports columnist who was hired away to beChicago Cubsvice-president byWilliam Wrigley Jr.in 1917 after a series he wrote criticizing the team; after the Cubs won the 1918 National League pennant, he was promoted to club president
• Lloyd Wendt,editor of theAmericanfrom 1961–69; editor and publisher ofChicago Today1969-70
• Brand Whitlock,reporter for theHerald;later mayor ofToledo, Ohioand ambassador toBelgium
• Frank Willard,cartoonist 1914-18, creator ofMoon Mullins

Also:

• John F. Kennedy,the future U.S. president, worked as a reporter at theChicago Herald-Americanafter serving in the Navy during World War II in 1945, where he covered the United Nations Conference held in San Francisco and the elections that oustedWinston Churchillin 1945 from London. The job was lined up by his influential father,Joseph P. Kennedy.

In the end, TV news brought an end to most afternoon papers, but up until the 1970s, Chicago had a competitive journalistic scene unmatched by most other American cities, five daily newspapers and four wire services in competition, and none were more competitive thanChicago's American.

TheAmerican's predecessor and successor newspapers

1. Morning Record,March 13, 1893 – March 27, 1901 (originallyNews Record,akaMorning News,akaChicago Daily News (Morning Edition)beginning July 24, 1881)
2. Chicago Times,June 1, 1861 – March 4, 1895
3. Chicago Republican,May 30, 1865 – March 22, 1872
4. Inter Ocean,March 25, 1872 – May 10, 1914
5. Chicago Daily Telegraph,March 21, 1878 – May 9, 1881
6. Morning Herald,May 10, 1893 – March 3, 1895
7. Times-Herald,March 4, 1895 – March 26, 1901
8. Chicago American,July 4, 1900 – August 27, 1939
9. Chicago Record-Herald,March 28, 1901 – May 10, 1914
10. Chicago Examiner,March 3, 1907 – May 1, 1918
11. Chicago Record Herald & Interocean,May 11, 1914 – June 1, 1914
12. Chicago Herald,June 14, 1914 – May 1, 1918
13. Herald-Examiner,May 2, 1918 – August 26, 1939
14. Herald American,August 26, 1939 – April 5, 1953
15. The Chicago American,April 6, 1953 – September 23, 1959
16. Chicago's New American,Sep 23, 1959 – October 24, 1959 (purchased byChicago Tribune)
17. Chicago's American,October 25, 1959 – April 27, 1969
18. Chicago Today American,April 28, 1969 – May 23, 1970
19. Chicago Today,May 24, 1970 – September 13, 1974

See also

• Wandt v. Hearst'sChicago American

External links

• February 1922 front pages from theChicago American