James Gordon Bennett Sr.
James Gordon Bennett Sr. | |
---|---|
Publisher | |
Known for | Founder of New York Herald |
Spouse |
Henrietta Agnes Crean
(m. 1840) |
Children | 3, including James Jr. |
James Gordon Bennett Sr. (September 1, 1795 – June 1, 1872) was a British-born American businessman who was the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald and a major figure in the history of American newspapers.
Early life
Bennett was born to a prosperous
In 1819, he joined a friend who was sailing to
He worked in
New York Herald
In May 1835, Bennett began the New York Herald after years of failing to start a paper. After only a year of publication, in April 1836, it shocked readers with front-page coverage of the grisly murder of the prostitute Helen Jewett. Bennett got a scoop and conducted the first-ever newspaper interview for it. In business and circulation policy, The Herald initiated a cash-in-advance policy for advertisers, which later became the industry standard. Bennett was also at the forefront of using the latest technology to gather and report the news, and added pictorial illustrations produced from woodcuts. In 1839, Bennett was granted the first ever exclusive interview to a sitting President of the United States, the eighth occupant, Martin Van Buren (lived 1782–1862, served 1837–1841).[3]
Endorsements
The Herald was officially independent in its politics but endorsed for president
He later endorsed Southern Democrat and incumbent
Although he generally opposed the
Later career
By the time that Bennett turned control of the New York Herald over to his son
Personal life
On June 6, 1840 he married Henrietta Agnes Crean in New York. They had three children, including:
- James Gordon Bennett, Jr.(1841–1918)
- Jeanette Gordon Bennett (d. 1936), who married Isaac Bell Jr. (1846–1889)
Death
He died in
Legacy
Bennett and the Herald used racist language, advocated for Southern secession, attacked Lincoln for trying to keep the Union together and generally opposed the American Civil War. In June 1863 the Herald supported a mass anti-war rally in New York City where the war was denounced as an unconstitutional crusade that would lead to freed Blacks flooding North and competing for white jobs.[8]
Bennett endowed the New York City Fire Department's highest honor for bravery in 1869 after his home was saved from destruction by firefighters. It remained one of the department's highest honors for 150 years. The City renamed it on September 7, 2020, after Chief Peter J. Ganci to honor him as the highest-ranking member of the department killed during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
According to The New York Times, Bennett's racism has been called out for years by the Vulcan Society, a fraternal order of Black firefighters.[9]
According to historian Robert C. Bannister, Bennett was:
- A gifted and controversial editor. Bennett transformed the American newspaper. Expanding traditional coverage, the Herald provided sports reports, a society page, and advice to the lovelorn, soon permanent features of most metropolitan dailies. Bennett covered murders and sex scandals and delicious detail, faking materials when necessary.... His adroit use of telegraph, pony express, and even offshore ships to intercept European dispatches set high standards for rapid news gathering.[10]
Bannister also argues Bennett was a leading crusader in American election campaigns in the 19th century:
- "Combining opportunism and reform, Bennett exposed fraud on Wall Street, attacked the Know-Nothingism cordially. Defending labor unions in principle, he assailed much union activity. Unable to condemn slavery outright, he opposed abolitionism."[10]
Bennett reportedly had strabismus for most of his life; an acquaintance once said that he was "so terribly cross-eyed that when he looked at me with one eye, he looked out at the City Hall with the other."[11]
James Gordon Bennett Memorial at 34th Street & 6th Avenue, midtown Manhattan.[12]
The Avenue Gordon Bennett in
Bennett's account of the infamous
Notes
- Notes
- ^ a b James L. Crouthamel (1989). Bennett's New York Herald and the Rise of the Popular Press. Syracuse University Press.
- ^ Harrison, Robert (1885). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- ^ Paletta, Lu Ann and Worth, Fred L. (1988). "The World Almanac of Presidential Facts".
- ^ Greene, Bryan (October 6, 2020). "When Opera Star Jenny Lind Came to America, She Witnessed a Nation Torn Apart Over Slavery". Smithsonian. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
- New York Times. June 2, 1872.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 740–741.
- New York Times. June 14, 1872.
- ^ "N.Y. Fire Department Replaces Name on Its Highest Award, Citing Racist Past".
- ^ "It's Not Just Statues that Are a Problem in New York City". The New York Times. September 8, 2020.
- ^ a b Bannister, Robert C. (1975). "Bennett, James Gordon". In Garraty, John A. (ed.). Encyclopedia of American Biography. pp. 80–81.
- ^ "Bennett, James Gordon (1795-1872)". Encyclopedia of Communication and Information.
- ^ Monuments, nycgovparks.org. Accessed August 20,2022.
- ^ Street sign, Invisible Paris blog]. Accessed 20 August 2022.
- Sources
- Boulard, Garry. "The Expatriation of Frankin Pierce," Bloomington: iUniverse, 2006.
- Carlson, Oliver. The Man Who Made News: James Gordon Bennett. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1942
- Crouthamel, James L. Bennett's New York Herald and the Rise of the Popular Press. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1989 Online