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100 GPO Years, 1861–1961: a History of United States Public Printing

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100 GPO Years, 1861–1961: a History of United States Public Printing 100 GPO YEARS 1861-1961 100 GPO YEARS 1861–1961 A History of United States Public Printing Under Direction of the Public Printer JAMES L. HARRISON Sesquicentennial Edition 2010 Joint Committee on Printing 111th Congress January 3, 2009 to January 3, 2011 Charles E. Schumer, Senator from New York, Chairman Robert A. Brady, Representative from Pennsylvania, Vice Chairman Patty Murray, Senator from Washington Thomas S. Udall, Senator from New Mexico Robert F. Bennett, Senator from Utah Saxby Chambliss, Senator from Georgia Michael E. Capuano, Representative from Massachusetts Susan A. Davis, Representative from California Daniel E. Lungren, Representative from California Kevin McCarthy, Representative from California For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Foreword to the Sesquicentennial Edition Fifty years ago, on the occasion of its centennial, GPO published this official account of its history. It was Public Printer James Harrison’s hope that this book would “serve to stimulate present and future employees of the Government Printing Office, by the dedicated efforts of their predecessors, to give their Government its essential printing requirements, and provide future historians with an accurate account of the first 100 years of service of this great institution.” This book has more than fulfilled that hope. Indeed, 100 GPO Years has proven to be a durable source of information about GPO’s origins, its ability to adapt and take advantage of changing technologies and processes, and its critically important contribution to the life of the Nation through the production and distribution of Government publications. As we approach GPO’s 150th anniversary in 2011, we remain indebted to this book because it serves not only as a window on this great institution’s past but, more importantly, as a prologue to GPO’s future. There are vast differences in the way GPO carries out its work in this Digital Age, but our mission remains fundamentally the same: producing and distributing Government publications—the documents of our democracy—to keep America informed. The men and women of GPO—as well as all those who share daily in the production, distribution, and use of Government information—will see in this newly reissued history an account of the critically important work their predecessors carried out on behalf of the Nation, work which they themselves continue to perform today. This book is dedicated to them and those who will follow in their footsteps. Robert C. Tapella, Public Printer. iii Joint Committee on Printing 87th Congress January 3, 1961 to January 3, 1963 Carl Hayden, Senator from Arizona, Chairman Omar Burleson, Representative from Texas, Vice Chairman Mike Mansfield, Senator from Montana Jack Miller, Senator from Iowa Wayne L. Hays, Representative from Ohio Paul F. Schenck, Representative from Ohio John F. Haley, Staff Director Paul C. Beach, Assistant Staff Director Elizabeth T. Anderson, Administrative Assistant Tempie L. Bailey Louis E. Shomette Clifford P. Reynolds Herbert V. Bibus Paul L. Zenor iv Government Printing Office Officials [1961] Public Printer .......................................................................................................................James L. Harrison Deputy Public Printer ..........................................................................................................Harry D. Merold Administrative Assistant to the Public Printer ..............................................................Felix E. Cristofane Special Assistant to the Public Printer ......................................................................... Eustis E. Morsberger Director of Personnel ..........................................................................................................Milton J. Havener Comptroller ....................................................................................................................Frank Higginbotham Director of Purchases ......................................................................................................Daniel H. Campbell Superintendent of Documents ..........................................................................................Carper W. Buckley Plant Engineer ........................................................................................................................Louis J. Naecker Technical Director ........................................................................................................Morris S. Kantrowitz Disbursing Officer ...............................................................................................................Walter Spauls, Jr. Medical Officer ................................................................................................................Allen S. Cross, M.D. Planning-Production Manager ........................................................................... Frederick W. Baumann, Jr. Assistant Planning-Production Manager for Production ................................................Albert O. Luther Assistant Planning-Production Manager for Planning ............................................................James W. Tew Assistant Planning-Production Manager for Typography and Design .......................Frank H. Mortimer Night Planning-Production Manager .............................................................................Arthur O. Daniels Superintendent of Binding ................................................................................................Harold C. Leonard Superintendent of Composition .......................................................................................... Morris H. Reaves Superintendent of Letterpress ................................................................................................Emil M. Cobabe Superintendent of Offset ......................................................................................................Herbert C. Much Superintendent of Platemaking ..............................................................................Vincent C. Walkendifer Superintendent of Field Service ................................................................................ Matthew S. Stepienski Superintendent, Division of Planning Service ................................................................... Russel L. Weaver Superintendent, Division of Plant Planning ....................................................................William T. Meany Chief, Congressional Information ........................................................................................Donald W. Casey Congressional Record Clerk at the Capitol .......................................................................Raymond F. Noyes Centennial Celebration Committee James L. Harrison, Public Printer, ex officio Harry D. Merold, Deputy Public Printer Carper W. Buckley, Superintendent of Documents, Chairman Eustis E. Morsberger, Special Assistant to the Public Printer Milton J. Havener, Director of Personnel Frederick W. Baumann, Jr., Planning-Production Manager Frank H. Mortimer, Assistant Planning-Production Manager for Typography and Design Harry Schecter, Chairman, GPO Style Board Albert B. Schneider, Linotype Machinist in Charge Hilda B. Ingalls, Chief Receptionist v THIS HISTORY of public printing is dedicated to Carl Hayden, senior Senator from Arizona and dean of the United States Senate. He is serving in his 50th year in the Congress of the United States and truly exemplifies the American Statesman. As a member of the Joint Committee on Printing since March 4, 1933, and as its chairman for over 18 years, he has been an inspiration to everyone in the Government Printing Office who has been privileged to know him. vi Foreword [1961] This history of U.S. public printing and the Government Printing Office has been prepared under my direction and that of former Public Printer Raymond Blattenberger in connection with the celebration of the Office’s centennial. It has been difficult to select appropriate material from the wealth of documents relating to the establishment and operation of the Office, and much has necessarily been omitted to keep it within reasonable confines. It was essential to the purpose of the history to include the somewhat lengthy review of the events and circumstances which preceded the establishment of the Government Printing Office in order to explain its creation by the Congress. The Office is indebted principally to Harry Schecter, Chairman of the Government Printing Office Style Board, for the research and writing which was involved. It is my hope that this history will serve to stimulate present and future employees of the Government Printing Office, by the dedicated efforts of their predecessors, to give their Government its essential printing requirements and, also, to provide future historians with an accurate account of the first 100 years of service of this great institution. James L. Harrison, Public Printer. vii Acknowledgments [1961] In 1881, 20 years after the founding of the GPO, R. W. Kerr, an employee, became the first historian of the GPO, and copyrighted a History of the Government Printing Office (at Washington, D.C.), with a brief record of the Public Printing for a Century, 1789–1881. The present-day historian is indebted to his predecessor for introducing some light into the long-ago Government printing past, for Kerr’s history has lessened the burden of laborious searching of source material. Kerr hoped “to impress
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