Mcclatchy Company Records
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt4p3025zf No online items Guide to the McClatchy Company records Collection processed and finding aid created by David Uhlich Sacramento, CA Center for Sacramento History 551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd. Sacramento, California 95814 Phone: (916) 264-7072 Fax: (916) 264-7582 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.centerforsacramentohistory.org 2006 Guide to the McClatchy Company MS0026 1 records Descriptive Summary Title: McClatchy Company records Date Range: 1857-2002 inclusive Date (bulk): 1923-1970 bulk Accession Number: MS0026 Collector: Sacramento Bee 2100 Q Street Sacramento, CA 95852 (916) 321-1000 Extent: 33 boxes ( 41.25 linear feet) of archival material, 166 oversized documents, 44 blueprints, 319 oversized volumes, 40 photographic prints, 2 oversized photographic prints, 23 framed or mounted photographic prints, 12 photographic negatives, 287 35 millimeter photographic negatives, 34 35 millimeter photographic slides, 2 oversized transparencies, 29 5 Inch Audio Reel Tapes, 52 7 Inch Audio Reel Tapes, 2 10 Inch Audio Reel Tapes, 138 Audio Cassette Tapes, 30 Videotape Reels (1 Inch Tape), 14 Videotape Reels (2 Inch Tape), 56 Umatic Video Cassettes (8 1/2 Inch Cartridges), 37 Umatic Video Cassettes, (7 1/4 Inch Cartridges), 59 VHS Video Cassettes, 3 Betamax Video Cassettes, 2 8 Millimeter Film Reels, 16 16 Millimeter Film Reels, 2 35 Millimeter Film Reels, and 62 artifacts Repository: Center for Sacramento History 551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd. Sacramento, California, 95814 Location: See container list for exact location of materials. Abstract: The McClatchy Company records are composed of material transferred to the Center for Sacramento History in August 2005 from the basement vault of the Sacramento Bee's headquarters. The collection consists primarily of material related to the operations of the McClatchy Newspapers, especially those of the Sacramento Bee, and the numerous broadcasting endeavors of the McClatchy Company, along with materials concerning the McClatchy family, as well as the California Central Valley region. Language: English. Access Collection is open for research. Other Materials Materials related to those in the McClatchy Company records may be found in the following collections at the Center for Sacramento History: Eleanor McClatchy Collection (1982/004, 1982/005, 1982/006); Sacramento Bee Collection (1983/001); J. Brown Maloney Collection (1986/119): and the Sacramento Typographical Union #46 Collection (1985/017). Publication Rights Copyright has not been assigned to Center for Sacramento History for private collections. All requests to publish or quote from private manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Center for Sacramento History as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from records. Preferred citation [Identification of item], McClatchy Company records, MS0026, Center for Sacramento History, Sacramento, CA. Acquisition Information Donated by from the McClatchy Company to the Center for Sacramento History in 2005. Processing History Processed by David Uhlich, 2005. Finding aid prepared using DACS by David Uhlich, 2005-06. Machine-readable finding aid created by David Uhlich, 2006. Finding aid updated by Sean Heyliger in 2019 to update title and collection MS #, and series. Administrative History The McClatchy Company is a prominent newspaper and internet publisher headquartered in Sacramento, California. Once also the owner of numerous radio and television stations, the McClatchy Company currently owns 32 daily and 17 community newspapers, as well as its internet subsidiary, McClatchy Interactive. The McClatchy Company also has interests in Newsprint Ventures, Inc., which operates the Ponderay Newsprint Company, and a regional wire service, the Scripps-McClatchy Western News Service. While it has been associated with the same family for nearly 150 years, the Guide to the McClatchy Company MS0026 2 records McClatchy Company is a publicly-traded corporation, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI. Although its first official incarnation, James McClatchy and Co., was not formed until 1872, the roots of the McClatchy Company lie in the formation of Sacramento's Daily Bee in 1857. First published on February 3, 1857 as a morning newspaper, the Daily Bee was founded by L.C. Chandler, L.P. Davis, John Church, and W.H. Tobey, and initially edited by John Rollin Ridge. Less than three months later, on April 6, 1857, the Daily Bee became an evening newspaper, although it did not adopt the Evening Bee moniker until December 1890; the Evening Bee was not re-named the Sacramento Bee until March 1908. In July of 1857, Ridge retired from the Daily Bee, and James McClatchy, a writer for the paper whose family name would henceforth be associated with the Bee, took over as the newspaper's editor. A native of Ireland, James McClatchy (1824-1883) immigrated to the United States in 1840, and spent the next eight years in New York, where he became a member of the editorial staff of Horace Greeley's New York Tribune. McClatchy moved west to Sacramento in 1849 (reportedly as a correspondent for the Tribune) and prior to working for the Daily Bee had been associated with no less than six other area newspapers: the Placer Times, the Sacramento Transcript, the Settlers and Miners Tribune, the Californian, the Daily Democratic State Journal, and the Daily Times. In 1866, McClatchy became a part owner of the Daily Bee; by 1872, he was majority owner of the newspaper. Aside from a two year hiatus to serve as Sheriff of Sacramento, McClatchy served as editor for the Bee until his death in 1883. After his death, James McClatchy's widow, Charlotte McClatchy (1840-1916), bought out the only remaining partner in the Bee, John Francis Sheehan, in 1884, giving her full ownership of the newspaper; she then turned over the newspaper's operations to her two sons, Charles Kenny (C.K.) and Valentine Stuart (V.S.) McClatchy. The McClatchy sons subsequently divided responsibilities at the newspaper in such a way that V.S. (1857-1938) became publisher of the newspaper, in charge of all its financial matters, and his younger brother C.K. (1858-1936), who at the time of his father's death had already been working at the Bee for eight years, became the newspaper's editor. This arrangement lasted for nearly forty years, until C.K. bought out his brother in 1923 to become sole owner of the newspaper. Many changes came about at the Bee during the years of the McClatchy brothers' partnership, including the pair of revisions to the newspaper's title mentioned previously. In what was to be the first of many corporate name changes, subsidiary formations, and mergers, the James McClatchy Co. was formed in 1898 for the purpose of owning title to the new Bee building at 911 7th Street, which was completed in 1901. The McClatchy brothers' partnership also oversaw the licensing and operation of the company's first radio station from 1921-1922, the short-lived KVQ of Sacramento. In addition, the McClatchy Company started its second newspaper, the Fresno Bee, in October 1922. Despite these advancements, it was agreed that the partnership would be dissolved though a blind auction, with C.K., after outbidding his brother, assuming control of the company in September 1923. Already well-known for his editorial capacity, including his widely-read "Private Thinks" columns that were later collected in a single volume, C.K.'s tenure as sole owner of the McClatchy Company was also marked by the perhaps the peak of its expansion and influence. In collaboration with his son, Carlos (1892-1933), C.K. further extended the company's budding newspaper conglomeration, as well as making a reappearance in the broadcasting industry. Over a span of six years, the McClatchy Company took over operations of five radio stations: KFBK, Sacramento and KMJ, Fresno in 1925; KWG, Stockton and KERN, Bakersfield in 1930; and KOH, Reno in 1931. The company also began operating its third newspaper, the Modesto News-Herald, in August 1927, changing its name to the Modesto Bee in July 1933. Although the company was thriving, the death of Carlos--who was slated to succeed C.K. as head of the McClatchy Company--in 1933 brought about some uncertainty concerning its future leadership. These uncertainties were compounded over the next few years by C.K.'s age and failing health. Lacking another family member capable of taking over the helm, C.K. decided to enlist his youngest daughter, Eleanor (1895-1980), a playwright and theatre producer living in New York; although Eleanor at first resisted the proposal, when her father took ill in 1936, she acquiesced. By this time, C.K. had also hand-chosen Walter P. Jones as his successor as editor of the newspapers, marking the first time in nearly eighty years that a McClatchy did not perform these duties. When C.K. died in April 1936, Eleanor became president of the McClatchy Company, a position that she held for over forty years, ending in 1978. Although not experienced in the newspaper business, Eleanor proved to be an adept leader for the company, loyal to both her father's editorial principles and her brother's interest in expansion into other media. Within months of C.K.'s death, the McClatchy Broadcasting Company was founded to further organize the company's burgeoning radio business; although the broadcasting company would be absorbed by McClatchy Newspapers in 1957, its tenure as administrator of the company's broadcasting interests would see the company's growth into FM radio with the launches of KFBK-FM in 1947, KERN-FM and KBEE-FM in 1948, and KMJ-FM in 1949.