MSS 2 William Henry Smith Papers

              C o l l e c t i o n Synopsis
MSS 2
W i l l iam Henry S m i t h Papers
7 112 cubic f e e t
Standard i n v e n t o r y
Provenance: The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y a c q u i r e d the W i l l i a m
Henry S m i t h Papers from Andrew Reed, New C a r l i s l e , Ohio, i n 1944,
1945, and 1946. J o y c e Harman and R i c h a r d W , A r p i processed t h e
~ 0 1e1c t i o n i n 1968 and 1984 r e s p e c t i v e l y ,
P r o p e r t y r i g h t s : The Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y owns the p r o p e r t y
r i g h t s t o t h i s c o l l e c t i o n .
C o p y r i g h t s : C o p y r i g h t s have n o t been d e d i c a t e d t o the p u b l i c .
C o n s i d e r a t i o n of the r e q u i r e r n x s o f c o p y r i g h t i s the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
of the a u t h o r and p u b l i s h e r ,
Access: T h i s c o l l e c t i o n i s open under the r u l e s and r e g u l a t i o n s
of t h e Ohio H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y ,
C i t a t i o n : R e s e a r c h e r s are requested t o c i t e co11 e c t i o n name,
c o l l e c t i o n number, and t h e Ohio H i s t o r 1 c a ; l S o c i e t y i n a l l f o o t n o t e
a n d b i b 1 i o g r a p h i c r e f e r e n c e s ,
T r a n s f e r : P h o t o g r a p h s were t r a n s f e r r e d to SC 4647, Ohio H i s t o r i c a l
S o c i e t y i n March 1984,
B i o g r a p h i c a l s k e t c h : W i l l lam Henry Srni th, an i n f l u e n t i a l n i n e -
t e e n t h c e n t u r y j o u r n a l i s t , p o l i t i c i a n , and h i s t o r i a n was born i n
A u s t e r l i t z , New York, on December 1, 1833. I n 1836 h i s family
moved t o Homer, O h i o , where Smith attended p u b l i c s c h o o l , f n the
e a r l y 1 8 5 0 s he a t t e n d e d Green Hount S e m i n a r y , a Quaker s c h o o l ,
n e a r Richmond, I n d i a n a , where he planned a career i n t e a c h i n g .
W h i l e a t Green Mount. Smith s u b m i t t e d an a r t i c l e t o t h e C i n c i n n a t i
newspaper Type o f t h e Times o ~ tiln i n g t h e dangers i n h e r e n t i n t h e
k n o w - n o t h i n g movement, The e d i t o r subsequently o f f e r e d him a
p o s i t i o n on t h e e d i t o r i a l s t a f f which Smith accepted on May 11,
1855. A f t e r s e v e r a l years a t t h a t paper, Smith served as l e g i s -
1 a t i v e c o r r e s p o n d e n t . For t h e C i n c i n n a t i Commercial, 1858- 1859;
e d i t o r o f the Odd- Fel lows ' Casket and Review, 1859- 1861; e d i t o r
of t h e C i n c i n n a t i G a z e t t e . 1859- 1863: and s t a f f member o f the
C i n c i n n a t i C h r o n i c l e , 1868- 1869.
I n l i i t e 1869 Smith became general agent o f the Western A s s o c i a t e d
Press, a news agency h e a d q u a r t e r e d i n Chicago, Under S m i t h ' s
d i r e c t i o n the Western A s s o c i a t e d Press successful 1y competed
w i t h i t s e s t a b l i s h e d and f o r m i d a b l e r i v a l , the New York Associated
P r e s s , I n January 1883 a f t e r y e a r s o f r i v a l r y , t h e two a s s o c i a t i o n s
e n t e r e d i n t o a p a r t n e r s h i p governed by a f i v e man e x e c u t i v e commit-t
e e . T h i s c o m m i t t e e had t w o members from each a s s o c i a t i o n and a
chairman chosen by t h e New York a s s o c i a t i o n . W i l l lam Henry Smith
became t h e general manager f o r b o t h a s s o c i a t i o n s and, hence, one
o f t h e most p o w e r f u l men i n the newspaper p r o f e s s i o n , Also i n
1883, S m i t h and Whi t e l a w Reid o r g a n i z e d the M e r g e n t h a l e r P r i n t i n g