The American Newspaper Guild in Ohio, 1933-1938 - Forefront of A National Movement

THE AMERICAN
NEWSPAPER GUILD IN
OHIO, 1933-1938
FOREFRONT OF A
NATIONAL MOVEMENT
ROGER J. MEZGER
THE AMERICAN NEWSPAPER GUILD IN OHIO, 1933-1938
FOREFRONT OF A NATIONAL MOVEMENT
A thesis submitted to the

Kent State University Graduate College
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts
 
by
Roger J. Mezger
M a y, 1 9 8 1
Thesis written by
Roger J. Mezger
B . A . J . , O h i o S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 7 2
M . A . , K e n t S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 8 1
!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To a l l w h o c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h i s p r o j e c t , m y t h a n k s . A m o n g t h o s e
whose assistance was especially valuable are David J. Eisen,
director of research and information for The Newspaper Guild;
Wa r n e r P f l u g , a s s i s t a n t d i r e c t o r o f t h e A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n
A f f a i r s a t W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, a n d h i s s t a f f ; F r e d r i c F. E n d r e s ,
P h . D . , w h o d i r e c t e d t h e t h e s i s ; R a l p h C . D a r r o w, M . A . , a n d K a r l F.
Tr e c k e l , P h . D . , w h o s e r v e d o n t h e t h e s i s c o m m i t t e e ; a n d m y w i f e ,
Ann, whose patience and understanding during the past year helped
keep me going.
Copyright ©1981, 2018
Roger J. Mezger
Overset Press
ISBN 978-0-692-06147-3
iii
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................ iii
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1
II. BEFORE THE GUILD: 1891-1933 ....................................... 6
I I I . T H E G U I L D ' S E A R LY D AY S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5
I V. O H I O I N T H E F O R E F R O N T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 8
V. O B S E R VAT I O N S A N D C O N C L U S I O N S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 9
APPENDICES
A. TA B L E S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6
B. SAMPLE CONTRACT ....................................................... 83
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................... 90
iv 
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Purpose
This study is concerned primarily with the roles that
newspaper workers in principal Ohio cities played in the formation
of the American Newspaper Guild during the years 1933 to 1938.
This union, whose membership from the outset has consisted
mostly of newspaper editorial employees, arose as a result of
worker dissatisfaction with industry wages and working conditions
during the Great Depression.
To p u t t h e O h i o o r g a n i z i n g a c t i v i t y i n t h e p r o p e r c o n t e x t , i t
is necessary to include a brief history of unionism among
newspaper editorial employees prior to the founding of the
American Newspaper Guild in 1933. An account of the guild's
national beginnings in places other than Ohio also will help define
Ohio's contributions to this aspect of the newspaper labor
movement. Examples of organizing and bargaining in Ohio cities
and elsewhere during the period studied, the early months and
years of the guild, afford a look at some of the specific issues,
including salaries and working conditions, that concerned
Depression-era news workers.
 
Rationale
The national guild has been the object of previous

historical studies, but no single account exists of the heritage of
those Ohio locals that were among the guild’s earliest. Although
the guild is identified most readily with Heywood Broun and his
f e l l o w N e w Yo r k a c t i v i s t s , t h e u n i o n s u c c e e d e d i n l a r g e p a r t
because of the efforts of workers at the Cleveland Press and the
C l e v e l a n d N e w s . T h e A k r o n , C i n c i n n a t i , C o l u m b u s a n d Yo u n g s t o w n
l o c a l s a l s o w e r e a m o n g t h e e a r l i e s t o r g a n i z e d . To l e d o a n d D a y t o n
were not far behind. A study of the origins of this union, deeply
rooted in Ohio, therefore is relevant to the field.
Methodology
Library and archival resources provided most of the

i n f o r m a t i o n f o r t h i s s t u d y. T h e A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s
a t Wa y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y i n D e t r o i t , M i c h i g a n , p e r m i t t e d
examination of documents and correspondence in its collection of
guild records. The Newspaper Guild union headquarters in
Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . , a l s o m a d e a v a i l a b l e r e l e v a n t r e c o r d s a s w e l l a s
i t s b o u n d v o l u m e s o f T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, t h e u n i o n ' s n e w s p a p e r f o r
members. A number of government reports, unpublished theses,
and other studies dealing with the guild were available through
inter library loan. Useful information was found in many periodicals
and several books as well, particularly
 
 
D a n i e l L e a b ’ s A U n i o n o f I n d i v i d u a l s . Tw o p e r s o n a l
interviews were conducted.
Background
The movement to establish a union that would effectively
represent newspaper editorial workers dates to the 1890s, but it
was not until 1933 that a group of such workers succeeded in
forming a collective-bargaining unit that endured longer than a few
years. Although working conditions and salaries seem to have been
generally poor for editorial employees in the roughly forty years
prior to the onset of the Great Depression, the severe economic
hardship of the 1930s provided the stimulus that the union
advocates needed to gain the support of their fellow news workers.
The American Newspaper Guild was founded in December
1 9 3 3 i n Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . , b u t t h e p r o c e s s t h a t l e d t o e s t a b l i s h m e n t
of the union actually had its origin in Cleveland, Ohio. Several
Cleveland newspapermen began meeting after work in August 1933
to explore the possibility of organizing for their common good. The
Cleveland group, in those early months, worked hard to organize not
only the Cleveland news workers but also those in other big Ohio
cities. The assistance that the Cleveland local gave to fledgling
locals around the state and in other states put Ohio in the forefront
of the national movement from which
3
t h e g u i l d e m e r g e d . E v e n t h o u g h N e w Yo r k b e c a m e t h e f i r s t n a t i o n a l
headquarters, the Cleveland activists took on a large portion of the
early organizational work. It is the intent of this study to examine the
pioneering role of Ohio locals in the formation of the guild, against a
background of the earlier attempts to establish national journalists'
unions and of the formative days of the guild on the national level.
In order for the guild idea to take hold, the leaders had to
help the rank and file face up to and overcome an obstacle that
had kept generations of journalists from acting in their own best
interests, their romantic perceptions of themselves and their
business. As Stewart Goulding has noted:
Not only reporters, but editors, sub-editors, feature writers,

rewrite men, copy-desk men, photographers . . . have regarded
t h e m s e l v e s a s “ t h e ” n e w s p a p e r, a n d i n t h e i r m i n d s a l l o f t h e
other departments have existed for the purpose of getting out
the news.
This peculiar slant of newspapermen finds its inception in . .
. t h e l a s t c e n t u r y. . . . S u c h m e n a s D a n a , G r e e l e y, P u l i t z e r a n d
the second Samuel Bowles ran their papers from the editorial
offices. They were hard men in a hard school and their ideals of
how newspapers should be published and for what purpose were
so thoroughly ingrained in editorial men that they never have
been wholly lost.1
Furthermore, Isabelle Keating wrote:

Once a legend is fixed it is a hard job to smash it; but the
romantic legend of the newspaper reporter ’s freedom is
s m a s h e d n o w, s m a s h e d t o b i t s . T h e t r u t h i s
S t u a r t D . G o u l d i n g , “ R e p o r t e r s R a l l y, ” T h e C o m m o n w e a l ,
1
July 27, 1934, pp. 323-24.
4
 
that this freedom has been a hollow sham, a patent fraud

for y e a r s . . . .
Thus it has been a shock to many of them to be faced with
t h e t r u t h t h a t Va n B i b b e r a n d H i l d y J o h n s o n a r e a l l a s d e a d a s
the economy which sired them; that the press, to which they
have given themselves, is only in part a disinterested
institution for public service; that the newspaper-publishing
industry to-day is big business--one of the biggest in the
c o u n t r y, a n d t h a t i n t h i s , a s i n e v e r y o t h e r b i g b u s i n e s s , t h e
profits are not to the gallant but to the strong.2
But first, before the myths of journalism began yielding to

the jolting awareness of the Great Depression, news writers would
struggle for forty years with the dual challenges of forming and
sustaining a union of journalists.
2Isabelle Keating, “Reporters Become of Age,” Harper's, April

1935, p. 601.
5
CHAPTER II
BEFORE THE GUILD: 1891-1933
Although newspaper writers may have thought about

organizing into a labor union before the last decade of the
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y, i t w a s n o t u n t i l t h e 1 8 9 0 s t h a t s m a l l , i s o l a t e d
groups of them took the first tentative steps toward trade
unionism. The popular notion among news reporters had been that
the responsibility for improving their working conditions rested not
with their employers but with themselves; therefore, earlier
collaboration among those workers resulted merely in the
formation of press clubs or journalistic societies “whose main
purposes were professional criticism and the spread of good
c h e e r. ” 1
In Ohio, the idea of starting such societies seems
to have originated in 1833 with a call for a convention of
editors and publishers in Columbus, but little interest was
generated and no meeting was held until 1839, when
representatives of twenty-five Ohio newspapers gathered in
the state capital.2
1 National Labor Relations Board, Collective Bargaining in the

N e w s p a p e r I n d u s t r y ( Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : U . S . G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g O ff i c e , 1 9 3 9 ) ,
p. 104.
2 O s m a n C a s t l e H o o p e r, H i s t o r y o f O h i o J o u r n a l i s m 1 7 9 3 - 1 9 3 3
( C o l u m b u s : T h e S p a h r & G l e n n C o m p a n y, 1 9 3 3 ) , p p . 1 6 3 - 6 4 .
 
In 1849, the Ohio Editorial Association was formed;
anyone associated with the Ohio press was eligible to
j o i n . 3 Tw o s i m i l a r b u s i n e s s a n d s o c i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s w e r e f o u n d e d
b e f o r e 1 9 0 0 : t h e H o c k i n g Va l l e y a n d O h i o A s s o c i a t i o n i n t h e 1 8 7 0 s
and the Buckeye Weekly Press Association in 1895. In 1898 the
O h i o E d i t o r i a l A s s o c i a t i o n a n d t h e H o c k i n g Va l l e y g r o u p m e r g e d w i t h
the Buckeye Weekly Press Association to form the Buckeye Press
Association.4
Several factors led the news writers of the 1890s
toward unionism. The “individualistic traditions of journalism”
that had nurtured the conviction among news writers that
collective action to win concessions from their employers was
beneath their calling started giving way to the realization that
working conditions were not what they should be;5 the
perceived distinction of being engaged in a profession rather
than a trade “was no longer sufficient reward for endeavor
w h e n a c c o m p a n i e d b y l o n g h o u r s , j o b i n s e c u r i t y, a n d w a g e s
lower than those of workers in the printing trades”;6 and,
perhaps most important, an oversupply of labor entering the
profession led to cutthroat competition for jobs, prompting
desperatemen “to secure employment . . . by offering to do
3 Ibid., pp. 165-66.
4 Ibid., p. 172.
5 National Labor Relations Board, p. 104.

6 Ibid., p. 104.
7
 
the work of some other man, and displace him, at a lower rate of
wages.”7 Rather than attempt to organize their own union, the news
w r i t e r s t u r n e d t o t h e e s t a b l i s h e d I n t e r n a t i o n a l Ty p o g r a p h i c a l U n i o n
(ITU), whose members were earning more money than the news
writers.8 Seeing an opportunity to eliminate strikebreaking by
nonunion news writers by making them members, the printers’ union in
1891 amended its constitution to permit charters for union locals to be
i s s u e d t o g r o u p s o f e d i t o r s a n d r e p o r t e r s . 9 F o r y e a r s t h e r e a f t e r, t h e
ITU used the threat of organizing city rooms as a weapon in
n e g o t i a t i o n s t o r a i s e t h e w a g e s o f p r i n t e r s . 10
The local union formed in Pittsburgh in 1891

r e c e i v e d t h e f i r s t I T U n e w s w r i t e r s ' c h a r t e r. 11 Tw e n t y -
s e v e n m o r e w e r e i s s u e d i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s a n d e a r l y 1 9 0 0 s , 12
7 Ibid., p. 105.
“ B e f o r e G u i l d , I T U h a d n e w s w r i t e r s , ” T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, J a n u a r y
8
13, 1978, p. 5.
9 Ibid., p. 5; National Labor Relations Board,

p. 105.
B e n j a m i n S t o l b e r g , T h e S t o r y o f t h e C . I . O . ( N e w Yo r k : V i k i n g
10
Press, 1938), pp. 245-46.
11 Abraham Weiss and Florence Peterson, Collective Bargaining by

t h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d ( W a s h i n g t o n , D . C U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f L a b o r,
April 1940), p. 1.
12 T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, p . 5 .
8
 
including three to Ohio locals: Dayton, in 1898; Columbus, in 1900;

a n d To l e d o , i n 1 9 0 3 . 1 3 B u t s o o n t h e m o v e m e n t l o s t i t s m o m e n t u m , a n d
after an official representative of the news writers' unions failed to
attend the typographical union's 1906 convention, the ITU in 1907
eliminated all references to news writers' unions from its
c o n s t i t u t i o n . 14
There are several reasons why this early attempt at

unionism by journalists failed. Because the news writers locals were
rather loosely organized as an adjunct to another union, their
objectives were mainly immediate and local rather than national in
scope. As a result, the locals tended to die out once those objectives
w e r e e i t h e r r e a l i z e d o r f r u s t r a t e d . 1 5 To m a k e m a t t e r s w o r s e , t h e
pension and insurance benefits that typographical union members
enjoyed required high dues, and the union would not lessen that
burden for the poorly paid editorial employees, thereby leading some
news writers to conclude that they could not afford the luxury of a
u n i o n . 1 6 M o r e o v e r, t h e o p p o s i t i o n o f p u b l i s h e r s t o t r a d e u n i o n s w a s
becoming a

14 T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, p . 5 .
15 John R. Moskin, “Origins of the American Newspaper Guild: A

G e n e t i c S t u d y i n A m e r i c a n H i s t o r y ” ( M a s t e r ' s t h e s i s , C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 ) ,
p. 6.
Louis Winnick, “The American Newspaper Guild:

16
A n E x p e r i m e n t i n t h e Tr a d e U n i o n O r g a n i z a t i o n o f P r o f e s s i o n a l s ” ( M a s t e r ' s t h e s i s ,
C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 ) , p . 2 6 .
9
 
formidable obstacle. The typographical union had been a force to

reckon with since 1852; later it became affiliated with the American
F e d e r a t i o n o f L a b o r, w h i c h i n 1 8 8 6 b e g a n p r e s s i n g i t s w a g e a n d
hour demands. When a group of editors and publishers convened in
1887 to form the American Newspaper Publishers Association, labor
problems weighed heavily on their minds. In a show of unity on the
issue of labor relations, the new organization adopted a general
welfare clause calling for “the rendering to each other of such
a s s i s t a n c e a s m a y b e w i t h i n o u r p o w e r. ” 1 7 A n a m e n d m e n t b y J o s e p h
A. Dear of the Jersey Journal resulted in the clause being added to
the resolution explaining the purpose of the organization. Noting
that the unionization of newspaper employees had “placed
newspapers in peculiarly unpleasant situations,” Dear said the
unions’ strength should be met by the “combined resistance of the
n e w s p a p e r s o f t h e c o u n t r y. ” 1 8
In the face of those serious problems, the news writers’
cause was not helped by the high rate of turnover among
newspapermen, the poor quality of local union leadership, and the
lingering “white-collar” spirit, which swayed many newsmen to
believe that unions were for the mechanical
E d w i n E m e r y, H i s t o r y o f t h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r P u b l i s h e r s
17
Association (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1950), p. 24.
18 Ibid., p. 24.
10
 
d e p a r t m e n t s , n o t t h e n e w s r o o m . 19
N o t u n t i l a f t e r Wo r l d Wa r I h a d e n d e d w e r e t h e r e
other notable attempts to organize journalists. One of them was the
short-lived American Journalists' Association, founded in 1919 by
about 150 newsmen in St. Louis. Formed more along the lines of a
professional organization than of a labor union, the group admitted
news executives and planned a national convention for 1920. But the
p l a n s n e v e r m a t e r i a l i z e d , a n d t h e a s s o c i a t i o n q u i c k l y v a n i s h e d . 20
The low wages and labor surplus of the post-war years
gave rise to more serious organizing efforts as well. Reporters were
painfully aware that their prospects for advancement were negligible
as long as editors continued to hire, for low wages, young men
r e c e n t l y o u t o f h i g h s c h o o l . 21 T h a t d i s c o n t e n t w a s m a n i f e s t e d i n a
sudden renewed interest among reporters in affiliation with the
typographical union. Fifteen reporters' locals were chartered in
1 9 1 9 , 22 i n c l u d i n g a r e o r g a n i z e d B o s t o n u n i t d e s c r i b e d a s “ a p r o d u c t o f
s i m p l e e c o n o m i c p r e s s u r e . ” 23 B o s t o n n e w s p a p e r s a l a r i e s

20 W e i s s a n d P e t e r s o n , p . 1 ; M o s k i n , p p . 1 0 , 11 .
21Lore Prausnitz Jarmul, “The American Newspaper Guild: A Case Study of
a W h i t e C o l l a r U n i o n ” ( M a s t e r ' s t h e s i s . B r o w n U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 ) , p . 5 .
22 Ibid., p. 6.
23 “News Writers Union Local No. 1,” New Republic, August 6, 1919, p. 8.
11
in 1918 had averaged twenty-one dollars a week, a figure the
unionists found to be inadequate in 1919 when, before presenting to
management their first wage demands, they asked the newspapers'
trades workers how much they were earning. The editorial
employees subsequently demanded a minimum salary of thirty-eight
dollars a week for reporters, forty-five dollars for desk men. Fearing
that the typographical union would support a strike by newsmen, the
B o s t o n n e w s p a p e r s e v e n t u a l l y s e t t l e d . 24 T h e N e w R e p u b l i c n o t e d t h e
significance of the event:
A group of intellectuals who have clung tenaciously to their

professional status have voluntarily surrendered their
professional pride to place themselves under the protective
g u i d a n c e o f t h e “ h a n d w o r k e r s . ” 25
The Boston journalists had made a gallant effort, but their

typographical union local and most others like it would not last much
l o n g e r. O f t h e f i f t e e n r e p o r t e r s ’ l o c a l s c h a r t e r e d i n 1 9 1 9 , o n l y o n e
l a s t e d u n t i l 1 9 2 3 . 2 6 S i m i l a r l y, o f a l l t h e 5 9 n e w s w r i t e r s ’ l o c a l s
chartered from 1891 through 1919, only six enjoyed life spans of more
t h a n f i v e y e a r s . 27 R e f l e c t i n g o n t h i s r e c o r d o f f a i l u r e a n d s e e i n g l i t t l e
hope of effectively organizing non-manual newspaper workers, the
International
24 Ibid., pp. 8, 9.
25 Ibid., p. 8.
27 The Guild Reporter, p. 5.
12
 
Ty p o g r a p h i c a l U n i o n , a f t e r a m e m b e r s h i p r e f e r e n d u m , v o l u n t a r i l y
surrendered jurisdiction over reporters’ unions to the American
F e d e r a t i o n o f L a b o r i n M a y 1 9 2 3 . 28 A p r o v i s i o n o f t h i s a g r e e m e n t w a s
that no news writers’ local affiliated with the typographical union
w o u l d b e r e q u i r e d t o d r o p o u t o f t h e u n i o n . Tw o o f t h e f i v e l o c a l s s t i l l
i n e x i s t e n c e t h a t y e a r, M i l w a u k e e a n d S c r a n t o n , t h u s w e r e a b l e t o
retain their typographical union charters for many years, with Scranton
lasting longer--unti1 1943, when the local joined the American
N e w s p a p e r G u i l d . 29
While the typographical union had soured on the idea of

organizing journalists, the labor federation, aware of the influence
exerted by the five existing news writers’ locals and seeing the
potential influence of the unorganized reporters, sought to form a
n a t i o n a l n e w s w r i t e r s ’ u n i o n a n d b e g a n c h a r t e r i n g l o c a l s . 30 N i n e l o c a l
charters were issued, none in Ohio, prior to 1933, but the national
u n i o n t h a t h a d b e e n e n v i s i o n e d d i d n o t c o m e a b o u t d u r i n g t h a t t i m e . 31
2 8 N a t i o n a l L a b o r R e l a t i o n s B o a r d , p . 11 0 ; L a w r e n c e B r o w n , “ T h e P r e s s
Faces A Union,” New Republic, January 23, 1935, p. 297.
29W e i s s a n d P e t e r s o n , p . 1 ; N a t i o n a l L a b o r R e l a t i o n s B o a r d , p . 11 0 ;
T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, p . 5 .
30 N a t i o n a l L a b o r R e l a t i o n s B o a r d , p . 11 0 ; W e i s s a n d P e t e r s o n , p . 1 .
31 N a t i o n a l L a b o r R e l a t i o n s B o a r d , p . 111 .
13
 
T h e i d e a o f a j o u r n a l i s t s ’ u n i o n , h o w e v e r, d i d n o t d i e
along with the labor federation’s dreams. The problems of low
p a y, l o n g h o u r s , a n d j o b i n s e c u r i t y c o n t i n u e d t o f e s t e r a s a r e s u l t
of major newspaper mergers and an influx into the job market of
m o r e c o l l e g e - t r a i n e d j o u r n a l i s t s . 32 I n d e e d , t h e l o t o f t h e
newspaperman during the decade was not an enviable one,
according to Lawrence Brown:
Reporters did work under outrageous conditions, for poor pay

and with no hope of permanence. As remedies they took to
p u b l i c i t y, p o l i t i c s , r o m a n t i c i z i n g o r d r i n k , t o a n y t h i n g , i n s h o r t ,
e x c e p t w r e s t l i n g w i t h t h e r e a l i t i e s o f t h e i r o w n t r a d e . 33
Although the national union had not succeeded, members of

the chartered locals and other activists in many cases “formed the
nuclei for the organization of American Newspaper Guild locals in
1 9 3 3 a n d 1 9 3 4 . ” 3 4 O n e o f t h o s e a c t i v i s t s w a s N e w Yo r k
newspaperman Heywood Broun, who in 1920 presided over an
u n a f f i l i a t e d N e w Yo r k n e w s w r i t e r s ’ u n i o n a n d i n 1 9 2 3 h e l p e d r a l l y
s u p p o r t f o r a n a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n . 3 5 Te n y e a r s l a t e r, H e y w o o d
Broun would play an important role in the formation of the American
Newspaper Guild, but by no means was his contribution to the
union's founding more significant than the work of the lesser-known
Ohio activists.
32 Ibid., p. 1 1 1 .
33 Brown, New Republic, p. 297.
I b i d . , p . 11 3 ; I s a b e l l e K e a t i n g , “ R e p o r t e r s B e c o m e o f A g e , ” H a r p e r ’ s ,
35
April 1935, p. 606.
14
CHAPTER III
T H E G U I L D ’ S E A R LY D AY S
The loss of jobs caused by newspaper mergers during the

1920s was exacerbated by the onset of the Great Depression at the
e n d o f t h e d e c a d e . T h e n e w s p a p e r b u s i n e s s , l i k e a n y o t h e r, w a s
affected by the poor economic conditions. Willard Grosvenor Bleyer
wrote in the early thirties:
With the constant reduction in the number of daily newspapers

by consolidations, in accordance with the prevailing
monopolistic character of present-day capitalism, the number of
positions available for newspaper workers has been greatly
reduced; and this development, together with the depression,
has resulted in much unemployment for them as a class.1
Publishers began looking for ways to pare expenses, as C. C.

Nicolet noted:
The Depression . . . brought slashes in salaries and in editorial

staffs. Publishers, restricted by contract in the reductions they
could make among mechanical crews, in newsprint buying, and
in other fields, turned to their non-contract labor in the
editorial and business departments.2
The double threat of salary reductions and firings at the

pleasure of the publisher made journalism a less-than-secure
occupation. Newspaper workers’
W i l l a r d G r o s v e n o r B l e y e r, “ J o u r n a l i s m i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s : 1 9 3 3 , ”
1
Journalism Quarterly 10 (December 1933):300.
C . C . N i c o l e t , “ T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d , ” T h e A m e r i c a n M e r c u r y, O c t o b e r
2
1936, p. 188.
15
 
 
. . . economic security has been subject to the caprice of their

employers, more perhaps than that of any other similar
p r o f e s s i o n a l g r o u p . T h e i r s k i l l , p e r s o n a l p o p u l a r i t y, k n o w l e d g e ,
and loyalty may have contributed immeasurably to the fortunes
o f t h e p u b l i s h e r a n d t h e c h a r a c t e r o f t h e p a p e r, b u t t h i s i s o f
no value to themselves if the publisher-employer should
dismiss one of them at an hour's notice, or decide to sell his
newspaper to a chain of newspapers. . . .
Fortunes have been made by publishers, but one
seldom if ever hears of a working newspaper man who
has achieved wealth or even a modicum of economic
s e c u r i t y. 3
Under such working conditions, Stuart Goulding wrote,

the self-esteem of newspaper journalists hit bottom in the
early thirties:
Debt-ridden for the most part, their economic status has been
little above those accepting public charity through relief
channels. Especially during the past three years the morale of
the newspaperman has descended about to the breaking-point.4
A s n e w s p a p e r w o r k e r s ' f r u s t r a t i o n s g r e w, a n e w
president was shepherding through Congress the National
Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, a law that would give rise
a g a i n t o u n i o n a c t i v i t y a m o n g j o u r n a l i s t s . 5 Tw o p r o v i s i o n s o f
Section 7a of the act offended publishers: the guaranteed
right of collective bargaining between employer and
employee, and the freedom of labor union
B e r t a C r o n e , “ O c c u p a t i o n s - - To d a y a n d To m o r r o w, ”
3
New Outlook, June 1934, p. 5.

4 S t u a r t D . G o u l d i n g , “ R e p o r t e r s R a l l y, ” T h e C o m m o n w e a l , J u l y 2 7 ,
1934, p. 325.
5 Abraham Weiss and Florence Peterson, Collective Bargaining by the
A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d ( W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f L a b o r, A p r i l
1940), p. 1.
16
 
organization.6 The licensing provision of the act accorded President

Franklin D. Roosevelt the authority to license companies if an industry
did not cooperate with his National Recovery Administration program
and to revoke licenses for noncompliance.7 A committee of the
American Newspaper Publishers Association was appointed to draw up
a voluntary "code" for the industry to which newspaper companies
were to adhere. But the publishers’ code included an open-shop clause
permitting employers to bargain individually with workers, and it
defined the tasks of editorial employees as "professional work" not
subject to limitations on working hours or minimum wages. The
publishers also proposed that newsboys be exempt from child-labor
provisions.8
As the publishers’ code took shape, so did the opposition to
i t a m o n g n e w s p a p e r e d i t o r i a l w o r k e r s . P a u l Y. A n d e r s o n w a r n e d , “ T h e
publishers are asking for trouble, and they are likely to be
accommodated.”9 John Scribner observed that journalists objected to
the way the publishers sought to exclude them from wage and hour
guidelines:
6
7 Ibid., p. 224
8 Ibid., p. 125; Weiss and Peterson, p. 1.
P a u l Y. A n d e r s o n , “ M r. A n d e r s o n i n a Te n d e r M o o d , ” N a t i o n , A p r i l 1 8 ,
9
1934, p. 443.
17
 
The publishers’ code . . . classified experienced newspaper

writers as “professionals,” a distinction which publishers
could hardly be said to have accorded in the past, and one
which the news writers preferred to repudiate in view of the
salary and other handicaps under which the proposed honor
w o u l d h a v e p l a c e d t h e m . 10
The efforts of the newspaper industry to bypass the

requirements of Section 7a was criticized by other
publishing interests, such as the New Republic:
Looking back over the period during which the newspaper

code has been in preparation, we believe the facts amply
justify the statement that no industry has behaved worse
toward the N.R.A. than daily journalism.
. . . the press as a whole . . . sought exemption from the
very responsibilities that it urged so fervently upon other
i n d u s t r i e s . 11
The publishers also made an issue of the president’s

l i c e n s i n g a u t h o r i t y, c o n t e n d i n g t h a t , i n t h e c a s e o f t h e
n e w s p a p e r i n d u s t r y, s u c h p o w e r p o s e d a t h r e a t t o f r e e d o m o f
the press. But those protestations only further incensed
editorial employees already dissatisfied with the
publishers’ code. C. C. Nicolet noted:
N o w, i r r e s p e c t i v e o f w h e t h e r o n e b e l i e v e d i n N R A , i t w a s
difficult for us editorial workers to see wherein a five-day
week was likely to endanger Freedom of the Press. . . .
Hence, the extremism of the publishers so aroused the
conservative newspaper workers that they were willing to go
a l o n g w i t h M r. [ H e y w o o d ] B r o u n . 1 2
J o h n S c r i b n e r, “ T h e N e w s W r i t e r s F o r m a U n i o n , ” N a t i o n , J u n e 2 0 ,
10
1934, p. 698.
11 ”Journalism's Blue Eagle,” New Republic, March 14, 1934,

p . 11 9 .
12 N i c o l e t , A m e r i c a n M e r c u r y, p p . 1 8 9 - 9 0 .
18
 
Opposition from rank-and-file newspaper editorial workers

to the publishers’ proposals resulted, after a bitter
fight, in approval of an amended voluntary newspaper code
whose wage-and-hour guidelines covered editorial employees
and whose open-shop and child-labor clauses had been
modified. The code called for a forty-hour workweek for
newspaper workers in cities with populations greater than
50,000 and for a minimum wage ranging from fifteen dollars
a week in cities of more than 500,000 down to eleven
d o l l a r s a w e e k i n c i t i e s o f l e s s t h a n 2 5 , 0 0 0 . 13
The salary provisions, while not a true indicator of
typical salary levels, reflected the decline in earning power that
non-union newspaper editorial workers had experienced as a
result of pay cuts. A survey conducted by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics at the request of the National Recovery Administration
found that in the early fall of 1934, nearly 17 percent of editorial
workers, including executives, employed by a typical group of
daily newspapers were earning less than twenty dollars a week,
and that 28 percent were earning fifty dollars or more.
But in April of 1930, only 13 percent of the editorial workers at
the same papers had been paid less than twenty dollars a week,
and 41 percent had been earning fifty
13 E m e r y, p p . 2 2 5 - 2 6 .
19
 
d o l l a r s o r m o r e . 14 A n d w h i l e t h e a v e r a g e w e e k l y s a l a r y i n t h e f a l l o f
1934 was $41.81 compared with $40.85 in April 1930, the
researchers found, the figures were distorted by the higher salaries
paid the executives; the majority of the employees studied were
p a i d s u b s t a n t i a l l y l e s s t h a n t h e a v e r a g e . 15 T h e O c t o b e r 1 9 3 4 s t u d y
showed that reporters and photographers at those papers were
making an average $34.79 a week, or 13.1 percent less than in
April 1930; artists, $47.80, 7.7 percent less; and deskmen, $51.32,
1 3 . 5 p e r c e n t l e s s . 16
On May 3, 1935, as a result of the survey findings, the
National Industrial Recovery Board approved an amendment to
the code for fulltime daily newspaper employees’ wages that
established $12.50 a week as minimum salary in cities of less
than 10,000 population, $25.00 in cities larger than 500,000,
a n d o t h e r r a t e s i n b e t w e e n . 17
T h e n e w s w o r k e r s , h o w e v e r, d i d n o t n e e d t o w a i t f o r
studies to tell them that they were suffering economically As
early as the summer of 1933, some had begun talking
14 D. Q. Crowther and H. O. Rogers, “Salaries and Working

Conditions of Newspaper Editorial Employees,” Monthly Labor Review 40
( M a y 1 9 3 5 ) : 11 3 7 .
15 I b i d . , p p . 11 3 9 - 4 0 .
16 I b i d . , p . 11 4 1 .
“ Wa g e S c a l e f o r N e w s p a p e r E d i t o r i a l D e p a r t m e n t A p p r o v e d b y
17
National Industrial Recovery Board,” Monthly Labor Review 40 (June 1935):

1483-84.
20
 
about organizing for their common good. Although it will become

evident in the following chapter that Cleveland news workers
were the pioneers of the guild movement, the first tangible
indication that something was afoot came from the typewriter of
N e w Yo r k W o r l d Te l e g r a m c o l u m n i s t H e y w o o d B r o u n . H i s r e g u l a r
“It Seems to Me” column of August 7, 1933, entitled “A Union of
Reporters,” served as a rallying point for journalists throughout
the nation. Wrote Broun:
. . . the fact that newspaper editors and owners are genial

folk should hardly stand in the way of the organization of a
n e w s p a p e r w r i t e r s ’ u n i o n . T h e r e s h o u l d b e o n e . 18
Broun announced that he intended to help organize the

union, further endearing himself to disgruntled colleagues.
It is possible that Broun’s famous column appeared on
August 7 by design rather than coincidence, for that date
held a certain significance in Broun’s prior dealings with
management:
On August 7, 1909, I asked for a raise for the first time. My

s a l a r y o n t h e M o r n i n g Te l e g r a p h w a s $ 2 0 a w e e k . I w a n t e d
t o g e t $ 2 2 . 5 0 . W. E . L e w i s , t h e e d i t o r o f t h e p a p e r, r e c e i v e d
me in kindly fashion but he admitted that he was a little bit
s h o c k e d . M r. L e w i s p o i n t e d o u t t h a t I w a s o n l y t w e n t y y e a r s
old and that twenty dollars a week should be ample. . . .
He told me that the job of a reporter was the most
glamorous occupation a young man could have. . . . Editors,
he assured me, were always anxious to reward
18 H e y w o o d B r o u n , " A U n i o n o f R e p o r t e r s , " N e w Yo r k W o r l d
Te l e g r a m , A u g u s t 7 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 1 3 .
21
 
good service but they did not like to have their reporters
t h i n k i n g o f t h e i r o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n t e r m s o f m o n e y. 1 9
W h e n h e w r o t e h i s c a l l t o a r m s i n 1 9 3 3 , h o w e v e r, t h e
successful Broun was being paid far more than the average news
worker dreamed of earning. By 1938, the year before he died, Broun’s
y e a r l y s a l a r y w a s a n a s t r o n o m i c a l $ 3 5 , 0 0 0 . 20 W h i l e B r o u n ’ s e c o n o m i c
status might have made him an unlikely focal point for the underpaid
masses, his freedom to make pro-union statements in print was an
advantage. The columnist’s contract with Scripps-Howard allowed him
to express his opinions regardless of the company’s editorial policies.
21 Thus many researchers, John R. Moskin among them, have
concluded that:
Heywood Broun was, if any one man was, the Father of the
American Newspaper Guild. . . . Broun created the spark out of
w h i c h w a s f a n n e d t h e N e w Yo r k o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d f i n a l l y t h e
national G u i l d . 22
T h e p o i n t s h o u l d b e m a d e , h o w e v e r, t h a t m a n y o t h e r s w o r k e d h a r d t o
ensure the success of the guild; the fact that their names are not as
readily identified with the
Heywood Broun, “An Army With Banners,” Nation, February 13,

19
1935, p. 184.
H e r b e r t H a r r i s , A m e r i c a n L a b o r ( N e w H a v e n : Ya l e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s ,
20
1938), p. 175.
21 Ibid., p . 177.
22John R. Moskin, “Origins of the American Newspaper Guild: A Genetic
S t u d y i n A m e r i c a n H i s t o r y ” ( M a s t e r ’ s t h e s i s , C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 ) , p . 4 9 .
22
 
organization as Broun’s is, perhaps, an injustice.

Regardless of who is credited with conceiving the
guild, the movement quickly gained momentum:
Encouraged by the N.R.A., newspapermen are rebelling

against the long hours, low and unequal pay and increasing
precariousness of employment of their supposedly picturesque
l i f e . 23
Stuart Goulding assessed the rumblings in the nation’s newsrooms

this way:
The guild movement among newspapermen . . . is the first

important organization movement outside the industrial groups,
and its success or failure will indicate whether the New Deal has
actually arrived for the white-collar worker or whether it is
m e r e l y a n o t h e r m y t h . 24
There was a growing realization that news writers had “carefully built
up a philosophy that has kept them for decades insulated against a
r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e i r o w n i n t e r e s t s . ” 25 E d u c a t o r s w e r e a s s i g n e d t h e i r
share of the blame:
The copy-book writers contributed to the delusion.

Hardly a text but contains its quota of stories about
newswriters who gave their very lives that the local Clarion
m i g h t , f o r o n e e d i t i o n , h a v e a s c o o p . 26
H e y w o o d B r o u n , h o w e v e r, s a w t h o s e d i s t o r t e d s e l f - p e r c e p t i o n s
as a potential weapon:
23 “The Week,” New Republic, January 3, 1934, p. 210.
24 Goulding, Commonweal, p. 325.

Isabelle Keating, “Reporters Become of Age,”
25
Harper ’s, April 1935, p. 602.
26 Ibid., p. 603.
23
 
If romance and glamour can be used to make newspapermen

a c c e p t i n s e c u r i t y a n d l o w p a y, I i n s i s t t h a t t h o s e s a m e
qualities may well be a factor in helping them fight their battle
f o r j u s t r i g h t s . 27
Furthermore, the importance of the guild movement was

immediately recognized by a university professor writing in
a professional journal:
This spontaneous uprising of the rank and file of

newspaper men and women has been one of the most
significant movements in the history of American
journalism. . . .
If the present movement results in strong local
organizations and a vigorous rational association of
newspaper workers, it will mean an entirely new status for the
p r o f e s s i o n o f j o u r n a l i s m . 28
By the time the American Newspaper Guild was founded

i n Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . , o n D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 1 9 3 3 , n e w s p a p e r
editorial workers in other countries already had trod the
road to unionism. Great Britain’s National Union perhaps
was the best known of the foreign bargaining units; Denmark
h a d t h r e e s u c h u n i o n s a n d F r a n c e , t h i r t e e n . 29 P e r h a p s u p o n t h e i r
foundings the foreign newspaper unions experienced the sort of
conflict that arose as the guild took shape: some members thought
of the organization as professional and social in nature, while
others had in mind a collective-bargaining alliance.
This uncertainty of purpose had developed in August at the
earliest organizational discussions in Cleveland
27 Broun, Nation, p. 185.

28 B l e y e r, J o u r n a l i s m Q u a r t e r l y, p . 2 9 9 .
29 Harris, p. 173.
24
 
a n d N e w Yo r k . To s o m e t h e w o r d “ u n i o n ” w a s u n p a l a t a b l e .
A t o n e o f t h e f i r s t m e e t i n g s a t H e y w o o d B r o u n ’ s N e w Yo r k
apartment after Cleveland had taken steps to organize, a
solution was proposed, Lewis Gannett later wrote:
A N e w Yo r k T i m e s m a n , a s I r e c a l l i t , s u g g e s t e d t h a t p e r h a p s
the word “union” was a little strong, and there were others who
agreed. I didn’t. I think I said that it would be called a union
a n y w a y, t h a t t h e s t i g m a w a s n ’ t i n t h e n a m e b u t i n t h e i d e a ,
and that I hoped we’d make it stick. Heywood, in that
w o n d e r f u l l y f r i e n d l y, l a z y d r a w l o f h i s , a s k e d w h a t , i f a n y,
would be a better name, and someone proposed “Guild.” The
n a m e s t u c k ; i t i s m y m e m o r y t h a t t h e n a m e N e w Yo r k t i m i d l y
p r o p o s e d f o r t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n s p r e a d t o t h e n a t i o n . 30
More than a year after the guild was founded, R. S.

Gilfillan complained that there still was confusion among
journalists and journalism educators about the organization’s role:
There has been much petty surmising over whether the Guild
was a labor union or a professional group. I don’t think there
are many members of the American Newspaper Guild who
believe it is either of these. I can only say that the Guild is a
guild, and, if its negotiations with publishers take on the
appearance of trade unionism, it is still a guild. If it seeks to
set up and maintain a professional standard, it is yet a guild
and that alone. Neither of these designations frightens nor
disturbs us. We all know we labor for a living; we also know
we have at least quasi-professional status. The left handed
a t t e m p t t o c l a s s i f y u s i s j u s t h u m b u g g e r y. 3 1
If the direction of the young guild was unclear even
30 L e w i s G a n n e t t , “ 1 9 3 3 - - W h e n T h e G u i l d W a s Ve r y Yo u n g , ” T h e
G u i l d R e p o r t e r, D e c e m b e r 2 6 , 1 9 5 8 , p . M 4 . G a n n e t t w o r k e d f o r t h e N e w
Yo r k H e r a l d T r i b u n e .
31 R. S. Gilfillan, “The Guild Viewpoint,” Journalism Quarterly 12 (March

1935):56.
25
 
to some of its members, perhaps it was because new ground

in the history of the labor movement was being broken. The
American Newspaper Guild was recognized as the first
example in the United States among “professional” or “white-
c o l l a r ” w o r k e r s o f u n i o n o r g a n i z a t i o n o n a l a r g e s c a l e . 32
Newspaper editorial workers led the way for teachers,
architects and engineers to organize under the National
I n d u s t r i a l R e c o v e r y A c t . 33
M o s t o f t h e o r g a n i z i n g d o n e d u r i n g t h e t h i r t i e s , h o w e v e r,
involved blue-collar workers. For example, the United Auto
Workers, the United Rubber Workers, and the Maritime and
Longshoremen’s unions were formed during that time. Among non-
manual workers, unions established from 1933 through 1937
included the Screen Actors Guild; the American Federation of
Te l e v i s i o n a n d R a d i o A r t i s t s ; t h e R e t a i l , W h o l e s a l e a n d
Department Store Union; and the United Office and Professional
W o r k e r s o f A m e r i c a , I n t e r n a t i o n a l . 34
Efforts to organize white-collar workers into unions date
f r o m a s l o n g a g o a s t h e p e r i o d f o l l o w i n g t h e C i v i l W a r, b u t n o t
u n t i l a f t e r Wo r l d Wa r I d i d t h o s e e ff o r t s
32 Weiss and Peterson, p. 1.
33Lore Prausnitz Jarmul, “The American Newspaper Guild: A Case

S t u d y o f a W h i t e C o l l a r U n i o n ” ( M a s t e r ’ s t h e s i s , B r o w n U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 ) , p .
1.
Gary M. Fink, Labor Unions (Westport, Conn.:

34
Greenwood Press, 1977), pp. 452-53.
26
 
b e c o m e s i g n i f i c a n t . 35 D u r i n g t h e D e p r e s s i o n , w h e n j o b
security became a prime concern among salaried
professionals, the trade-union idea attracted interest
because professional societies were of no help in dealing
with the workers’ severe economic problems. Management
personnel often were well-represented among those who
determined policy in the societies, effectively eliminating
a n y c h a n c e t h a t t h e s o c i e t i e s c o u l d b e c o m e i n v o l v e d . 36 A n d t h e r e
were serious psychological barriers to white-collar workers’
acceptance of trade unions. According to Bernard Goldstein:
1. P r o f e s s i o n a l s i d e n t i f i e d m o r e w i t h t h e i r c o l l e a g u e s a n d w i t h
management than with industrial workers.
2. P r o f e s s i o n a l w o r k e r s ’ i d e a o f u n i o n i s m m a d e i t r e p u g n a n t t o
them; unions were seen as making emotional rather than
rational appeals.
3. A c o l l e c t i v e e f f o r t t o a c h i e v e i n d i v i d u a l w a n t s a n d r e w a r d s
b a s e d o n s e n i o r i t y r a n c o u n t e r t o t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l c r e e d . 37
These confused and contradictory feelings toward

union organizing were shared by journalists, including
35 Bernard Goldstein, “Some Aspects of the Nature of Unionism

A m o n g S a l a r i e d P r o f e s s i o n a l s i n I n d u s t r y, ” A m e r i c a n S o c i o l o g i c a l R e v i e w 2 0
(April 1935):199.
36 Ibid., pp. 201-02.
37 Ibid., p. 202.
27
C. C. Nicolet, who wrote, “Maybe we editorial men belong in the
p r o l e t a r i a t , b u t w e s t i l l f e e l M i d d l e - C l a s s . Ye t t h i s n e e d n o t k e e p
u s f r o m d e s i r i n g a s t r o n g l a b o r u n i o n . . . . ” 38
But the idea of collective action took some getting used
to:
One of the phenomena of the New Deal is the trend of

American newspapermen toward organization. Highly
individualistic, as a group disdainful of mere monetary gain,
sceptical of popular movements, proud of a calling which they
have elevated to a profession, any combination for mutual
interest two years ago would have been considered Quixotic,
i m p o s s i b l e . 39
Swallowing whatever professional pride they still possessed

in the face of the deepening Depression, journalists
embraced trade unionism and the hope it represented. It
was an extraordinary step, as Herbert Harris observed:
. . . the symbolic significance of the Guild can hardly be

overstressed. It represents a new awareness among a white-
c o l l a r, n a t i v e - b o r n , e x c e p t i o n a l l y w e l l - e d u c a t e d g r o u p , i m b u e d
w i t h a m i d d l e - c l a s s p s y c h o l o g y, t h a t i t s o w n e c o n o m i c s t a t u s
is neither more secure than nor superior to that of the
“ c o m m o n l a b o r e r ” i n o v e r a l l s o r d u n g a r e e . 40
That "new awareness" was not lost on the newspaper

publishers and the news executives. They contended that
New Deal legislation was putting limits on the rights of a
free press, and used the freedom of the press issue as a
38 N i c o l e t , A m e r i c a n M e r c u r y, p . 1 8 8 .
39 Goulding, Commonweal, p. 323.
40 Harris, p. 186.
28
 
rationale for opposing unionization of editorial
e m p l o y e e s . 41 B u t s o m e , i n c l u d i n g A l f r e d M c C l u n g L e e ,
had little sympathy for the argument that collective
bargaining endangered press freedom:
The trend toward economically stable monopolies in the daily

n e w s p a p e r i n d u s t r y, o b s e r v a b l e o v e r a l o n g p e r i o d o f y e a r s
and spurred on by many internal and external factors, is a
concern to those who think that relative press freedom is
worth preserving. In publishers’ noisy discussions of Freedom
of the Press, this trend is looked upon as a safeguard against
the invasion of their freedom to control their own newspapers,
of what they call Freedom of the Press. The publishers forget
or do not wish to know that a differentiation between
publishers’ Freedom of the Press and popular press freedom
occurs to many people. The publishers like to assume that no
one could furnish a “free” newspaper except an economic
m o n o p o l i s t o r n e a r - m o n o p o l i s t . 42
Most members of the American Newspaper Publishers

Association favored a hard line toward the guild, and, beginning in
1934, the association's Bulletin began advising the members on how
t o a v o i d g u i l d - s h o p c o n t r a c t a g r e e m e n t s . 4 3 L a t e r, J a m e s P o l l a r d ’ s
textbook on newspaper management cautioned that the guild
“presents something of a problem.” The author continued:
That certain conditions of employment in the newspaper

i n d u s t r y, e s p e c i a l l y a m o n g w h i t e - c o l l a r w o r k e r s , a r e f a r f r o m
w h a t t h e y s h o u l d b e n o o n e c a n d e n y. T h a t s o m e i m p r o v e m e n t
in these conditions is both desirable
41 E m e r y, p p . 2 1 8 - 1 9 .
42 Alfred McClung Lee, “Recent Developments in the Daily Newspaper

I n d u s t r y, ” P u b l i c O p i n i o n Q u a r t e r l y 2 ( J a n u a r y 1 9 3 8 ) : 1 3 3 .
43 E m e r y, p . 2 2 8 .
29
 
 
and necessary is generally admitted. That some form of

professional organization to raise the standards of training,
work, and employment would contribute to this end is more or
less self-evident. But whether the Guild as originally
organized and operated supplies the final answer is not
c l e a r. 4 4
The publishers’ association’s board of directors argued that

a guild shop--that is, including all editorial employees in the guild--
would result in biased news writing and be a violation of press
f r e e d o m . 4 5 T h a t v i e w a l s o h a d b e e n e x p r e s s e d b y M a r l e n P e w, t h e
p u b l i s h e r o f t h e t r a d e j o u r n a l E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, w h o s a i d t h a t n e w s
writers could not be union members and impartial reporters at the
s a m e t i m e . 4 6 T h e r e w e r e t h o s e , h o w e v e r, w h o d i s a g r e e d , i n c l u d i n g
C h a r l e s P. H o w a r d , t h e p r e s i d e n t o f t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l Ty p o g r a p h i c a l
Union, who pointed out that “even if formation of a union did make
reporters class-conscious, they would be coloring the news in the
interests of a much larger portion of the population than they had
f o r m e r l y. ” 4 7
Pew’s publication, nevertheless, at first was sympathetic
t o t h e p l i g h t o f t h e D e p r e s s i o n j o u r n a l i s t . A f t e r N e w Yo r k e d i t o r i a l
workers had organized themselves
J a m e s E . P o l l a r d , P r i n c i p l e s o f N e w s p a p e r M a n a g e m e n t ( N e w Yo r k :
44
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1937), p. 405.
45 E m e r y, p . 2 3 5 .
46 K e a t i n g , H a r p e r ’ s , p . 6 11 .
47 I b i d . , p . 6 11 .
30
in the late summer of 1933, Editor & Publisher seemed almost
supportive:
This and other evidence from the field this week indicated
unrest among editorial workers without parallel in our
m e m o r y. I t i s p l a i n t h a t n e w s w r i t e r s i n m a n y c o m m u n i t i e s ,
with some conspicuous exceptions, feel themselves imposed
on and that they must act to gain better material
consideration than during the past three years or more. . . .
Editorial men, generally speaking, have stood the brunt
of hard times. . . .
The abuses from which news writers have been suffering
in some offices, with well-known exceptions, are real and
s h o u l d b e c l e a n e d u p w h e t h e r t h e r e i s u n i o n i z a t i o n o r n o t . 48
The founding several months later of the national union was

similarly greeted by Editor & Publisher: “We are of the belief that the
G u i l d w i l l u s e i t s p o w e r j u s t l y, p r u d e n t l y a n d f i r m l y. S o m e r a t h e r
g l a r i n g i n s t a n c e s o f e c o n o m i c i n j u s t i c e n e e d t o b e c l e a n e d u p . ” 49
S o m e n e w s p a p e r p u b l i s h e r s a t f i r s t a p p e a r e d , i f n o t f r i e n d l y, a t
least not hostile toward the new union. The guild strategists thought
that Scripps-Howard, a newspaper chain that had enjoyed a
r e p u t a t i o n u n d e r t h e l a t e E . W. S c r i p p s a s a l i b e r a l , w o r k e r - o r i e n t e d
c o n c e r n , o f f e r e d t h e b e s t h o p e o f g o o d - f a i t h c o n t r a c t b a r g a i n i n g . 50
Roy Howard, the chain's guiding force at the time, initially avoided
48 “ N e w Yo r k G u i l d , ” E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, S e p t e m b e r 2 3 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 2 4 .
“ E n t e r N a t i o n a l G u i l d , ” E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r,
49
December 23, 1933, p. 22.
50 S c r i b n e r, N a t i o n , p . 6 9 9 .
31
 
 
endorsing or condemning the guild:

I think it would be absurd for us to say that we will, or will not,
recognize the newspaper guild at this stage of development.
These are not days for an I-will-or-I-won't state of mind on the
part of either employees or employers. These are changing
times and, as a newspaper concern which has prided itself on
its liberalism for nearly sixty years, we are not going to choose
this moment to close our minds to any idea merely because it
is new or may present some additional or extra difficult
problems. On the other hand, we are not going to be easily
rushed off our feet or hastily persuaded to adopt any course or
formula that may weaken or even destroy a free and
i n d e p e n d e n t p r e s s . 51
Bargaining at the Scripps-Howard papers, including a

half dozen in Ohio, would drag on for years before an
initial contract was signed, gaining for Roy Howard among
guild supporters a reputation for being anything but open-
minded. Writing in the New Republic, George Seldes took
Howard to task:
In his battles with the Newspaper Guild, Howard has also

played the deus-ex-machima racket. It had been expected that
the liberal Scripps-Howard outfit would be the first to sign
because it was the only newspaper chain whose official
program was support of labor and unionization. After a year of
negotiations the Guild accused Roy Howard of shadow-boxing,
s t a l l i n g a n d s t r a d d l i n g , w h i l e T h e N e w Yo r k P o s t , r e c o g n i z i n g
the union in mid-summer 1935, editorially suspected The
W o r l d - Te l e g r a m o f h y p o c r i s y i n i t s f i g h t t o c h a n g e t h e W a g n e r
l a b o r l a w a n d i t s f a i l u r e t o d e a l w i t h i t s e m p l o y e e s . 52
It was not surprising that the Post would skewer Roy

Howard. That newspaper was owned by J. David Stern, the
51 “Roy Howard Welcomes Guild--Opposes Union," The Guild

R e p o r t e r, J u n e 1 9 3 4 , p . 1 .
52 George Seldes, "Roy Howard," New Republic, July 27, 1938, p. 323.
32
 
publisher of the Philadelphia Record, who in 1934 signed the first

contract with the guild. Stern, disillusioned with the American
Newspaper Publishers Association's use of the press freedom issue
to justify its hard line in guild dealings, had quit the organization in a
huff:
Ever since the NRA code, the American Newspaper Publishers

Association has been using the pretext of protecting the
freedom of the press to gain special privileges in purely
business obligations. That is why I say you are endangering the
freedom of the press, one of the most important essentials of
our d e m o c r a c y. 53
Stern's approach to unionism was, to say the least, unusual

f o r a p u b l i s h e r. H e h a d " a l w a y s b e e n a n a d v o c a t e o f t r a d e
u n i o n i s m , " 54 a n d , u p o n b u y i n g t h e R e c o r d i n 1 9 2 8 , p r o c e e d e d t o
invite the workers to unionize because "It was much on my mind that
I w a s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r f a i r p l a y t o s o m a n y p e o p l e . ” 55
In 1932 the Record was solidly behind Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and it became evident to Don Wharton that the liberal
publisher's newspapers "and the New Deal are as inseparable in the
1 9 3 0 ' s a s t h e H e a r s t p r e s s a n d j i n g o i s m w e r e i n t h e 1 8 9 0 ' s . " 56
Perhaps New Dealer Stern thought it consistent, then, after having
organized his own
53 E m e r y, p . 2 3 5 .
54 J. David Stern, The Reminiscences, oral history transcript, Louis M.
S t a r r, i n t e r v i e w e r ( N e w Yo r k : C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 7 2 ) , p . 6 2 .
55 Ibid., p. 62.
Don Wharton, "J. David Stern," Scribner's,

56
December 1936, p. 45.
33
 
printers, pressmen and stereotypers, to rush into an agreement in

1934 with the Philadelphia guild. But guild members at the other
Philadelphia newspapers did not trust the Record unit, looking upon
membership and leadership alike as being too much under Stern's
i n f l u e n c e . 5 7 T h e r e w a s a s i m i l a r p e r c e p t i o n i n N e w Yo r k t h e
following year when the Post signed with the guild. Business Week
asserted that "The Guild did not win this contract by a struggle; it
r e c e i v e d i t a s a g i f t . " 58
Although J. David Stern was at first friendly toward the
guild, and although he deserves credit for having the courage to
break with the other publishers and become the first to sign a
guild contract, Stern's paternalistic approach to labor relations
and his cultivated image as a New Dealer caution against
l a b e l i n g h i m a h e r o f r o m t h e g u i l d p o i n t o f v i e w. W a s h e
motivated by genuine concern for his workers, or was he merely
seeking glory?
There is some evidence that Stern was mightily concerned
about his image. When Editor & Publisher reported the signing of
the first guild-Record contract, it also gave an account of how a
vacation clause came to be included. The guild wanted a
guarantee of two weeks'
57 Daniel J. Leab, A Union of Individuals (New Yo r k : Columbia

U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1 9 7 0 ) , p . 11 7 .
58 " G i f t o n a P l a t t e r, " B u s i n e s s W e e k , A u g u s t 3 , 1 9 3 5 , p . 2 2 .
34
 
paid vacation per year written into the contract, the story said, but
Stern opposed the provision. A guild negotiator named Mac Parker
proposed a game of chess to decide whether the clause would be
i n c l u d e d . S t e r n , a n a c c o m p l i s h e d p l a y e r, s a i d n o t h i n g , b u t g o t o u t
his chess set. Despite the protests of other guild negotiators, the
game got under way around midnight. Four hours later Stern
r e s i g n e d , c o n c e d i n g t o P a r k e r, " Yo u ' v e g o t m e , d a m m i t , y o u ' v e g o t
m e . " 59
The story is essentially substantiated in the oral history
transcript that Stern signed and approved in 1954, although Stern
was confused about the date of the negotiations:
In negotiating the second year's [sic] contract the question

of vacations was brought up by the Guild. I said we ought to
have a vacation clause, but because we were making so
many other changes that year I suggested we postpone the
v a c a t i o n c l a u s e u n t i l t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r. T h e i r c h i e f
n e g o t i a t o r. M a c P a r k e r, c a m e i n t o m y o f f i c e o n e n i g h t t o
argue the point. He proposed we play a game of chess and
that if he won I would give in on the vacation clause. Mac
Parker won. I merely cite this to show that in the early days
of the Guild there was none of the conflict and bitterness
w h i c h d e v e l o p e d l a t e r. 6 0
But in his 1962 memoirs. Stern, perhaps worried that the
story was no longer flattering, told a different version:
59 " $ 1 0 , 0 0 0 C h e s s G a m e , " E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, A p r i l 1 4 , 1 9 3 4 , p .

20.
60 Stern, Reminiscences, p. 64.
35
 
An apocryphal story went the rounds that Mac (A.

M c C . ) P a r k e r, c h a i r m a n o f t h e G u i l d n e g o t i a t i n g c o m m i t t e e ,
and I played a game of chess to decide whether a vacation
clause be included in the 1935 [sic] contract. Here is what
actually happened. Late one night Mac came to my office and
persuaded me to accept a vacation clause which merely
formalized what was already our practice. This business
finished, I invited Mac to play a game of chess. He won. Mac
went back to the newsroom to announce his two victories in
reverse: "I beat the boss at chess and I got the vacation
clause"--an example of how news can be twisted, even in a
newsroom. I mention the trivial incident because it indicates
my free and easy relations with the Guild those first two
y e a r s . 61
Stern's relations with the guild had begun todeteriorate by

1937, and Stern felt betrayed:
I expected gratitude for my gift of unionization. I should have

k n o w n b e t t e r. I s h o u l d h a v e s e c r e t l y m a n e u v e r e d t o l e t
unionization be forced upon me. . . . For gratitude is a two-
faced coin with "obligation" on the obverse. Most men resent
being placed under personal obligation. . . .
W h y d i d I n o t f o r e s e e t h a t o r g a n i z e d l a b o r, g r o w n s t r o n g ,
would be just as selfish and shortsighted as
m a n a g e m e n t ? 62
The divergent responses of Roy Howard and J. David Stern

to the emergence of an editorial employees union can be said to
represent the extremes. Other publishers chose positions of
r e s i s t a n c e o r n e u t r a l i t y, a n d a f e w, a d v o c a c y. S a i d J o s e p h M e d i l l
P a t t e r s o n , p u b l i s h e r o f t h e N e w Yo r k D a i l y N e w s , " I f I w e r e a
reporter myself, as I used to be, I would apply for membership in
61J . D a v i d S t e r n , M e m o i r s o f a M a v e r i c k P u b l i s h e r ( N e w Yo r k :
S i m o n & S c h u s t e r, 1 9 6 2 ) , p p . 2 8 6 - 8 7 .
62 Ibid., pp. 291, 303.
63 H e n r y F. P r i n g l e , " T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d , " S c r i b n e r ' s , J a n u a r y 1 , 1 9 3 9 ,

p. 23.
36
 
Some newspaper readers probably were aware of and

interested in the psychological tug-of-war going on between the
union organizers and the owners over the questions of fair
reporting by union members and unionism's effect on press
freedom. As John Scribner observed:
The newspaper guilds are already performing one great

service for the public. Newspaper readers who have not
been quite certain whether the papers they read were
published in the interests of the masses or of the privileged
are now being given revealing evidence. The actions of the
publishers in dealing with the local newspaper guilds are
indicating in an indisputable manner the social policies their
newspapers reflect. Few will be fooled by a newspaper that
professes liberal editorial policies but deals with the guild in
a r e a c t i o n a r y m a n n e r. 6 4
As the guild locals across the nation began to flex

their new muscles and the already strong newspaper owners
flexed back, sometimes R. S. Gilfillan's reasoned
statement of the guild's purpose was lost in the fray:
The American Newspaper Guild was not formed to bulldoze

the publisher out of his rights, privileges and profits in a
class conscious struggle, as has been charged; it was
formed to assert the rights of a vocational group and to
obtain an equitable recognition for the newspaper editorial
department worker both in remuneration for service rendered
and in the exercise of his natural privilege to raise the level
of his working standard to a higher degree than that
attainable without concerted a c t i o n . 65
64 S c r i b n e r, N a t i o n , p . 6 9 9 .
65 G i l f i l l a n , J o u r n a l i s m Q u a r t e r l y, p . 5 5 .
37
CHAPTER IV
OHIO IN THE FOREFRONT
The grass-roots movement that led to unionization of

newspaper editorial employees sprouted on August 2, 1933, in
the Cleveland Press newsroom. News arrived that President
R o o s e v e l t ' s N a t i o n a l R e c o v e r y a d m i n i s t r a t o r,
Gen. Hugh Johnson, had ruled that the newspaper publishing
b u s i n e s s w o u l d b e e x e m p t f r o m t h e e i g h t - h o u r - d a y, f i v e -
day-week requirements of the recovery act, and the
reaction among the Press workers was "instant disgust,
i n d i g n a t i o n , a n g e r. ” 1 E d i t o r i a l e m p l o y e e s t h a t s u m m e r h a d
suffered three pay cuts--first 15 percent, then another
10 percent, then another 10 percent--as the Scripps-Howard
chain saved money by reducing the salaries of non-union workers
helpless to do anything about it.
In their fury over the government's wages and hours
d i c t u m , a g r o u p o f e i g h t o r t e n i n c l u d i n g R o b e r t B o r d n e r,
w h o s e r v e d a s b o t h a r t e d i t o r a n d c o p y e d i t o r, c o m p o s e d a
telegram of protest to Johnson. They signed their full
names and "went home to bed that night not knowing whether
we had jobs the next morning or not."2 The signers were
1 R o b e r t B o r d n e r, " A D e l e g a t e R e c a l l s t h e F o u n d i n g M e e t i n g , " T h e
G u i l d R e p o r t e r, D e c e m b e r 2 6 , 1 9 5 8 , p . M 3 .
2 Ibid., p. M3.
38
 
especially apprehensive when Press editor Louis Seltzer

found out about the telegram and ordered one of the
firebrands, reporter and rewrite man Garland Ashcraft, to
report to his office in the morning. No action was taken
against Ashcraft, but Seltzer apparently succeeded in
throwing a scare into some of the other employees.3 That
he should is understandable, because job security did not
exist. Firings were frequent, sometimes at whim. Those
who wanted to keep their jobs were smart not to indicate
dissatisfaction with the long working hours, sometimes ten
t o e i g h t e e n a d a y, s i x d a y s a w e e k , w i t h n o o v e r t i m e p a i d
and no compensatory time off granted.4
Some of the dissatisfied employees began meeting
after work at Press photographer John Goski's apartment
to discuss their grievances. Before long, more Press
workers, as well as News and Plain Dealer employees, began
attending, forcing the group to find more spacious meeting
piaces--speakeasies, for instance.5 Heywood Broun's
A u g u s t 7 c o l u m n i n t h e N e w Yo r k W o r l d Te l e g r a m , " A U n i o n
of Reporters," had helped attract more people to the
meetings.6 Bordner later wrote that "Broun's column . . .
3 D a n i e l J . L e a b , A U n i o n o f I n d i v i d u a l s ( N e w Yo r k : C o l u m b i a
4 B o r d n e r, G u i l d R e p o r t e r, p . M 3
5 Leab, p. 49.
6 Ibid., p. 52.
39
 
let the world know something was going on and he was for it. We
suddenly became moderately respectable."7
A m e e t i n g w a s a r r a n g e d f o r S u n d a y, A u g u s t 2 0 , a t t h e
Hollenden Hotel to begin serious planning for a union of
Cleveland newspaper editorial workers. One hundred
two8 of the approximately 300 news workers employed by the three
big dailies attended the gathering that had been called by Lloyd
White, Garland Ashcraft and John Goski of the Press; Jack Haas,
A. H. Roberts and Frank O'Neil of the News; and Ralph Donaldson,
C h a r l e s S k i n n e r a n d W. G . L a v e l l e o f t h e P l a i n D e a l e r. 9
Immediately it became clear that although the organizers were set
on forming a union, most of those in the auditorium were afraid of
that idea of even of calling the organization a union. It was
decided, therefore, at that first meeting to call the group the
C l e v e l a n d E d i t o r i a l E m p l o y e e s A s s o c i a t i o n . 10
A n o t h e r m e e t i n g w a s h e l d t h e f o l l o w i n g S u n d a y. A
constitution that had been drafted during the week was proposed,
but the Plain Dealer contingent was unhappy because the
document had the earmarks of unionism. There was a fight, with
the majority favoring the constitution
7 B o r d n e r, G u i l d R e p o r t e r, p . M 3 .
8 Ibid., p. M3.
9 "Editorial Workers in Cleveland Organize Under Recovery Act,"
E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, A u g u s t 2 6 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 6 .
40
 
as it was. "The Plain Dealer group withdrew and washed

i t s h a n d s o f u s , " R o b e r t B o r d n e r r e m e m b e r e d . 11 W i t h i n a
few weeks the dissidents formed their own group, the Plain
D e a l e r E d i t o r i a l E m p l o y e e s A s s o c i a t i o n . 12 T h e P l a i n D e a l e r
unit had wanted the citywide association to take no action
on wages, hours, dues, initiation fees, affiliation with
other organizations, or constitutional amendments without
a majority vote that included at least a third of the
m e m b e r s h i p f r o m e a c h o f t h e t h r e e d i v i s i o n s . 13
Editor & Publisher reacted to the news of the Cleveland
organizing effort by saying, in effect, that it was about time news
workers acted in their own interests, but that they had was,
nevertheless, something of a surprise:
This is strange talk among editorial men. It is new in our

experience of more than 35 years. . . .
Some editorial men, whose lack of self interest has been
mistakenly interpreted as simplemindedness, have been
outrageously exploited. It would be remarkable if there were
no reaction. . . .
Does the Cleveland association presage the organization
of editorial workers in the United States? Are editorial
c r a f t s m e n r e a d y f o r u n i o n i z a t i o n ? W e d o u b t t h i s . 14
11 Ibid., p. M3.
12 Leab, pp. 53-54.
13 "Plain Dealer Employees Won't Join Cleveland Editorial

A s s o c i a t i o n , " E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, S e p t e m b e r 2 6 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 1 0 .
14 " E d i t o r i a l U n i o n s , " E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, A u g u s t 2 6 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 2 0 .
41
 
But ready they were. The newly organized Press and News
workers began writing to colleagues at other newspapers about the
labor uprising in Cleveland, enclosing membership applications and
c o p i e s o f t h e i r c o n s t i t u t i o n . 15 A s t h i s o r g a n i z i n g e f f o r t c o n t i n u e d
t h r o u g h S e p t e m b e r, O c t o b e r a n d N o v e m b e r, i n t e r e s t a t o t h e r
newspapers grew to the point that correspondence alone was not
an adequate means of answering questions and spreading the
word. Cleveland had sought to organize newspapers in the 107
United States cities of more than fifty thousand population by
d e v e l o p i n g a m a s t e r m a i l i n g l i s t , 16 b u t c l e a r l y w h a t w a s n e e d e d
now was to gather together representatives from newsrooms
interested in unionizing. Bordner and Ashcraft "put the heat on
H e y w o o d B r o u n " 17 t o s p o n s o r a n a t i o n a l m e e t i n g a n d t o b e c o m e
president if a national union were formed as a result. A convention
w a s c a l l e d f o r D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 1 9 3 3 , i n Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C .
In the meantime, managements at the Plain Dealer
and the News restored some of the pay that had been cut
before the activities of August, helping alleviate, at least
among Plain Dealer editorial workers, some of the
15 B o r d n e r, G u i l d R e p o r t e r, p . M 3
16 "Cleveland Guild Seeks to Form Groups in All Cities Above 50,000,"

E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, N o v e m b e r 2 5 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 1 2 .
42
 
d i s c o n t e n t . 1 8 D e s p i t e a s t a t e m e n t b y P a u l B e l l a m y, e d i t o r o f t h e
P l a i n D e a l e r, a c k n o w l e d g i n g t h a t n e w s p a p e r m e n u n d e r t h e l a w
had the right to organize and expressing hope that good would
come of it, the union organizers suspected that Bellamy and other
management officials on all three newspapers were working to
thwart them. The split involving the Plain Dealer workers was a
p r i m e t a r g e t o f t h e i r s u s p i c i o n . 19
In the fall of 1933, as the Cleveland Editorial Employees
Association worked to organize other cities, it was suggested by
J o n a t h a n E d d y o f t h e N e w Yo r k G u i l d t o o t h e r u n i t s t h a t , f o r
u n i f o r m i t y, t h e y c a l l t h e m s e l v e s " g u i l d s . " T h e C l e v e l a n d
membership voted on October 17 to adopt the name Cleveland
N e w s p a p e r G u i l d . 20
Of the thirty-seven delegates attending the
n a t i o n a l f o u n d i n g m e e t i n g i n D e c e m b e r, s i x w e r e f r o m
Ohio: Don Strouse, Akron; Victor Logan, Cincinnati; Ned
B r o o k s , Yo u n g s t o w n ; a n d R o b e r t B o r d n e r, I . L . K e n e n a n d
L l o y d W h i t e , C l e v e l a n d . B y p r o x y, K e n e n a l s o r e p r e s e n t e d
C o l u m b u s . 21 T h e s u c c e s s o f t h e m e e t i n g w a s n e v e r g u a r a n t e e d , a s
Bordner recalled:
18 Leab, p. 54.
19 Ibid., pp. 55-56.
20 Ibid., p. 89.
" T h e F o u n d i n g F a t h e r s , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, D e c e m b e r 2 6 ,
21
1958, p. M10.
43
 
Nobody knew even what kind of a union we were going to

s e t u p , if a n y. I h a d p r o x i e s f r o m a s c a t t e r i n g o f t o w n s i n
my pocket, the most interesting of which now was the one
from the circulation drivers of the Akron Beacon Journal,
whom I had organized one night. . . . I was for taking in
everybody in the newspaper business that nobody else
w a n t e d - - t h e r e a l u n o r g a n i z e d . 22
Wearied by their efforts to forge a national union, the

convention delegates were buoyed when Heywood Broun received
a c a l l f r o m t h e W h i t e H o u s e i n v i t i n g s o m e o f t h e g r o u p o v e r.
Bordner wrote:
T h e R o o s e v e l t c h a r m p u t u s a t i n f o r m a l e a s e i m m e d i a t e l y.
The guy was interested, seriously interested, in what we
w e r e u p t o . W e t o l d h i m w h a t w e h a d d o n e s o f a r, o u r p l a n s
for the future, our roadblock in Hugh Johnson. We stumbled
all over each other in trying to tell him everything at once.
He was particularly delighted that we had the guts to
t a c k l e t h e p u b l i s h e r s . H e k n e w t h e i r p o w e r. T h e y w e r e
seldom very friendly to him.
“Forget Johnson. Go ahead. My blessing on you and
more power to you,” Roosevelt said.
Exhausted an hour before, now we left the White House
w a l k i n g o n p i n k c l o u d s t h a t w i n t e r e v e n i n g . 23
T h e c o n v e n t i o n o v e r, t h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d
having been born, the Cleveland group moved swiftly to
claim recognition for the work it had done. On December
19, Bordner wrote to Heywood Broun, who had been chosen
president of the new union:
Because the Cleveland Press unit of the American

Newspaper Guild was the first formed in America, its
members request you formally for the first unit charter to be
23 Ibid., p. M4.
44
 
And because the Cleveland Newspaper Guild was the first local
guild to be formed, we respectfully apply for the first local guild
charter to be issued.
In other words, because we started the movement and have done
so much work to spread it nationally, and because we are one of the
most active in the country, we crave formal recognition by being
granted the two number one charters to be issued. 24
As a result, Cleveland became local No. 1 of the guild.
One researcher concluded that "Although the Cleveland group made

very important contributions to the creation of the American
N e w s p a p e r G u i l d , t h e m a j o r e f f o r t c a m e f r o m t h e N e w Yo r k C i t y
e d i t o r i a l w o r k e r s , t h e n p e r f e c t i n g t h e i r o w n o r g a n i z a t i o n . " 25 B u t c l e a r l y
the Clevelanders played a major role in the pre-convention organizing
and were not bashful about calling attention to that fact. Broun
graciously deferred to the Cleveland organizers in his Author's Note at
the beginning of a book of his favorite newspaper columns:
" A U n i o n o f R e p o r t e r s , " f r o m t h e W o r l d Te l e g r a m o f A u g u s t 7 ,
1933, was put in the book solely because it had some effect
in promoting the organization of the American Newspaper
Guild, although the movement was already under way in
C l e v e l a n d . 26
The Cleveland guild took the lead in helping news

workers in other Ohio cities organize their own locals
24 Robert Bordner to Heywood Broun, December 19, 1933, The American

Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cleveland 1933-6/34, Archives of Labor and
U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
25 Leab, p. 56.
H e y w o o d B r o u n , I t S e e m s t o M e 1 9 2 5 - 1 9 3 5 ( N e w Yo r k : H a r c o u r t ,
26
Brace and Co., 1935).
45
 
The national guild‘s first official letterhead listed fifty charter cities;
besides Cleveland they included Cincinnati, Columbus, Akron and
Yo u n g s t o w n . 2 7 C l e v e l a n d h e l p e d i n v a r y i n g d e g r e e s t o o r g a n i z e t h e
o t h e r f o u r, i n a d d i t i o n t o To l e d o . A l s o , C l e v e l a n d w a s b e h i n d t h e
efforts to establish a guild in Dayton, the only one of seven cities
studied that today does not have a guild editorial bargaining unit.
There was a good deal of additional correspondence directly between
t h e i n d i v i d u a l O h i o l o c a l s a n d t h e N e w Yo r k o r g a n i z e r s . T h e C l e v e l a n d
guild's early interest in spreading the word was evident in a November
1 9 3 3 l e t t e r f r o m t h e N e w Yo r k g u i l d ' s J o n a t h a n E d d y t o L l o y d W h i t e ,
president in Cleveland:
Thank you for accepting The Guild Reporter which will reach
you in a day or two. We are leaving it to you to distribute to
C i n c i n n a t i , A k r o n a n d Yo u n g s t o w n , a s w e l l a s a l l t h e n a m e s
you have collected in your organization campaign. We think
and hope that the Reporter will be of assistance to you in
organizing, and we are distributing it in Ohio through you
with the hope that you will help broaden Cleveland's scope
a s a c e n t r a l i z i n g p o i n t . 28
In Columbus, a guild was organized in December 1933, just before the

national union was founded in
27 “Guild Active in Numerous Cities; Pulitzer Protest Is

S u c c e s s f u l , " E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, F e b r u a r y 3 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 1 0 .
28 Jonathan Eddy to Lloyd White, November 24, 1933, The

American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32,
C l e v e l a n d 1 9 3 3 - 6 / 3 4 , A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A ff a i r s , Wa y n e S t a t e
U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
46
 
Wa s h i n g t o n . 29 N o t o n l y d i d C l e v e l a n d N e w s s t a ff e r K e n e n
represent Columbus at the first convention, but News activists
also worked to gain recognition of the Columbus guild by the
publishers of the Columbus Dispatch, as indicated by a letter
f r o m E d d y, t h e n e w n a t i o n a l s e c r e t a r y, t o E . O . F e h l h a b e r :
Heywood Broun turned over to me your telegram and his

telegram to the Wolfe brothers. As far as I have been able to
determine, the Wolfe brothers have ignored his telegrams. . .
.
. . .We shall wire them again in a couple of days asking if we
are to assume that their silence signifies disapproval of the
G u i l d . 30
Close ties to the Cleveland guild were one factor inthe

d e c i s i o n o f A k r o n n e w s w o r k e r s t o f o r m a u n i o n . 31 E v e n s o , a s
Editor & Publisher reported, the Akron group did not rush
headlong into the movement:
Organization of newspaper editorial workers in Akron is

awaiting the report of a committee of four named to study
the situation and the Cleveland organization with a view to
recommending a program for Akron.
The committee, composed of Charles Howard and Glen
Hancock of the Beacon Journal and Jack Reed and William
S h e n k e l o f t h e Ti m e s - P r e s s , h a s n o t m e t b u t i s e x p e c t e d t o
within the next few days.
D o n S t r o u s e o f t h e Ti m e s - P r e s s w a s t e m p o r a r y
29 “ G u i l d F o r m e d i n C o l u m b u s , " E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r. D e c e m b e r 2 3 , 1 9 3 3 ,
p. 8.
30 Jonathan Eddy to E. O. Fehlhaber of the Cleveland News, December

27, 1933, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cleveland
1 9 3 3 - 6 / 3 4 , A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y,
Detroit.
31 Akron Newspaper Guild, unsigned and undated transcript of

A k r o n g u i l d h i s t o r y.
47
 
chairman at the original meeting, attended by about 80

p e r c e n t o f t h e e d i t o r i a l w o r k e r s i n t h e c i t y. 3 2
I n Yo u n g s t o w n , t h e o f f i c e r s w a s t e d n o t i m e a f t e r t h e f o u n d i n g
c o n v e n t i o n i n f o r m a l l y c h e c k i n g i n w i t h N e w Yo r k . A D e c e m b e r 1 8
l e t t e r f r o m W. W. G r i f f i t h , Yo u n g s t o w n g u i l d c h a i r m a n , w a s a n s w e r e d
by Jonathan Eddy: "I believe this is the first contact the temporary
N a t i o n a l H e a d q u a r t e r s h a s h a d w i t h t h e Yo u n g s t o w n G u i l d . " 3 3 A c r o s s
t h e s t a t e i n To l e d o , t h e n e w l y o r g a n i z e d g u i l d m e m b e r s o n F e b r u a r y
4, 1934, heard Lloyd White of Cleveland explain the background
o f t h e n a t i o n a l u n i o n . 34
Some of the most interesting correspondence dealing with
local organizing concerns Dayton, where an early attempt did not
s u c c e e d . B y t h e e n d o f 1 9 3 4 , h o w e v e r, C l e v e l a n d a n d n a t i o n a l
guild officials were determined to reclaim the former Dayton
membership. An exchange of telegrams, letters and memos reveals
t h e p s y c h o l o g y o f u n i o n o r g a n i z i n g . W. M . " B i l l " D a v y, e x e c u t i v e
secretary of the Cleveland guild, contacted Curtis Lovely in
Dayton:
32 “ A k r o n S t u d i e s O r g a n i z a t i o n , " E d i t o r & P u b l i s h e r, S e p t e m b e r 9 ,
1 9 3 3 , p . 11 .
33 J o n a t h a n E d d y t o W. W. G r i f f i t h , Te l e g r a m ,
January 5, 1934, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 19, Folder 25,
A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
34 “ P u b l i s h e r s B l e s s N e w To l e d o G u i l d , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, F e b r u a r y
23, 1934, p. 3.
48
 
Congratulations on your renewed efforts to organize . . .

Suggest you get your small group of eight boys together this
afternoon and arrange for a Sunday meeting of everybody which
Fourth Region representatives will be glad to attend. . . . We
shall have boys who have been through the mill there with the
d o p e t o h e l p y o u o u t . . . . 35
Curtis responded:
Yo u r p r o m i s e t o s e n d m e n t o g i v e u s t h e f a c t s i s w h a t t h e b o y s
needed.
Journal Herald staff leery because their jobs have been
t h r e a t e n e d b u t b e l i e v e w e c a n g e t m o s t o f t h e m t o t h e m e e t i n g . 36
The day after the Dayton meeting, Davy reported to Eddy in

N e w Yo r k :
We had a real meeting there and signed up twenty-two

members. We had men from Columbus and Dayton on hand and
in addition to putting the Dayton Guild on its feet, we made
arrangements for a real meeting in Cincinnati sometime in the
near future at which time there will be men there from
L e x i n g t o n a n d L o u i s v i l l e , K e n t u c k y, P o r t s m o u t h , S p r i n g f i e l d a n d
Dayton, Ohio, and probably several other cities.
N o w a w o r d a b o u t D a y t o n . Yo u w i l l r e c a l l t h a t t h e r e w a s a
guild formed there long ago but what happened was that there
was not enough attention paid to it from the outside and
because of that they lost interest and the thing just died a
n a t u r a l d e a t h . W e d o n ' t p r o p o s e t o l e t t h a t h a p p e n t h i s t i m e . 37
35B i l l D a v y t o C u r t i s L o v e l y, Te l e g r a m , D e c e m b e r 11 , 1 9 3 4 , T h e
American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cleveland 7/34-12/34, Archives of
L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
36C u r t i s L o v e l y t o B i l l D a v y, Te l e g r a m , D e c e m b e r 11 , 1 9 3 4 , T h e
American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cleveland 7/34-12/34, Archives of
37 B i l l D a v y t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, D e c e m b e r 1 7 , 1 9 3 4 ,
The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cleveland 7/34-12/34,
49
 
W o r d s o f e n c o u r a g e m e n t f o r t h e D a y t o n i a n s a r r i v e d f r o m N e w Yo r k
a few days later in a letter from national treasurer Emmet Crozier:
This is just a brief note dictated in the rush and confusion of

the first Guild strike [in Newark, N.J.] to tell you how glad we
are that you boys have decided to form your own Guild and
join the ranks of about eight thousand newspapermen and
women in seventy cities throughout the United States.
We are going somewhere; we are going to get a better
break; and we are going to put a stop to the kicking around
we had at the hands of some publishers for the last sixty or
seventy y e a r s . 38
F i n a l l y, a n u n d a t e d m e m o f r o m G a r l a n d A s h c r a f t t o J o n a t h a n
Eddy--one organizer to another--sums up the Dayton
experience:
Not for public quotation: The technique of organizing is the

technique of speed, the strong arm, the mailed fist, the
r i g g e d m e e t i n g , e t c . P r i v a t e l y, i t w a s a n i n t e l l e c t u a l c r i m e t h e
way we railroaded that thing in Dayton. The boys had a Guild,
were in it, signed up and everything, before some of them
realized it. When the publishers awoke Monday morning and
found a full fledged Guild in their local rooms, there wasn't
a n y m o r e i n t i m i d a t i o n . N o t y e t a n y w a y . 39
A s i m i l a r s i t u a t i o n c a m e u p t h a t y e a r i n Yo u n g s t o w n , w h e r e
the original chapter foundered and the local leadership sought
r e o r g a n i z a t i o n h e l p . W. W. G r i f f i t h a d v i s e d J o n a t h a n E d d y, " A t l e a s t
we have the boys interested to a
38 E m m e t C r o z i e r t o J i m H e n r y, D e c e m b e r 2 1 , 1 9 3 4 ,
The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Dayton, Ohio 1933-43, Archives of
Sam Kuczun, "History of the American Newspaper Guild" (Ph.D.

39
dissertation. University of Minnesota, 1970), pp. 25-26. The author did not cite
his source.
50
 
new pitch here and are holding a meeting Thursday night.

C l e v e l a n d a n d A k r o n i s [ s i c ] c o m i n g o v e r t o h e l p . " 40
Bill Davy's report to Eddy the day after the meeting sounded
much like Ashcraft's:
W e h a d a r e a l m e e t i n g d o w n a t Yo u n g s t o w n l a s t n i g h t . I ' m
sure those boys will stay put from this time on. They'll pay
dues, attend meetings, and act like all newspaper men and
women ought to act that are not dead above the ears. It's just
a q u e s t i o n o f g o i n g a b o u t i t i n t h e r i g h t w a y, a n d t h e n g i v i n g
them a damned fine kick in the pants. They really are a nice
crowd and as I said before I'm sure they will be an up-an-
c o m i n ' u n i t f r o m n o w o n . 41
In Ohio as elsewhere, low pay and poor working

conditions were common in newspaper editorial offices.
When news workers began to organize, management was generally
friendly--until it became clear that a labor union, not a professional
s o c i e t y, w a s b e i n g f o r m e d . T h a t r e a l i z a t i o n a l s o c a u s e d s o m e
backlash among recruits who either did not approve of the union
i d e a o r f e a r e d t h e y w o u l d b e f i r e d f o r d i s l o y a l a c t i v i t y. O n e To l e d o
newspaperman, an acquaintance of Jonathan Eddy who formerly
h a d w o r k e d i n N e w Yo r k , a d v i s e d E d d y o f t h e c o n f u s e d situation:
40 W. W. G r i f f i t h t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, M a y 1 4 , 1 9 3 4 , T h e A m e r i c a n
Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 19, Folder 25, Archives of Labor and Urban
A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
41 B i l l D a v y t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, M a y 1 8 , 1 9 3 4 , T h e A m e r i c a n
Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cleveland 1933-6/34, Archives of
51
 
Salaries out here seem bad to me, but I may still be judging
b y N e w Yo r k s t a n d a r d s . T h e o t h e r m e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m i t t e e
b e l i e v e t h a t s a l a r i e s h e r e a r e n o w o r s e t h a n t h e y a r e i n , s a y,
Cleveland or Detroit. The Scripps-Howard management is
friendly to the guild idea, the managing editor having asked
several times why we do not organize. . . . We appreciate the
fact that we have a legal right to organize, but there seems to
be considerable hesitancy among the editorial personnel, at
l e a s t p a r t o f w h i c h i s b a s e d o n a f o r m o f f e a r.
How do you go about selling the idea of a guild to
reporters who might hang back either from a lofty idea of their
o w n i m p o r t a n c e o r f r o m t i m i d i t y ? 42
Organizing was difficult in Columbus, where the

Ohio State Journal, the Sunday Star and the Dispatch were
o w n e d b y t h e W o l f e f a m i l y, w h i c h a l s o h a d i n t e r e s t s i n
b a n k s , r a d i o s t a t i o n s a n d a s h o e f a c t o r y. T h e G u i l d
Reporter explained:
The Wolfe family has been good to its employees. Christmas

bonuses, assistance in case of sickness and death and the
like are common.
The workers, in turn, believe that the bosses think that
this should satisfy and that no grateful employee would join
a g u i l d . 43
Nevertheless, Columbus guild officers had been assured by

t o p e d i t o r i a l m a n a g e r s - - N o r m a n K u e h n e r, D i s p a t c h m a n a g i n g
editor; J. A. Meckstroth, Journal editor; and Edwin Evans,
editor of the Scripps-Howard Citizen--that management was
42 D o n a l d M . P o n d t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, J a n u a r y 2 2 ,
1933, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 13, Folder 43,
43 " C o l u m b u s D i s c o v e r s M o r e Te r r i t o r y, " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r.
December 15, 1934, p. 10.
52
 
f r i e n d l y t o w a r d t h e g u i l d m o v e m e n t . 44
I n Yo u n g s t o w n , t h e m e m b e r s h i p w r e s t l e d w i t h t h e l a b o r u n i o n -
professional organization question, and went on record as considering
i t s e l f b o t h . 45 B u t m e m b e r s a l s o c o m p l a i n e d t h a t t h e s i x t e e n - d o l l a r
m i n i m u m w a g e f o r n e w s w o r k e r s i n a Yo u n g s t o w n - s i z e c i t y p r o p o s e d
b y t h e N a t i o n a l R e c o v e r y A d m i n i s t r a t i o n c o d e w a s n o t e n o u g h . 46
M o r e o v e r, w o r k i n g h o u r s b e c a m e a m a j o r c o n c e r n . T h e Yo u n g s t o w n
guild's Bill Gray wrote:
T h e Te l e g r a m b o y s a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e h o u r s
situation, which is very bad. Their daily average is 10 hours,
and their weekly 60. One reporter puts in 78 hours a week.
T h e l o w e s t m a r k i s 4 8 . T h e o t h e r s r u n f r o m 5 5 t o 6 0 . 47
W h e n To l e d o B l a d e , N e w s - B e e a n d T i m e s n e w s w o r k e r s
organized in February 1934, there was no opposition from
management. In fact, the editor of the Paul Block-owned Blade, Grove
P a t t e r s o n , p r a i s e d t h e p r o p o s e d o r g a n i z a t i o n i n h i s " Wa y o f t h e
World" column. Scripps-Howard’s News-Bee also lauded editorially the
g u i l d p l a n . 48
44 “ C o l u m b u s D r i v e s f o r 1 0 0 P e r C e n t , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, A p r i l 1 9 3 4 ,
p. 6.
4 5 " G u i l d I s P l a c e d O n 2 - P l y B a s i s B y Yo u n g s t o w n , "
T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 5 .
46 Ibid., p. 5.
B i l l G r a y, Yo u n g s t o w n g u i l d p r e s i d e n t , t o N e w Yo r k h e a d q u a r t e r s ,
47
February 28, 1936, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 19, Folder 29,
48 T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, F e b r u a r y 2 3 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 3 .
53
In the fall of 1933 when editorial staff members of the Akron
B e a c o n J o u r n a l a n d t h e Ti m e s - P r e s s w e r e h o l d i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n a l
meetings at the city's Mayflower Hotel, enthusiasm was high. But
some of the 120 members who originally had signed up "dropped out
when it was decided the organization's main purpose would be
collective bargaining. Some had originally thought of it as a sort of
p r o f e s s i o n a l f r a t e r n i t y. ” 4 9 L i k e m a n a g e m e n t p e r s o n n e l a t o t h e r
newspapers. Beacon Journal president and editor John S. Knight
misinterpreted the mission of the guild, going so far as to join the
A k r o n l o c a l . L a t e r, i n f o r m e d b y J o h a t h a n E d d y t h a t h e w a s i n e l i g i b l e
for membership, Knight wrote, "Not wishing to cause you any
e m b a r r a s s m e n t w h a t s o e v e r, I a m v e r y g l a d t o c o m p l y w i t h y o u r
s u g g e s t i o n t h a t I w i t h d r a w f r o m t h e A k r o n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d . " 50 F o r t y -
seven years later Knight wrote, "I did indeed view [the guild] as a
professional organization rather than a labor union. That is why I
b e c a m e a m e m b e r. . . . ” 5 1
49 H a r o l d Ta y l o r, " A k r o n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d H i s t o r y, " 1 9 5 5 t y p e s c r i p t ,
A k r o n g u i l d f i l e s , p . 1 . Ta y l o r w a s t h e f o u n d i n g s e c r e t a r y o f t h e A k r o n g u i l d .
50 J o h n S . K n i g h t t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, A p r i l 2 6 , 1 9 3 4 , T h e A m e r i c a n
Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 31, Folder 34, Archives of Labor and Urban
A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
51 J o h n S . K n i g h t t o R o g e r M e z g e r, L e t t e r, A p r i l 1 6 ,
1981.
54
 
 
There was some management support for the founding of a

guild at the Cincinnati papers too, although it quickly vanished.
H u l b e r t Ta f t , m e m b e r o f a p o l i t i c a l l y p o w e r f u l f a m i l y a n d p u b l i s h e r
o f t h e T i m e s - S t a r, b e c a m e a b i t t e r o p p o n e n t o f t h e g u i l d i n
contract negotiations despite confessing:
My own feeling is that the publishers have done a good many

things to make possible the formation of a strong labor union
movement among a group which would not by nature swing in
t h a t d i r e c t i o n . 52
A t S c r i p p s - H o w a r d ' s P o s t , a n e w m a n a g i n g e d i t o r,
J o e E . To r b e t t , h a d b e e n h i r e d e a r l y i n 1 9 3 3 a n d g i v e n b r o a d
powers to hire and fire. In the editorial department, by one
account, "he fired about eight and threw many
m e n i n t o p a n i c . " 5 3 N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t w a s To r b e t t w h o l a t e r
that year suggested that his employees start a guild,
w h i c h h e t o o p r o b a b l y p e r c e i v e d a s a p r o f e s s i o n a l s o c i e t y.
A Post staff member wrote to Heywood Broun about it:
O u r m a n a g i n g e d i t o r To r b e t t t e l l s m e y o u a r e o r g a n i z i n g a
national union of newspapermen. I have been asked to start
one going here, inasmuch as we have assurance that the
employers would offer no resistance and, in fact, indicate a
w i l l i n g n e s s t o c o o p e r a t e . 54
“The Newspaper Guild Attains Man's Stature," Literary Digest, July

52
28, 1934, p. 30.
53 M a x S i e n , C i n c i n n a t i g u i l d , t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, u n d a t e d L e t t e r, T h e
American Newspaper Guild Collection,
B o x 3 2 , C i n c i n n a t i 1 9 3 3 - 3 5 , A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A ff a i r s , Wa y n e S t a t e
54 A l f r e d S e g a l t o H e y w o o d B r o u n , u n d a t e d L e t t e r,
The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cincinnati 1933-35,
55
Indeed, publishers and editors attended the dinner in
J a n u a r y 1 9 3 4 a t w h i c h t h e C i n c i n n a t i g u i l d w a s f o r m a l l y o r g a n i z e d . 55
But William Wiley, publisher and president o f t h e E n q u i r e r, h a r b o r e d n o
f o n d n e s s f o r u n i o n i s m , h a v i n g o n c e r e f e r r e d t o t h e Wa g n e r L a b o r
R e l a t i o n s A c t a s " o n e o f t h e m o s t o b n o x i o u s b i l l s . ” 56 H e w a s s a i d
to have “frightened off some 20 Guild members on his staff by
covert intimidation, spreading his warning through minor
e x e c u t i v e s a n d j u n i o r e d i t o r s . ” 57 T h e g u i l d o ff i c i a l w h o s o
c h a r a c t e r i z e d W i l e y h a d t h i s t o s a y a b o u t t h e Ti m e s - S t a r a n d i t s
publisher:
Approximately the same number from the TImes-Star were

frightened away from the Guild. The latter paper is heavily
s a t u r a t e d w i t h s a c r e d c o w s - - s o c i a l p r o t e g e s o f H u l b e r t Ta f t - -
and pensioners. Over them all has been cast a paternalistic
p a l l . O n t h e l a t t e r p a p e r, t o o , t h e r e w e r e d e f i n i t e o r d e r s f r o m
P u b l i s h e r Ta f t , e x p r e s s e d a g a i n t h r o u g h e x e c u t i v e s a n d s u b -
editors, to get away from the G u i l d . 58
T h e r e s i s t a n c e o f t h e E n q u i r e r a n d Ti m e s - S t a r
m a n a g e m e n t s , c o m b i n e d w i t h t h e i r e m p l o y e e s ' a p a t h y,
prevented effective organizing at those papers. The
Cincinnati guild, as a result, came to represent only
55“ C i n c i n n a t i P u b l i s h e r s G e t B i d t o G u i l d R a l l y, "
T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, J a n u a r y 1 2 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 4 .
56
57 S i e n t o E d d y.
58 Ibid.
56
 
 
P o s t e m p l o y e e s a n d s o m e n o n - e d i t o r i a l Ti m e s - S t a r p e r s o n n e l . A
local officer explained to Jonathan Eddy:
As at first constituted, it contained about 25 percent of the

Ti m e s - S t a r ’s a n d E n q u i r e r ’s editorial workers and almost 100
percent of The Post's. So it represented only a minority of the
newspaper workers of Cincinnati and was without credentials
to address the local publishers in behalf of all the workers.
( M a n y o f t h e Ti m e s - S t a r a r e o l d i n y e a r s a n d s e r v i c e
and feared they might endanger their safe and comfortable
positions if they joined the Guild. Enquirer men were cowed by a
union-hating publisher who is president of the Chamber of
C o m m e r c e . ) 59
Once a guild local became established, it sought to open
contract talks with one or more of the publishers in town. Because
the Cleveland chapter had a more sophisticated operation than the
others, it is not surprising that Cleveland was the first to bargain
for a signed agreement. In the spring of 1934 both the Press and
the News units attempted to open negotiations, seeking pay raises
of 19 percent to 33 percent at a time when most members were
m a k i n g b e t w e e n f i f t e e n a n d t h i r t y - f i v e d o l l a r s a w e e k . 60
But when this move failed, the guild, realizing that it might have
to strike to win its demands, decided to take on the weaker of the
t w o p a p e r s , t h e N e w s . 61 I t , l i k e t h e
59 A l f r e d S e g a l t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, u n d a t e d L e t t e r,
The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cincinnati 1933-35, Archives
o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
60 " C l e v e l a n d C a l l s f o r P a y I n c r e a s e s , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, M a y 1 9 3 4 ,
p. 3.
61 Leab, p. 169.
57
 
n o n - g u i l d P l a i n D e a l e r, w a s o w n e d b y F o r e s t C i t y P u b l i s h i n g
C o m p a n y.
N e g o t i a t i o n s w i t h t h e N e w s b e g a n d u r i n g t h e s u m m e r, w i t h
the guild demanding a closed shop, forty-five dollars a week
minimum pay for those with two or more years' experience,
o v e r t i m e p a y, e i g h t c e n t s a m i l e f o r r e p o r t e r s w h o u s e d t h e i r o w n
cars on assignments, written notice of dismissal, and vacation
t i m e . 62 T h e c l o s e d - s h o p d e m a n d a n g e r e d D a n R . H a n n a , p u b l i s h e r
and president of the News, who said he never would sign such an
a g r e e m e n t . 63
Though Hanna denied that he was trying to weaken the
guild's negotiating effort, he offered pay raises soon
after the talks began. But the guild rejected the money so as not to
become sidetracked in its quest for a contract that addressed
c o n c e r n s b e s i d e s m o n e y. 6 4 R e c o g n i z i n g t h a t t h e g u i l d w a s b e i n g
stalled and that the idea of striking the News was becoming more
popular among the members, Garland Ashcraft wrote to Jonathan Eddy
that "Unless something unforeseen happens you are going to have
either a strike on the News by September 1 latest, or you'll see
“ C l e v e l a n d U n i t S e e k s C o n t r a c t W i t h t h e N e w s , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r,
62
September 1934, p. 3.
63 Ibid., p. 3.
64 " C l e v e l a n d U n i t R e j e c t s R a i s e s , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, N o v e m b e r 1 ,
1934, p. 1.
58
 
t h e N e w s u n i t g o t o p i e c e s . ” 65
A f t e r f i v e m o n t h s o f n e g o t i a t i o n s , h o w e v e r, a c o m p r o m i s e
was reached, and Ohio's first guild contract was signed in December
1934. It provided for a minimum salary of forty dollars a week after four
y e a r s ' e x p e r i e n c e ; a f i v e - d a y, f o r t y - h o u r w o r k w e e k f o r a l l b u t t h e
editor-in- chief, the managing editor and any six employees to be
designated by the publisher; a pledge to negotiate jointly with the
Press the issue of a closed shop; time off or straight pay for overtime
w o r k ; a g r i e v a n c e c o m m i t t e e ; a n d s e v e r a n c e p a y. A l t h o u g h v a c a t i o n s
and sick leave were not written into the contract, Hanna gave his word
t h a t t h e y w o u l d b e g r a n t e d . 66 T h e c o n t r a c t , s i g n e d b y L l o y d W h i t e f o r
the guild, left much to be desired. For example, employees with less
than four years' experience were guaranteed only twenty dollars a
w e e k . 67 N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e a g r e e m e n t , w h i c h r e m a i n e d i n e ff e c t f o r 2 8
months, represented the most important guild victory since the almost
uncontested signing in April with J. David Stern's Philadelphia Record.
The News contract was praised as "a signal advance for the Guild. It is
a contract won in the
65 Kuczun, p. 49.
66 A. H. Roberts, "Cleveland Contract Wins 5-Day Week, Sets $40
M i n i m u m , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, J a n u a r y 1 ,
1935, p. 1.
67 Cleveland News, summary of first contract. The American

Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 53, Archives of
59
 
face of opposition and it is the first breach in the

p u b l i s h e r s ' s o l i d f r o n t o f u n c o m p r o m i s i n g h o s t i l i t y. ” 6 8 S i x
w e e k s a f t e r t h e s i g n i n g , h o w e v e r, t h e w o r t h l e s s n e s s o f
promises made during negotiations that were not translated
i n t o c o n t r a c t l a n g u a g e b e c a m e c l e a r. A l t h o u g h h e h a d m a d e
a p l e d g e t o t h e c o n t r a r y, H a n n a f i r e d f o u r t e e n s t a f f
members, and the guild was powerless to do anything about
it. The stinging realization was that a gentleman's
a g r e e m e n t a f f o r d e d n o p r o t e c t i o n w h a t s o e v e r. 6 9
With the News now having bargained with the guild, the
pressure was on the Cleveland Press and other Scripps-Howard
p a p e r s i n A k r o n , C i n c i n n a t i , C o l u m b u s , To l e d o a n d Yo u n g s t o w n t o
bargain, too. But guild leaders soon found that negotiating with
papers owned by chains was slow because central management
had to be kept informed of the progress; therefore, the guild
established councils to deal directly with the managements of
e a c h c h a i n . 70 S t i l l , t h e r e w e r e p r o b l e m s . T h e c h a i r m a n o f t h e
guild's Scripps-Howard council, Max Sien of Cincinnati, had to
encourage council members to circulate more rapidly among
Lawrence Brown, "The Press Faces A Union," New Republic,

68
January 23, 1935, p. 298.
69 "Cleveland News Breaks Pledge Against Firing," The Guild

R e p o r t e r, F e b r u a r y 1 5 , 1 9 3 5 , p . 7 .
Lore Prausnitz Jarmul, "The American Newspaper Guild: A Case

70
S t u d y o f a W h i t e C o l l a r U n i o n " ( M a s t e r ' s t h e s i s . B r o w n U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 ) , p .
25.
60
 
themselves the latest news regarding negotiations:
Throughout the S-H Chain Council negotiations are either

under way or in the formative stage. Everyone seems to be
o p e r a t i n g i n d i v i d u a l l y a n d p e r h a p s a b i t b l i n d l y. N o w h e r e
does there seem to be much knowledge of the day-to-day
progress of this important business of bargaining
c o l l e c t i v e l y. Ye t e v e r y w h e r e t h e r e i s u n q u e s t i o n a b l y a
tremendous hunger for information.
Now let's whip out a plan to supply this
i n f o r m a t i o n . 71
Scripps-Howard signed its first contract with the guild, a one-

y e a r a g r e e m e n t , a t t h e C l e v e l a n d P r e s s i n F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 6 72 a f t e r
t h i r t e e n m o n t h s o f b a r g a i n i n g w i t h e d i t o r L o u i s B . S e l t z e r. T h e G u i l d
R e p o r t e r a b s o l v e d S e l t z e r o f b l a m e f o r t h e d e l a y, c i t i n g i n s t e a d t h e
problems associated with chain negotiations:
The difficulties of carrying on negotiations resulted not from

a n y f a i l u r e o n t h e p a r t o f t h e l o c a l e d i t o r, w h o w a s p r o m p t i n
all his relations with the Guild, but from dealing with a large
organization involving many factors outside those on the
local newspaper and necessitating action by an absentee
o w n e r s h i p . 73
Like the News contract before it, the Press agreement was
considered by some in the guild to be a most significant advance. It
established collective bargaining for editorial
71 Max Sien to Scripps-Howard council members, July 28, 1936, The

American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cincinnati 1936-39, Archives of
72 Cleveland Press, first contract. The Newspaper Guild files,

Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C .
" S c r i p p s - H o w a r d S i g n s P a c t i n C l e v e l a n d , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r,
73
March 1, 1936, p. 1.
61
 
e m p l o y e e s a s a p o l i c y o f t h e m i g h t y S c r i p p s - H o w a r d c h a i n . 74 P r o v i s i o n s
of the contract were similar to those negotiated at the News, with
minimum pay rates set at forty dollars a week after three years and
t w e n t y - f i v e d o l l a r s f o r b e g i n n e r s . 75 T h e m a j o r o b j e c t i o n t o t h e P r e s s
agreement among union officials was a clause that said, "The principle
to be established here is that this accord is not in fact or in intent a so-
c a l l e d ' t r a d e s - u n i o n c o n t r a c t , ' b u t a f r i e n d l y, r e c i p r o c a l
a r r a n g e m e n t . . . . " 76
Seven more Ohio newspapers--four of them owned by
Scripps-Howard--signed guild contracts in 1937. All the agreements
r e m a i n e d i n e f f e c t f o r o n e y e a r e x c e p t Yo u n g s t o w n ' s , w h i c h w a s
honored for thirty-nine months. In Akron, the guild, which was
enjoying the guidance and support of the many national labor union
leaders--including John L. Lewis, Allen Haywood and Norman
H a p g o o d J r. - - w h o h a d b e e n c h e c k i n g i n t o t o w n d u r i n g t h e f o r m a t i o n
o f t h e U n i t e d R u b b e r W o r k e r s , 77 s a w d i ff e r e n c e s d e v e l o p b e t w e e n
the two units as it began to seem that employees of John S. Knight's
Beacon Journal were likely to do better in bargaining than the
workers at Scripps-Howard's
74 Ibid., p. 1
75 Ibid.
76 Cleveland Press, first contract.
77 Ta y l o r, p . 1 .
62
 
T i m e s - P r e s s . 7 8 T h a t w a s a f a u l t y a s s u m p t i o n , h o w e v e r. A l t h o u g h t h e
B e a c o n J o u r n a l s i g n e d t h r e e m o n t h s e a r l i e r t h a n t h e Ti m e s - P r e s s , t h e
latter agreed to pay higher minimum rates: $42.50 after three years'
experience versus $37.50 at the Beacon Journal, and $22.50 for
b e g i n n e r s v e r s u s $ 2 0 . 0 0 . 79 B o t h c o n t r a c t s e s t a b l i s h e d a f o r t y - h o u r
week, severance pay upon dismissal, equal time off or straight pay for
overtime work, and six cents a mile for reporters using their own cars on
a s s i g n m e n t s . T h e Ti m e s - P r e s s c o n t r a c t h a d s e v e r a l a d d e d f e a t u r e s :
Death-benefit, sick- leave and vacation clauses. The Beacon Journal
declined to include specific vacation and sick-pay obligations in its
contract, instead pledging to maintain the informal policy of granting two
w e e k s ' v a c a t i o n p e r y e a r a n d s i c k p a y f o r a r e a s o n a b l e t i m e . 80
T h e Yo u n g s t o w n g u i l d c o n t i n u e d h a v i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n a l p r o b l e m s
after its 1934 difficulties. The chapter went out of existence in May
1 9 3 6 a n d w a s r e o r g a n i z e d t h a t f a l l . 81
78 Leab, p. 149.
79 Akron Beacon Journal, first contract, The Newspaper Guild files,

Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . ; A k r o n Ti m e s - P r e s s , f i r s t c o n t r a c t , T h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r
G u i l d C o l l e c t i o n , B o x 4 8 , A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A ff a i r s , Wa y n e S t a t e
80 Ibid.
81 R .B r u c e S t a f f o r d , Yo u n g s t o w n g u i l d , t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, O c t o b e r 3 1 ,
1936, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 19, Folder 30, Archives of
63
 
I n t h e s u m m e r o f 1 9 3 6 t h e Yo u n g s t o w n V i n d i c a t o r a b s o r b e d S c r i p p s -
H o w a r d ' s Te l e g r a m b e f o r e e i t h e r h a d s i g n e d a g u i l d c o n t r a c t . 8 2 T h e
r e j u v e n a t e d g u i l d d i d p r o c e e d t o n e g o t i a t e w i t h t h e V i n d i c a t o r, s i g n i n g
a contract In May 1937 that Included the standard benefits and set
minimum salaries at forty dollars a week after three years' experience
a n d t w e n t y - f i v e d o l l a r s f o r b e g i n n e r s . H o w e v e r, e m p l o y e e s I n t h e
paper ’s Society Department were to be paid $7.00 to $12.50 less per
week than those figures and were not covered by the forty-hour-week
c l a u s e . 83
I n To l e d o , t h e g u i l d e a r l i e r h a d e n j o y e d s a l a r y
increases at the Blade, and the News-Bee in 1934 Informally
agreed to pay beginners twenty dollars a week and experienced news
w o r k e r s f o r t y d o l l a r s a f t e r f i v e y e a r s . 84 A f e w m o n t h s l a t e r t h e
bargaining unit went back to the publishers, seeking a contract that
would provide pay Increases of twenty percent over the September
1 9 3 4 l e v e l s ; a f i v e - d a y, f o r t y - h o u r w e e k ; s e v e r a n c e p a y, a n d a n
82 S t a n l e y E . W o l f e , Yo u n g s t o w n g u i l d p r e s i d e n t , t o J o n a t h a n E d d y,
February 28, 1937, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 19, Folder 22,
83 Yo u n g s t o w n V i n d i c a t o r, f i r s t c o n t r a c t , T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d f i l e s ,
84 " G u i l d i n To l e d o W i n s P a y R a i s e s F r o m 2 P a p e r s , " T h e G u i l d
R e p o r t e r, O c t o b e r 1 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 1 .
64
 
a r b i t r a t i o n b o a r d f o r g r i e v a n c e s . 85 T h i s r e n e w e d a c t i v i t y c a m e a b o u t
a f t e r g u i l d l e a d e r s f r o m C l e v e l a n d a n d A k r o n w e n t t o To l e d o t o w a r n
the membership not to be satisfied with money alone but also to be
c o n c e r n e d a b o u t j o b s e c u r i t y. 8 6 L o c a l g u i l d s e c r e t a r y R . P. O v e r m y e r
said the membership realized that the publishers' largesse was
intended to douse the fire of unionism during bargaining, that the pay
r a i s e s h a d b e e n " u n q u e s t i o n a b l y a r e s u l t o f o u r n e g o t i a t i o n s " 87 f o r a
c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o n t r a c t . T h e P a u l B l o c k Ti m e s a n d t h e N e w s - B e e
agreed to terms with the guild in the spring of 1937. The News-Bee
agreement established a top-minimum salary of $42.50 a week after
three years and provided overtime compensation of equal time off or
s t r a i g h t p a y f o r t h e h o u r s w o r k e d . T h e Ti m e s c o n t r a c t p u t t h e t o p
minimum at fifty dollars after six years, set the rate of pay for overtime
at one and one-half times the regular hourly rate, and allowed for paid
h o l i d a y s . 88 T h e f i r s t c o n t r a c t s i g n e d b y P a u l B l o c k ' s
" To l e d o P u b l i s h e r s A s k e d t o C o n f e r, " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r,
85
October 1, 1934, p. 1.
To l e d o S t i r r e d b y F l y i n g S q u a d , " T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r,
86
October 15, 1934, p. 6.
87R . P. O v e r m y e r t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, S e p t e m b e r 2 9 ,
1933, The American Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 13,
F o l d e r 4 8 , A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
88 To l e d o T i m e s , f i r s t c o n t r a c t , T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d f i l e s , W a s h i n g t o n ,
D . C . ; To l e d o N e w s - B e e , f i r s t c o n t r a c t , T h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d C o l I e c t i o n ,
B o x 4 9 , A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
65
 
B l a d e , i n 1 9 3 8 , w a s e s s e n t i a l l y t h e s a m e a s a t t h e Ti m e s . 89
The Columbus Citizen's initial agreement with the guild gave

the Scripps-Howard paper the right to schedule employees for five
eight-hour days, or for five seven-hour days alternating with six
seven-hour days. Those with three years' experience were
g u a r a n t e e d m i n i m u m p a y o f f o r t y d o l l a r s a w e e k . 90 T h e C i t i z e n n e w s
workers were motivated to press for a contract in part because of an
i n c i d e n t i n v o l v i n g t h e e d i t o r o f t h e p a p e r, a p r e s s m a n a n d a
restroom. J. William "Bill" Blatz, currently director of field operations
for The Newspaper Guild, started work at the Citizen in 1935 as a
c o p y b o y. A s h e r e m e m b e r s t h e i n c i d e n t , N e l s o n P. P o y n t e r, t h e
e d i t o r, e n t e r e d t h e m e n ' s r e s t r o o m o n e d a y i n 1 9 3 6 a n d w a s a p p a l l e d
to find it occupied by a "dirty pressman." Angry that such a person
was using the same facilities as he, Poynter ordered a lock put on
the restroom door and issued keys to the male employees he thought
s h o u l d b e p e r m i t t e d t o e n t e r. T h i s b e h a v i o r s o a g i t a t e d t h e
newsroom, Blatz recalls, that it helped prod guild members into
p u s h i n g f o r a c o n t r a c t . 91
89 To l e d o B l a d e , f i r s t c o n t r a c t , T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d f i l e s , W a s h i n g t o n , D . C .
90 C o l u m b u s C i t i z e n , f i r s t c o n t r a c t , T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d f i l e s , Wa s h i n g t o n ,
D.C.
91 J. William Blatz, director of field operations for The Newspaper
G u i l d , i n t e r v i e w e d i n Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . , O c t o b e r 2 7 , 1 9 8 0 .
66
 
Guild negotiators in Cincinnati were rebuffed by

Post editor Carl Groat in 1934 when they proposed a contract
“almost exactly like that signed by Stern with Philly Record," a
l o c a l o f f i c e r c o m p l a i n e d t o J o n a t h a n E d d y i n N e w Yo r k . B u t f r o m
the experience, he said, came a lesson: “We realize now that the
front means everything in these poker sessions of negotiating.
We've decided henceforth to throw a bit of fear into the editor's
h e a r t . ” 92
The Post was another of the Scripps-Howard papers that
eventually came to terms with the guild after the precedent-setting
Cleveland Press settlement. There was nothing unusual about the
1937 first agreement at the Post; minimum salaries were forty-five
dollars for those with three or more years' experience and twenty-five
d o l l a r s f o r b e g i n n e r s . 93
The remaining newspapers in the seven cities studied
either signed initial contracts after 1940 or did not sign at all. The
D a y t o n J o u r n a l H e r a l d s i g n e d i n 1 9 4 1 , t h e C i n c i n n a t i Ti m e s - S t a r
i n 1 9 4 2 f o r n o n - e d i t o r i a l e m p l o y e e s o n l y, a n d i n 1 9 4 4 b o t h t h e
Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Columbus Dispatch, the latter for
circulation department
92 M a x S i e n t o J o n a t h a n E d d y, F e b r u a r y 5 , 1 9 3 5 , T h e A m e r i c a n
Newspaper Guild Collection, Box 32, Cincinnati 1933-35, Archives of Labor
a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, D e t r o i t .
93 Cincinnati Post, first contract, The Newspaper Guild files,

67
 
e m p l o y e e s o n l y. 9 4
By not bargaining with the guild, the Cincinnati Enquirer

and the Dayton Daily News showed that the young union was
something less than an irresistible force. Nevertheless, the
American Newspaper Guild, which in 1933 arose from the yearnings
of a handful of Ohio newspaper workers, by 1938 had established in
the state--and throughout the nation--a journalists' union that, this
time, would succeed.
68
 
CHAPTER V
O B S E R VAT I O N S A N D C O N C L U S I O N S
The following words, perhaps, are overly dramatic; George

S e l d e s ' p r e m i s e , h o w e v e r, i s o n t a r g e t , a n a c c u r a t e a s s e s s m e n t o f
the newspaper journalist's predicament through the first third of this
century:
The reporter throughout our history has been the lowliest of

animals. Believing himself too good to join in any
organization or movement, he has found himself exploited by
everyone, and he has been so blinded by his egotism that he
has refused to look out for his own material interests.
Being a rugged individualist he was usually also the
h i r e d s t o o g e o f t h e o w n e r s . L a c k i n g a n y s o r t o f s e c u r i t y, h e
was always in fear of being fired, and this fear quickly
drained all the high ideals and great courage with which he
u s u a l l y c a m e i n t o j o u r n a l i s m a s a c u b r e p o r t e r.
The old phrase “journalistic prostitute" was popular for
generations. It had its justification. But it ceased being
appropriate the day Garland Ashcraft, of the Cleveland Press,
began the formation of a union of editorial workers. . . .Generally
speaking it must be admitted that the American Newspaper Guild,
of which Heywood Broun is president, has led the American
newspaper workers out of the red-light district of journalism and
i n t o t h e g r e e n p a s t u r e s o f h u m a n d i g n i t y. 1
The story of the early years of the American Newspaper

Guild, and of prior attempts to organize news workers, has as much
to do with the resistance of labor to unionism as with the resistance
of management.
G e o r g e S e l d e s , L o r d s o f t h e P r e s s ( N e w Yo r k : J u l i a n M e s s n e r, I n c . ,
1
1938), p. 371.
69
 
That resistance among the rank and file has been a recurring theme
i n t h i s s t u d y, h a v i n g b e e n e v i d e n t d u r i n g t h e f i r s t e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n
w i t h e d i t o r i a l u n i o n i s m i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s , t h r o u g h t h e p o s t - Wo r l d Wa r I
revival of union agitating, and into the decisive Depression years
when professional pride was set aside long enough for the guild to
take hold.
S o m e , h o w e v e r, c l u n g t o t h e n o t i o n t h a t w h i t e - c o l l a r w o r k e r s
had no business forming trade unions. Nearly a year after the guild's
f o u n d i n g , t h e a u t h o r o f a l e t t e r t o t h e N e w Yo r k T i m e s , i n a r g u i n g t h a t
establishment of a professional society for news workers would benefit
society more than a labor union, wrote:
It seems to me that advance in economic well-being has been

of importance in conditioning the improvement of service given
by lawyers and by medical men. It is also probable that like
advance in well-being for newspaper editorial workers would
tend to improved standards in this work. Such development
would return handsome dividends to society as a whole.2
Agreeing that an "advance in economic well-being"

was in order but taking issue with the assertion that a
professional society would help journalists realize such an
improvement by raising standards of performance, another
correspondent argued just the opposite in rebuttal:
Will anyone argue that a body of news workers freed of

economic worry are not better newspaper men and women--
ipso facto, more fit to advance the general interests of society?
L o u i s D u r a n t E d w a r d s , " N e w A s s o c i a t i o n U r g e d , " N e w Yo r k T i m e s ,
2
November 19, 1934, p. 16.
70
 
Newspaper men too long have been victims of the theory that
the raising of such prosaic issues as wages, hours, collective
bargaining, &c., are contrary to the development of higher
professional standards. The Guild takes the position that
there is no contradiction, that a better living standard for
news writers and a greater degree of security will inevitably
mean higher standards of professional performance.3
Among some journalists today the notion seems topersist that

to belong to a labor union somehow degrades the white-collar
individualist, cheapens his “professional" standing or presents a
potential or real conflict of interest. The arguments are much the
same as they were fifty or sixty or ninety years ago when unionization
of the newsroom was a current, controversial issue.
In the face of historical data presented in this paper and
others, that the propriety of journalists belonging to a union could
still be questioned indicates a lack of appreciation for the guild's role
among some journalism practitioners, educators and critics. Part of
the problem may rest in the curricula of some schools and
departments of journalism. A cursory review of course offerings in the
catalogs of some of these schools suggests that formal discussion of
the guild is usually reserved for ethics classes, where there is a
danger of limiting the topic to unanswerable questions like, "Is it
ethical for a guild member to report on labor news?"
M o r e o v e r, a s D a n i e l L e a b p o i n t e d o u t i n A U n i o n o f
B e r n a r d R . M u l l a d y, " O r g a n i z i n g N e w s p a p e r M e n , " N e w Yo r k T i m e s ,
3
November 24, 1934, p. 14.
71
 
Individuals, the standard journalism history textbooks offer little

information about the guild. In his third edition of American
Journalism, Frank Luther Mott confined his discussion of the guild to
t h r e e p a g e s o u t o f m o r e t h a n 8 5 0 . E d w i n E m e r y, i n h i s f o u r t h e d i t i o n
of The Press and America, allocated only about six of the 750-plus
p a g e s t o g u i l d h i s t o r y. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , A l f r e d M c C l u n g L e e ' s T h e
Daily Newspaper in America, written during the formative years of
the guild, devoted more than twice as much space to the topic than
the other two later works combined--twenty-three of about 700
pages--and included a detailed account of the early news writers'
unions. If the popular textbooks alone are used in introductory
undergraduate courses, it is possible that only the student who
undertakes on his own or with the encouragement of a faculty
member an investigation of newspaper editorial unions is likely to
d e v e l o p a n a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r t h a t a s p e c t o f j o u r n a l i s m h i s t o r y.
One problem with the brief treatment of the guild in the
textbooks is the importance assigned to Heywood Broun's role in
the founding of the union. Broun was, by all accounts, a media star
much admired, and perhaps envied, by other newspaper journalists.
A s n o t e d e a r l i e r i n t h i s p a p e r, B r o u n w a s h i g h l y p a i d a n d h a d h i s
o w n c o n t r a c t w i t h h i s e m p l o y e r, a l l o w i n g h i m t o e x p r e s s h i s p r o -
union views without fear of the sorts of reprisals his unprotected
72
 
colleagues might face for uttering similar sentiments.

Thus there developed between Broun and the guild what
seems to have been a symbiotic relationship. Broun, who
did not need the guild for his own economic benefit, was
the high-profile journalist who made the union movement
"respectable" to other journalists, including, at first,
n e w s e x e c u t i v e s . T h e u n d e r p a i d m a j o r i t y, t h e r e f o r e , h a d o n e
person around whom to rally as the grass-roots work of
union organizing was done. It was only natural that
H e y w o o d B r o u n a n d n o t h i s f e l l o w N e w Yo r k e r s J o n a t h a n E d d y
a n d E m m e t C r o z i e r, o r C l e v e l a n d ' s G a r l a n d A s h c r a f t o r L l o y d W h i t e ,
for example, came to be regarded as the driving force behind the
guild. The flamboyant Broun perhaps derived considerable
satisfaction from the members' allegiance to him as father figure and
f r o m t h e r o l e t h e y c h o s e h i m t o p l a y. J o h n S . K n i g h t , e d i t o r e m e r i t u s
of Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Inc., recently wrote about the man, “I
t h o u g h [ t ] H e y w o o d B r o u n w a s a n a b l e a n d s k i l l f u l w r i t e r. H o w e v e r, I
never would have selected him as a leader of a labor union."4
The shortcomings of some journalism textbooks aside, it
assuredly is good for the young journalist making the transition from
classroom to labor force to have an appreciation for the rich
tradition of American journalism,
4 John S. Knight to Roger Mezger, Letter, April 16, 1981.
73
 
and to have an enthusiastic and idealistic outlook on his or her chosen

f i e l d . B u t a l o n g t h e w a y, i t i s t o b e h o p e d , t h e s t u d e n t h a s r e c e i v e d a
dose of realism regarding big-business journalism. Stuart Goulding put
it this way:
As the titans of the old newspaper world passed, control passed

from the editorial rooms to the business office. There it
r e m a i n s . To d a y t h e p r i m a r y p u r p o s e o f a n y l a r g e n e w s p a p e r
(there are a few exceptions) is profit first. Editorial men
schooled in the Greeley tradition and their successors have
been slow to grasp this fact. Reluctant to accept such pragmatic
doctrine, they have held to the ideal that news is the primary
p u r p o s e o f t h e n e w s p a p e r. . . . N e w s p a p e r m e n a r e t o d a y a n d
have been for twenty years idealists tilting at windmills.5
There is something both pathetic and poignant about the way

news workers in 1933 did something about their circumstances:
pathetic in that conditions had to be so bad before they became
determined to act effectively in their own interests, and poignant in
that the opposition already was organized, wealthy and powerful.
There was no job security in the newsroom, but, thanks to
the National Industrial Recovery Act, at least there were a few more
jobs to be had. James S. Jackson started as a reporter at the Akron
Beacon Journal in 1933, and he believes he owes that opportunity in
part to the NIRA. Jackson, who eventually became associate editor
o f t h e n e w s p a p e r, s a i d h e w a s a w a r e t h a t t h e B e a c o n J o u r n a l w a s
putting its reporters on forty-hour workweeks to comply
S t u a r t D . G o u l d i n g , " R e p o r t e r s R a l l y, " T h e C o m m o n w e a l ,
5
July 27, 1934, p. 324.
74
with federal requirements and realized that, as a result, more
reporters would be needed to do the same amount of work. He was
hired just as the guild was getting started.6
I n 1 9 3 5 T h e A k r o n G u i l d R e p o r t e r, i n s e e k i n g t o r a l l y
support for the young union local, stated, "Only a few people who still
believe in Santa Claus are not convinced that the Guild has made
working conditions a whole lot better in the last two years.”7 Assuming
the validity of that assertion, the early success of the guild is in large
part attributable to the Cleveland activists' dedication and the spirit
with which others around the state took up the cause. The influence
o f t h e s e p i o n e e r s w a s f e l t n a t i o n a l l y, f r o m t h e i r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a t t h e
founding convention to their precedent-setting contract bargaining.
T h i s p a p e r, i t i s h o p e d , h a s h e l p e d c a l l a t t e n t i o n t o t h e O h i o a n s '
contributions.
6 T h e A k r o n G u i l d R e p o r t e r, f r o m A k r o n g u i l d l o c a l f i l e s , O c t o b e r 2 5 ,
1935, p. 3.
7 Interview with James S. Jackson, Akron, Ohio, April 8, 1981.
75
 
 
APPENDIX A
TA B L E S
TA B L E 1
O H I O G U I L D M E M B E R S H I P, M A R C H 1 9 8 1
Local No. Members Rank in State
Akron — 5
Cincinnati — 6
Cleveland 1
(includes Canton
—
and MassilIon)
Columbus — 3
—
To l e d o 2
Yo u n g s t o w n — 4
To t a l 1,636
S O U R C E : T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d , Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C .
NOTE: For bargaining purposes, the guild does not permit publication
of current membership figures for individual locals.
77
TA B L E 2
N AT I O N A L G U I L D M E M B E R S H I P I N S E L E C T E D Y E A R S
Ye a r No. Members
Dues-Paying Armed Services To t a l
1939 18,785 18,785
1945 18,026 4,356 22,382
1955 27,097 637 27,734
1965 31,724 559 32,283
1975 32,636 396 33,032
1980 31,878 31,878
SOURCE: The Newspaper Guild, Washington, D.C.
NOTE: Figures represent totals in June of each year except 1980,

which is an August total. Figures prior to 1939 are generally unreliable.
78
TA B L E 3
N U M B E R O F D A I LY A N D S U N D AY
N E W S PA P E R S I N S E L E C T E D Y E A R S
Ye a r No. Daily No. Sunday
1920 2,042 522
1930 1,942 521
1933 1 , 9 11 506
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,

H i s t o r i c a l S t a t i s t i c s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , C o l o n i a l Ti m e s t o 1 9 7 0, v o l . 2
( Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g O ff i c e , 1 9 7 5 ) , p . 8 0 9 .
79
TA B L E 4
NUMBER OF EDITORS AND

REPORTERS DURING
DEPRESSION YEARS
Ye a r No. Editors and Reporters, 14 and Older
1930 61,000
1940 66,000

( Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g O ff i c e , 1 9 7 5 ) , p . 1 4 0 .
80
TABLE 5
AV E R A G E A N N U A L E A R N I N G S O F F U L L - T I M E
EMPLOYEES, 1930-1940
Ye a r All Employees Communications and

Public Utilities
Employees
1930 $1,368 $1,499
1933 1,048 1,351
1935 1,137 1,483
1937 1,258 1,600
1940 1,299 1,717

( Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g O ff i c e , 1 9 7 5 ) , p p . 1 6 4 , 1 6 6 .
81
TABLE 6
AV E R A G E H O U R LY A N D W E E K LY PAY F O R N E W S R O O M
E M P L O Y E E S I N S E L E C T E D C I T I E S , M AY 1 9 3 4
City Hourly Rate Weekly Pay
N e w Yo r k $1.013 $42.72
St. Louis .977 39.21

Providence, R.I. .976 44.90
Cleveland .955 41.34
San Francisco .939 40.51
Detroit .897 40.56
R i c h m o n d , Va . .795 36.64
Philadelphia .789 30.91
Boston .752 34.47
Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . .745 34.17
Fort Worth .740 36.44
St. Paul .735 33.79
Buffalo .730 33.71
Minneapolis .727 34.28
Salt Lake City .704 32.06
San Antonio .627 25.50
Monroe, La. .617 28.64
Greenville, S.C. . 5 11 22.50
Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss. .535 26.66
SOURCE: “Guild Pay Statistics Show a $38 Average After

2 0 - Ye a r G r i n d , ” T h e G u i l d R e p o r t e r, O c t o b e r 1 , 1 9 3 4 , p p . 1 , 2 .
NOTE: The figures were compiled by the Division of Research and Planning of the
National Recovery Administration from questionnaires gathered by the guild in May 1934
from 2,352 employees on 158 daily newspapers in 82 cities. Although Washington, D.C., was
not included in the NRA tabulation, it may be included in this table because the data cited
were reported to national guild headquarters at about the same time, April 1934.
The breakdown according to job description of the respondents is as follows:
executives, 99; desk men, 796; reporters, 1042; artists, 110; photographers, 95; copy boys,
69; clerks, 141.
82
 
APPENDIX B
SAMPLE CONTRACT
 
AN AGREEMENT
T h i s A g r e e m e n t i s b e t w e e n T h e To l e d o N e w s - B e e a n d
t h e To l e d o N e w s p a p e r G u i l d , a l o c a l o f t h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r
Guild, acting for and on behalf of all editorial employees of The
To l e d o N e w s - B e e .
I t b e c o m e s e f f e c t i v e M AY 1 3 , 1 9 3 7 , a n d c o n t i n u e s f o r
o n e ( 1 ) y e a r, r e n e w i n g i t s e l f t h e r e a f t e r f o r y e a r l y p e r i o d s u n l e s s o r
until either party shall serve notice in writing on the other party
ninety (90) days before any given expiration date of a desire to
modify or terminate the contract. In event of such notice,
negotiations shall be immediately entered into and proceed with all
due diligence. If a new agreement has not been signed to go into
effect upon the expiration of this agreement, status quo conditions
shall be maintained during negotiations, but any wage increases
effected in the new agreement shall be retroactive to the expiration
date of this agreement.
Both parties understand and agree that:
(1) All conditions and benefits contained in this contract
shall be enjoyed by all the employes of the editorial
d e p a r t m e n t o f T h e To l e d o N e w s - B e e .
(2) The specific purposes of this Agreement are:
(a) To s e t u p m u t u a l l y a g r e e a b l e h o u r s , m i n i m u m s a n d o t h e r
working conditions.
(b) To p r e s e r v e a l l t h o s e e l e m e n t s o f n e w s p a p e r b a r g a i n i n g
between the management and editorial employes of the
News-Bee.
(3) T h e To l e d o N e w s p a p e r G u i l d i s r e c o g n i z e d a s t h e s o l e
collective bargaining agency for all editorial employees
during the life of this contract.
(4) The management has the right to determine
journalistic competence and to discharge for cause.
Nothing in this contract shall be interpreted to impair or
invade the right of the management to decide and express its
editorial policies. No employe, in a byline article, shall be
asked or expected to conform with the paper's editorial policy
at the expense of his personal convictions.
84
 
(6) Nothing herein shall be construed to alter or modify the right

of employes to bargain individually for pay raises on their own
behalf, but the management agrees not to bargain with any
i n d i v i d u a l f o r, o r e n t e r i n t o , a n y a g r e e m e n t p r o v i d i n g a s a l a r y
less than the minimums set up herein, or less than any salary
as established by the management and the Guild.
(7) There shall be no reduction during the lifetime of this contract
in the salary of any editorial employe.
(8) The News-Bee Unit of the Guild shall select a standing
committee to maintain the observance of this contract and to
settle with the management any matters or questions affecting
the contract.
Te r m s a n d c o n d i t i o n s o n w h i c h t h i s a g r e e m e n t i s b a s e d f o l l o w :
1. SALARIES
(1) For the purpose of determining minimum salaries employes

shall be classified as follows:
(a) Experienced newspapermen and newspaperwomen - Any
e d i t o r i a l d e p a r t m e n t e m p l o y e ( s u c h a s r e p o r t e r,
r e w r i t e m a n , c o p y r e a d e r, s p e c i a l w r i t e r, e d i t o r, a r t i s t ,
m a k e - u p m a n , p h o t o g r a p h e r, e t c . ) n o t o t h e r w i s e
classified herein who has served in an editorial capacity
o n a n y E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e d a i l y n e w s p a p e r, n e w s o r
feature syndicate, or press association, or any two or
more of them, for three years or more, except as a copy
b o y, i s a n e x p e r i e n c e d n e w s p a p e r m a n o r
newspaperwoman.
(b) Beginners - Any editorial employe not otherwise
classified herein who has served in an editorial capacity
for less than three years and is not yet qualified as an
experienced newspaperman or newspaperwoman is a
b e g i n n e r.
(c) Copy boys.
(d) Editorial and library clerks, and secretaries.
(2) Minimum salaries of employes shall be:

(a) Experienced newspapermen and newspaperwomen shall
be paid not less than forty two dollars and fifty cents
($42.50) a week.
Beginners with less than one (1) year's experience shall
be paid not less than twenty five dollars
85
($25.00) a week; with more than one (1) year's and less
than two (2) years' experience, not less than thirty dollars ($30.00) a
week; with more than two (2) years' and less than three (3) years'
experience, not less than thirty five dollars ($35.00) a week.
(c) Copy boys shall be paid not less than fifteen dollars
($15.00) a week.
A copy boy may be regularly assigned on a part-time
basis to duties of a beginner for a period not to exceed
six (6) months as a preparation for his own training as
an experienced newspaperman, but he shall be paid not
less than twenty dollars ($20.00) a week throughout this
period, after which he shall be advanced to the full
status of a beginner if his employment is continued.
(d) Editorial and library clerks, and secretaries with less
than one (1) year's newspaper experience shall be paid
not less than eighteen dollars ($18.00) a week; with
more than one (1) year's and less than two (2) years'
experience, not less than twenty one dollars ($21.00) a
week; with more than two (2) years' and less than three
(3) years' experience, not less than twenty five dollars
($25.00) a week; with more than three (3) years'
experience, not less than thirty dollars ($30.00) a week.
(3) Any editorial employe whose duties are divided between two
or more salary classifications shall be paid not less than the
m i n i m u m f o r t h e h i g h e s t - p a i d s u c h classification.
2. HOURS
(1) Five (5) days of eight (8) hours shall constitute a regular
work week for all editorial employes.
(2) The eight-hour working day shall fall within nine (9)
consecutive hours, with one (1) hour being allowed for lunch.
(3) Overtime shall accumulate where duty is required in excess
of the normal working day or on any day off.
(4) Compensation for overtime shall be paid on an equal
b a s i s i n t i m e o f f , o r, a t t h e o p t i o n o f t h e m a n a g e m e n t , i n
cash.
Overtime shall be liquidated within sixty (60) days of its
accumulation, at the mutual convenience of the management
and the employe, except that no employe shall
86
 
 
be required to accept time off in periods of less than one full day and
except that an amount not to exceed one (1) week may - at the
employe's option - be carried along to the annual vacation.
(6) In case an employe is assigned to duty on any day off, he shall

be given credit for a full day's overtime even though he does
not work eight (8) full hours. Should he work more than eight (8)
hours, he shall be given full credit above one (1) day's overtime
f o r s u c h a d d i t i o n a l h o u r s , a s o n a n y o t h e r d a y. T h i s s h a l l n o t
interfere with the right of the management to alter the schedule
of days off upon twenty four (24) hours' notice.
(7) Overtime shall be reported to and okayed by the publisher or his

representative not more than forty eight (48) hours after the
conclusion of the assignment from which the overtime arose.
(8) T h e n e w s e d i t o r, c i t y e d i t o r a n d a s s i s t a n t c i t y e d i t o r s h a l l b e
permitted to waive compensation for overtime. The sports editor
s h a l l w o r k a n e i g h t ( 8 ) h o u r d a y, t h i s e i g h t ( 8 ) h o u r s t o c o v e r a
spread to suit conveniences of his particular type of work. The
m a n a g i n g e d i t o r, c h i e f e d i t o r i a l w r i t e r a n d e d i t o r ' s c o n f i d e n t i a l
secretary shall be exempted from days and hours provisions of
this contract
(9) If an employe has not taken his accumulated overtime at the

end of service, he shall be compensated in cash in a lump sum.
3. CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
(1) When an employe is discharged, he shall be paid a severance
indemnity equal to one (1) week's pay for every eight (8) months
or fraction thereof of his service. The maximum severance
i n d e m n i t y s h a l l b e t w e n t y f o u r ( 2 4 ) w e e k s ' p a y. S e v e r a n c e
indemnity need not be paid in dismissals under one month of
service.
In the event of death of an employe, the deceased's next of
kin shall be paid a sum equivalent to that which the deceased
would have been paid under the terms of this provision had he
been discharged at the time of death.
T h e m a n a g e m e n t r e c o g n i z e s t h e e q u i t y, u n d e r c e r t a i n
conditions, of paying severance pay in resignation, and will
make such payments where, in the judgment of the
management, they are justified.
I n c o m p u t i n g s e v e r a n c e p a y, a n e m p l o y e ' s t o t a l c o n s e c u t i v e
years in the Scripps-Howard organization, including NEA,
Scripps-Howard Newspaper Alliance, and the
87
 
United Press, shall be taken as his length of service.

" P a y " , i n c o m p u t i n g s e v e r a n c e i n d e m n i t y, s h a l l b e t h e
highest weekly salary paid the employe during the three (3) years
preceding his discharge.
By arrangement with the management, an employe may
be granted a leave of absence without it being regarded as breaking
continuous service in the determination of severance compensation.
Agreed-upon leaves of absence in the past shall be accorded the
same treatment.
(2) The number of beginners with less than two (2) years’
experience shall not at any time exceed ten per cent of the
staff. (Exception: The management shall not be required to
make discharges at this time to conform with this provision,
but no more beginners may be added to the staff until such
time as adding them will not be in violation of this provision.)
(3) Va c a t i o n s w i t h p a y s h a l l b e g r a n t e d a l l e m p l o y e s o f m o r e
than six (6) months' service at the minimum rate
of one (1) week for more than six (6) months and less than
one (1) year of service, and of two (2) weeks for more than
one (1) year of service.
(4) Sick leave with full pay shall be granted all employes in
accordance with custom. No deductions shall be made for
sick leave from overtime credited or to be credited to the
employe.
(5) The management agrees that it will not have or enter into
any agreement with any publisher binding such publisher
not to employ members of The News-Bee staff.
(6) Necessary expenses incurred by employes during the
course of their assigned duties shall be paid by the
p u b l i s h e r. N e c e s s a r y w o r k i n g e q u i p m e n t s h a l l b e s u p p l i e d
to employes and paid for by the publishers. Compensation
for use of an employe's auto on the business of the
publisher shall be paid at the rates in effect during the
year preceding the signing of this contract.
(7) The standing committee and the management shall work out
mutually satisfactory arrangements covering conditions of
employment not otherwise covered herein.
Employes may do outside work of a non-competitive
character on their own time, but may not exploit their
c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e To l e d o N e w s - B e e w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n i n
w r i t i n g f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r.
88
 
(9) When the management sells for profit outside the

Scripps-Howard organization, any fixed features
produced by an employe, a mutually agreeable
percentage of the net of such sale shall be paid to the
employe, providing that such payment is in addition to
the weekly wage.
(10) Editorial workers shall not be required to do other than

editorial department work on The News-Bee. Employes of
the News-Bee in departments other than the editorial
department shall not replace employes of the editorial
department in positions generally occupied by editorial
employes.
In witness to this, the parties subscribe their names to

duplicate copies hereof, the date given above.
THE TOLEDO NEWS-BEE T H E T O L E D O N E W S PA P E R G U I L D
By Carlton K. Matson By Joseph J. Flanagan

Editor President
S O U R C E : A r c h i v e s o f L a b o r a n d U r b a n A f f a i r s , W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y,
Detroit.
89
 
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
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N e w s p a p e r G u i l d H i s t o r y, " 1 9 5 5 t y p e s c r i p t .
T h e A k r o n G u i l d R e p o r t e r, O c t o b e r 2 5 , 1 9 3 5 .
Detroit, Mich. Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs.

W a l t e r P. R e u t h e r L i b r a r y. W a y n e S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y. T h e
American Newspaper Guild Collection. Contracts and
correspondence.
Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d f i l e s . C o n t r a c t s a n d
correspondence.
Theses and Dissertations

Prausnitz Jarmul, Lore. "The American Newspaper Guild:
A Case Study of a White Collar Union." Master's thesis.
B r o w n U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 .
Kuczun, Sam. "History of the American Newspaper Guild." Ph.D.

dissertation. University of Minnesota, 1970.
Moskin, John R. "Origins of the American Newspaper Guild:

A G e n e t i c S t u d y i n A m e r i c a n H i s t o r y. " M a s t e r ' s t h e s i s ,
C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 .
Winnick Louis. "The American Newspaper Guild: An Experiment in the

Tr a d e U n i o n O r g a n i z a t i o n o f P r o f e s s i o n a l s . " M a s t e r ' s t h e s i s ,
C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y, 1 9 4 7 .
Microform Reproduction
S t e r n , J . D a v i d . T h e R e m i n i s c e n c e s . N e w Yo r k : C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y,
1972.
90
 
Books
B r o u n , H e y w o o d . I t S e e m s t o M e . N e w Yo r k : H a r c o u r t , B r a c e
and Co., 1935.
E m e r y, E d w i n . H i s t o r y o f t h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r
Publishers Association. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, 1950.
Fink, Gary M. Labor Unions. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,

1977.
H o o p e r, O s m a n C a s t l e . H i s t o r y o f O h i o J o u r n a l i s m 1 7 9 3 - 1 9 3 3 .
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H a r r i s , H e r b e r t . A m e r i c a n L a b o r. N e w H a v e n : Ya l e U n i v e r s i t y
Press, 1938.
L e a b , D a n i e l J . A U n i o n o f I n d i v i d u a l s . N e w Yo r k : C o l u m b i a
University Press, 1970.
Pollard, James E. Principles of Newspaper Management. New

Yo r k : M c G r a w - H i l l B o o k C o . , I n c . , 1 9 3 7 .
S e l d e s , G e o r g e . L o r d s o f t h e P r e s s . N e w Yo r k : J u l i a n M e s s n e r,
Inc., 1938.
S t e r n , J . D a v i d . M e m o i r s o f a M a v e r i c k P u b l i s h e r.
N e w Yo r k : S i m o n & S c h u s t e r, 1 9 6 2 .
S t o l b e r g , B e n j a m i n . T h e S t o r y o f t h e C . I . O . N e w Yo r k : V i k i n g
Press, 1938.
The Guild Reporter

" C i n c i n n a t i P u b l i s h e r s G e t B i d t o G u i l d R a l l y. " J a n u a r y
12, 1934, p. 4.
" P u b l i s h e r s B l e s s N e w To l e d o G u i l d . " F e b r u a r y 2 3 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 3 .
"Columbus Drives for 100 Per Cent." April 1934, p. 6.

"Cleveland Calls for Pay Increase." May 1934, p. 3.
"Roy Howard Welcomes Guild--Opposes Union." June 1934, p. 1.
"Cleveland Unit Seeks Contract With the News." September

1934, p. 3.
91
 
" G u i l d i n To l e d o W i n s P a y R a i s e s F r o m 2 P a p e r s . "
October 1, 1934, pp. 1, 2.
" G u i l d P a y S t a t i s t i c s S h o w a $ 3 8 A v e r a g e A f t e r 2 0 - Ye a r G r i n d . "
October 1, 1934, pp. 1, 2.
" To l e d o S t i r r e d b y F l y i n g S q u a d . " O c t o b e r 1 5 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 6 .
"Cleveland Unit Rejects Raises." November 1, 1934, p. 1.
" C o l u m b u s D i s c o v e r s M o r e Te r r i t o r y. " D e c e m b e r 1 5 , 1 9 3 4 , p . 1 0 .
" G u i l d I s P l a c e d O n 2 - P l y B a s i s B y Yo u n g s t o w n . "
December 15, 1934, p. 5.
Roberts, A. H. "Cleveland Contract Wins 5-Day Week, Sets $40

Minimum." January 1, 1935, pp. 1, 3.
"Cleveland News Breaks Pledge Against Firing." February 15,

1935, pp. 1, 7.
" To l e d o P u b l i s h e r s A s k e d t o C o n f e r. " F e b r u a r y 1 5 , 1 9 3 5 , p . 8 .
"Scripps-Howard Signs Pact in Cleveland." March 1, 1936, pp. 1,

5, 7.
B o r d n e r, R o b e r t . " A D e l e g a t e R e c a l l s t h e F o u n d i n g M e e t i n g . "
December 26, 1958, pp. M3, M4.
G a n n e t t , L e w i s . " 1 9 3 3 - - W h e n T h e G u i l d W a s Ve r y Yo u n g . "
December 26, 1958, p. M4.
"The Founding Fathers." December 26, 1958, p. M1O.

"Before Guild, ITU had newswriters." January 13, 1978, p. 5.
Editor & Publisher

"Editorial Unions." August 26, 1933, p. 20.
"Plain Dealer Employees Won't Join Cleveland Editorial
Association." September 16, 1933, p. 10.
"Editorial Workers In Cleveland Organize Under Recovery Act."

August 26, 1933, p. 6.
92
 
"Cleveland Guild Seeks to Form Groups in All Cities Above 50,000."

November 25, 1933, p. 12.
"Guild Formed in Columbus." December 23, 1933, p. 8.
"Guild Active in Numerous Cities; Pulitzer Protest Is Successful."

February 3, 1934, p. 10.
" A k r o n S t u d i e s O r g a n i z a t i o n . " S e p t e m b e r 9 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 11 .
" N e w Yo r k G u i l d . " S e p t e m b e r 2 3 , 1 9 3 3 , p . 2 4 .
"Enter National Guild." December 23, 1933, p. 22.
"$10,000 Chess Game." April 14, 1934, p. 20.
Government Publications
C o l l e c t i v e B a r g a i n i n g i n t h e N e w s p a p e r I n d u s t r y.
Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : N a t i o n a l L a b o r R e l a t i o n s B o a r d ,
1939.
Weiss, Abraham, and Peterson, Florence. Collective Bargaining by
t h e A m e r i c a n N e w s p a p e r G u i l d . Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : U . S .
D e p a r t m e n t o f L a b o r, 1 9 4 0 .
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H i s t o r i c a l S t a t i s t i c s o f t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , C o l o n i a l Ti m e s t o
1 9 7 0 . Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . : G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t i n g O ff i c e , 1 9 7 5 .
Journals
C r o w t h e r, D . G . , a n d R o g e r s , H . O . " S a l a r i e s a n d W o r k i n g
Conditions of Newspaper Editorial Employees."
M o n t h l y L a b o r R e v i e w 4 0 ( M a y 1 9 3 5 ) : 11 3 7 - 4 8 .
B l e y e r, W i l l a r d G r o s v e n o r. " J o u r n a l i s m i n t h e U n i t e d
States: 1933." Journalism Quarterly 10 (December 1933):
296-301.
Gilfillan, R. S. "The Guild Viewpoint." Journalism Quarterly 12
(March 1935):53-59.
Goldstein, Bernard. "Some Aspects of the Nature of
U n i o n i s m A m o n g S a l a r i e d P r o f e s s i o n a l s i n I n d u s t r y. "
American Sociological Review 20 (April 1955):199-205.
93
 
Lee, Alfred McClung. "Recent Developments in the Daily

N e w s p a p e r I n d u s t r y. " P u b l i c O p i n i o n Q u a r t e r l y 2
(January 1938):126-133.
" Wa g e Scale for Newspaper Editorial Department Approved by
National Industrial Recovery Board." Monthly Labor Review
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A n d e r s o n , P a u l Y. " M r. A n d e r s o n i n a Te n d e r M o o d . " N a t i o n , A p r i l 1 8 ,
1934, p. 443.
Broun, Heywood. "An Army With Banners." Nation, February
12, 1935, pp. 184-85.
Brown, Lawrence. "The Press Faces A Union." New Republic, January
23, 1935, pp. 297-99.
C r o n e , B e r t a . " O c c u p a t i o n s - - To d a y a n d To m o r r o w. " N e w
Outlook, June 1934, pp. 2-3, 5.
G o u l d i n g , S t u a r t D . " R e p o r t e r s R a l l y. " T h e C o m m o n w e a l ,
July 27, 1934, pp. 323-25.
Keating, Isabelle. "Reporters Become of Age." Harper's, April 1935,
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N i c o l e t , C . C . " T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d . " A m e r i c a n M e r c u r y, O c t o b e r
1936, pp. 186-92.
P r i n g l e , H e n r y F. " T h e N e w s p a p e r G u i l d . " S c r i b n e r ’ s , J a n u a r y
1939, pp. 21-23, 42, 44.
S c r i b n e r, J o h n . " T h e N e w s W r i t e r s F o r m a U n i o n . " N a t i o n , J u n e 2 0 ,
1934, pp. 698-99.
Seldes, George. "Roy Howard." New Republic, July 27, 1938, pp.
322-25.
Wharton, Don. "J. David Stern." Scribner's, December 1936, pp.
44-49, 124.
" G i f t o n a P l a t t e r. " B u s i n e s s W e e k , A u g u s t 3 , 1 9 3 5 , p . 2 2 .
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11 8 - 1 9 .
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July 28, 1934, p. 30.
94
"News Writers Form Union Local No. 1." New Republic, August 6,
1919, pp. 8-9.
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B r o u n , H e y w o o d . " A U n i o n o f R e p o r t e r s . " N e w Yo r k W o r l d
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E d w a r d s , L o u i s D u r a n t . " N e w A s s o c i a t i o n U r g e d . " N e w Yo r k T i m e s ,
November 19, 1934, p. 16.
M u l l a d y, B e r n a r d R . " O r g a n i z i n g N e w s p a p e r M e n . " N e w Yo r k T i m e s ,
November 24, 1934, p. 14.
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95

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THE AMERICAN

A thesis submitted to the

Copyright ©1981, 2018

II. BEFORE THE GUILD: 1891-1933 ....................................... 6

B. SAMPLE CONTRACT ....................................................... 83

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................... 90

The national guild has been the object of previous

Library and archival resources provided most of the

Not only reporters, but editors, sub-editors, feature writers,

Furthermore, Isabelle Keating wrote:

July 27, 1934, pp. 323-24.

that this freedom has been a hollow sham, a patent fraud

But first, before the myths of journalism began yielding to

2Isabelle Keating, “Reporters Become of Age,” Harper's, April

Although newspaper writers may have thought about

1 National Labor Relations Board, Collective Bargaining in the

3 Ibid., pp. 165-66.

5 National Labor Relations Board, p. 104.

writers.8 Seeing an opportunity to eliminate strikebreaking by

nonunion news writers by making them members, the printers’ union in

1891 amended its constitution to permit charters for union locals to be

ITU used the threat of organizing city rooms as a weapon in

The local union formed in Pittsburgh in 1891

9 Ibid., p. 5; National Labor Relations Board,

Press, 1938), pp. 245-46.

11 Abraham Weiss and Florence Peterson, Collective Bargaining by

including three to Ohio locals: Dayton, in 1898; Columbus, in 1900;

There are several reasons why this early attempt at

13 National Labor Relations Board, p. 108.

15 John R. Moskin, “Origins of the American Newspaper Guild: A

Louis Winnick, “The American Newspaper Guild:

formidable obstacle. The typographical union had been a force to

Association (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1950), p. 24.

19 National Labor Relations Board, p. 107.

A group of intellectuals who have clung tenaciously to their

The Boston journalists had made a gallant effort, but their

26 National Labor Relations Board, p. 109.

27 The Guild Reporter, p. 5.

While the typographical union had soured on the idea of

Faces A Union,” New Republic, January 23, 1935, p. 297.

Reporters did work under outrageous conditions, for poor pay

Although the national union had not succeeded, members of

April 1935, p. 606.

The loss of jobs caused by newspaper mergers during the

With the constant reduction in the number of daily newspapers

Publishers began looking for ways to pare expenses, as C. C.

The Depression . . . brought slashes in salaries and in editorial

The double threat of salary reductions and firings at the

Journalism Quarterly 10 (December 1933):300.

. . . economic security has been subject to the caprice of their

Under such working conditions, Stuart Goulding wrote,

New Outlook, June 1934, p. 5.

organization.6 The licensing provision of the act accorded President

Association (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1950), p. 224.

8 Ibid., p. 125; Weiss and Peterson, p. 1.

The publishers’ code . . . classified experienced newspaper

The efforts of the newspaper industry to bypass the

Looking back over the period during which the newspaper

The publishers also made an issue of the president’s

11 ”Journalism's Blue Eagle,” New Republic, March 14, 1934,

Opposition from rank-and-file newspaper editorial workers

14 D. Q. Crowther and H. O. Rogers, “Salaries and Working

National Industrial Recovery Board,” Monthly Labor Review 40 (June 1935):