The Topeka Capital Journal

Updated on Nov 09, 2023

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Type Daily newspaper Owner(s) Morris Communications Editor Tomari Quinn		Format Broadsheet Publisher Zach Ahrens

Founded Topeka Daily Capital: 1879 (with heritage dating to 1858) Topeka State Journal: 1873 Topeka Capital-Journal: 1981

The Topeka Capital-Journal is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas owned by Morris Communications.

History

The paper was formed following a series of mergers including the eventual merger of the Topeka Daily Capital and Topeka State Journal and numerous name changes:

1858: Kansas State Record starts publishing

1873: Topeka Blade founded by J. Clarke Swayze

1879: George W. Reed buys the Blade and changes it name to Kansas State Journal.

1879: Topeka Daily Capital founded by Major J.K. Hudson as an evening paper but changes to morning in 1881. Its press is claimed to be the first electric motor press in the United States

1885: Frank P. MacLennan buys Journal and renames it Topeka State Journal

1888: Capital absorbs the Commonwealth, owned by Floyd Perry Baker and his sons, which had earlier bought the Kansas State Record

1899: Frederick Oliver Popenoe buys a 51 percent controlling interest in the Capital.

1900: Charles M. Sheldon, saying that "newspapers should be operated as Christ would operate them," sends the Capital circulation skyrocketing from 12,000 to 387,000 forcing it to print papers in New York and Chicago

1901: Arthur Capper buys Capital and become sole owner in 1904

1940: Oscar S. Stauffer buys the Journal

1951: Capper dies and the Capital become employee owned

1956: Stauffer Publications buys Capper Publications, including the Capital

1962: Former MacLennan home Cedar Crest becomes the Kansas Governor's Mansion

1973: Brian Lanker wins 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography

1975: Susan Ford, daughter of Gerald Ford, and Chris Johns (future photo editor of National Geographic magazine) intern at paper during the summer

1981: Stauffer merges the papers into The Capital-Journal distributed in the morning

1982: Oscar S. Stauffer dies at 95

1994: Stauffer Communications merges with Morris Communications

References

The Topeka Capital-Journal Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA