Chicagology is proud to present a Family Tree of the Chicago Newspapers. The purpose is to provide an easy to read view of how the newspapers of Chicago were born, married and buried.
The following introduction was taken from the Regan Printing House book Story of Chicago In Connection With the Printing Business which was published in 1912.
The history of the newspaper undertakings of Chicago during the past three quarters of a century reads like a chapter of romance as we contemplate the enthusiastic efforts with which ambitious publishers would inaugurate their enterprises and the many disappointments which would attend their projects.
The atmosphere of early Chicago seemed charged with the stimulating ozone which took form in pretentious newspapers and periodicals, the period of rapid changing thought, political alignment, and development doubtless giving added impetus to the publication idea. At all events. there were issued newspapers and magazines in response rather to the impulse of the promoter than to the desire of or its ability to support these after they were started. As a consequence, many of them had but an ephemeral existence, and the delver into facts is forced to turn into almost forgotten receptacles to bring forth even brief references to past publications.
After much labor and research there has been rescued from oblivion, as far as possible, the banes and titles of publications of former days, and it is a source of satisfaction to be able to present many enterprises. In numerous lines of effort, these papers are recognized as among the most influential in their class, and while some have been doubtless overlooked in the rapidity with which this work has been compiled, on the hole, the extensive list presented can be regarded as embracing a very large percentage of projects in Chicago, almost four score years ago.
Cheers
Terry Gregory
Chicagologist
marissa says
i should be able to do a search on here
graphic design says
Thanks for finally writing about > Chicago Newspapers : chicagology < Loved it!
Brayton Gray says
I enjoyed your list of Chicago papers. However, it only contained English language papers. Certainly much of Chicago history is missing without the German papers, among many others.
Administrator says
I’m glad you enjoyed the list, however the purpose was to illustrate how the mainstream newspapers merged.
In order to include the fine German paper such as the Staats-Zeitung would be outside of the scope of the list as most of the foreign newspapers very rarely merged.
Perhaps as an addendum I can list all the foreign papers and their years of publication.