Alfred O. Andersson
Encyclopedia
Alfred Oscar Andersson was the publisher of the Dallas Dispatch
and, briefly, of the Dallas Dispatch-Journal, daily afternoon newspaper
s of general circulation published in Dallas, Texas
.
Andersson was born in Liverpool, England on December 10, 1874 to Alfred Carolus Andersson, a cotton broker, and Elizabeth Falk Andersson. The family moved to Kansas City, Missouri
in the early 1880s. Andersson’s father died there soon afterward, and his mother moved the family back to Liverpool and then, in 1884, to Weimar, Germany, where Andersson attended school for five years. His mother married Dr. Henry J. Lampe in 1889 and the family returned to Kansas City. She died in San Antonio, Texas
in 1931 at age seventy-nine, and Dr. Lampe died in 1910.
Andersson’s career in newspapers began during his teenage years when he worked at odd jobs around the shop where his stepfather published a German-language newspaper. He wrote and edited campus publications while a student at Princeton University
from 1893 to 1895 and then returned to Kansas City to take a job on the Kansas City World, a Scripps-McRae newspaper. He then moved on to reporting and editing jobs on Scripps papers in St. Louis, Missouri
and Chicago, Illinois.
In 1898 Andersson reported on the Spanish-American War
from Cuba
and Puerto Rico
for the United Press, which then appointed him manager of the UP’s Kansas City bureau. In 1906 he scouted Texas
for a suitable location to start a newspaper for Scripps-McRae. According to newspaper lore, he stopped at a downtown Dallas drugstore, noticed it sold fine cigars, and concluded “if those are the cigars the men here favor, this must be a good town.” As he contemplated starting a paper in Dallas he learned that another man was in town with the same idea and likewise with Scripps-McRae’s tentative promise to back it. Confronting Col. Milton A. McRae
, he was told that Scripps-McRae’s support would go to the man who got a paper on the street first; Andersson then hastily threw together the four-page first issue of the Dallas Dispatch, deployed boys to sell the paper on the street, and the Dispatch became the Scripps paper in Dallas.
In 1911 he inaugurated the Houston Press, a Scripps-McRae newspaper in Houston, Texas
. While editing the Press he retained editorship of the Dispatch and continued to live in Dallas. With a 1916 reorganization of Scripps-McRae properties in the South, he became editor of the Memphis Press in Memphis, Tennessee
, the Denver Express in Denver, Colorado
, and the Oklahoma News in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
.
In 1919 Andersson moved to Cleveland, Ohio
to become general manager of the Newspaper Enterprise Association, a Scripps feature service. In 1921 he left the newspaper business for the first time and moved to San Antonio to enter the cotton business. His absence from newspapering was short-lived, as he returned to Dallas a year later and once again became publisher of the Dispatch, a position he held until retirement in 1937. But a year later Karl Hoblitzelle and others purchased the Dispatch and combined it with the Dallas Journal (which they simultaneously acquired from A. H. Belo Corporation
, publisher of the Dallas Morning News
) to create the afternoon Dallas Dispatch-Journal, and induced the reluctant Andersson to become its publisher. Andersson finally retired in December 1938.
Andersson was tall and spare and had a reserved manner and patrician features. He was described as “essentially a kind man, although his was not the heartiness associated with the back-slapper.” His newspapers tended to be crusading and somewhat sensational, often publishing several editions daily.
His first wife was Dorothy Smart, who died in 1911. Two years later he married Ruth H. Harper, whose father, Jacob Chandler Harper, was general counsel for the Scripps-McRae newspapers.
Suffering from gradual circulatory failure and failure to completely recover from bronchial pneumonia, Andersson was stricken on a cruise and returned to the La Jolla, California home of his wife’s deceased parents, which the Anderssons had been using as a summer home and where he died on May 11, 1950 at age seventy-five. He had three children, one of whom, a son, was editor of the Memphis Press-Scimitar.
Dallas Dispatch
The Dallas Dispatch was a daily evening newspaper published in Dallas, Texas from 1906 until it was combined with the evening Dallas Journal in 1938 to create The Dallas Dispatch-Journal, the name of which was shortened to The Dallas Journal in 1939 and which ceased publication in 1942.The...
and, briefly, of the Dallas Dispatch-Journal, daily afternoon newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s of general circulation published in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
.
Andersson was born in Liverpool, England on December 10, 1874 to Alfred Carolus Andersson, a cotton broker, and Elizabeth Falk Andersson. The family moved to Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
in the early 1880s. Andersson’s father died there soon afterward, and his mother moved the family back to Liverpool and then, in 1884, to Weimar, Germany, where Andersson attended school for five years. His mother married Dr. Henry J. Lampe in 1889 and the family returned to Kansas City. She died in San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
in 1931 at age seventy-nine, and Dr. Lampe died in 1910.
Andersson’s career in newspapers began during his teenage years when he worked at odd jobs around the shop where his stepfather published a German-language newspaper. He wrote and edited campus publications while a student at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
from 1893 to 1895 and then returned to Kansas City to take a job on the Kansas City World, a Scripps-McRae newspaper. He then moved on to reporting and editing jobs on Scripps papers in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
and Chicago, Illinois.
In 1898 Andersson reported on the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
for the United Press, which then appointed him manager of the UP’s Kansas City bureau. In 1906 he scouted Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
for a suitable location to start a newspaper for Scripps-McRae. According to newspaper lore, he stopped at a downtown Dallas drugstore, noticed it sold fine cigars, and concluded “if those are the cigars the men here favor, this must be a good town.” As he contemplated starting a paper in Dallas he learned that another man was in town with the same idea and likewise with Scripps-McRae’s tentative promise to back it. Confronting Col. Milton A. McRae
Milton A. McRae
Colonel Milton Alexander McRae was an American newspaper publisher who co-founded the Scripps-McRae League of Newspapers and United Press International....
, he was told that Scripps-McRae’s support would go to the man who got a paper on the street first; Andersson then hastily threw together the four-page first issue of the Dallas Dispatch, deployed boys to sell the paper on the street, and the Dispatch became the Scripps paper in Dallas.
In 1911 he inaugurated the Houston Press, a Scripps-McRae newspaper in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. While editing the Press he retained editorship of the Dispatch and continued to live in Dallas. With a 1916 reorganization of Scripps-McRae properties in the South, he became editor of the Memphis Press in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, the Denver Express in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, and the Oklahoma News in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
.
In 1919 Andersson moved to Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
to become general manager of the Newspaper Enterprise Association, a Scripps feature service. In 1921 he left the newspaper business for the first time and moved to San Antonio to enter the cotton business. His absence from newspapering was short-lived, as he returned to Dallas a year later and once again became publisher of the Dispatch, a position he held until retirement in 1937. But a year later Karl Hoblitzelle and others purchased the Dispatch and combined it with the Dallas Journal (which they simultaneously acquired from A. H. Belo Corporation
Belo
Belo Corp. is a Dallas-based media company that owns 20 commercial broadcasting television stations and two regional 24-hour cable news television channels. The company was previously known as A.H. Belo Corp. after one of the early owners of the company, Alfred Horatio Belo, now the name of the...
, publisher of the Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
) to create the afternoon Dallas Dispatch-Journal, and induced the reluctant Andersson to become its publisher. Andersson finally retired in December 1938.
Andersson was tall and spare and had a reserved manner and patrician features. He was described as “essentially a kind man, although his was not the heartiness associated with the back-slapper.” His newspapers tended to be crusading and somewhat sensational, often publishing several editions daily.
His first wife was Dorothy Smart, who died in 1911. Two years later he married Ruth H. Harper, whose father, Jacob Chandler Harper, was general counsel for the Scripps-McRae newspapers.
Suffering from gradual circulatory failure and failure to completely recover from bronchial pneumonia, Andersson was stricken on a cruise and returned to the La Jolla, California home of his wife’s deceased parents, which the Anderssons had been using as a summer home and where he died on May 11, 1950 at age seventy-five. He had three children, one of whom, a son, was editor of the Memphis Press-Scimitar.