Book: History of the New York Times, 1851-1921

Overview

Elmer Davis traces the rise of the New York Times from its founding in 1851 to its position in 1921 as one of the nation's leading newspapers. The narrative follows the paper's transformation from a small New York daily into an influential national institution, chronicling editorial choices, business struggles, and the personalities who shaped its voice. Davis emphasizes how the Times navigated political upheavals, technological change, and shifting public expectations to build credibility and reach.
The book blends institutional history with biographical sketches of editors, proprietors, and reporters, showing how individual decisions and broader social forces combined to determine the paper's course. Major episodes, coverage of the Civil War, the Gilded Age controversies, the modernization under later owners, and the paper's handling of World War I, serve as focal points for exploring the evolution of American journalism itself.

Narrative and Themes

Davis organizes his account thematically and chronologically, balancing anecdotes about newsroom life with analysis of circulation, advertising, and editorial policy. He pays particular attention to the continuous tension between commercial survival and journalistic standards: how the paper cultivated a reputation for sober reporting while adapting to market pressures that required innovation in format, distribution, and content. The development of editorial independence and a commitment to factual reporting emerges as a recurring theme, presented as both ethical stance and business strategy.
Another theme is the role of leadership in shaping institutional character. Davis sketches the contrasting temperaments of founders and successive owners, showing how taste, temperament, and belief in public service influenced hiring, story selection, and the paper's relationship with political power. He also traces technological and organizational changes, telegraphic reporting, new printing technologies, and professionalization of reporting, that altered how news was gathered, presented, and consumed.

Style, Sources, and Significance

Written in a clear, journalistic style, the history mixes documentary detail with interpretive commentary. Davis draws on archival material, contemporary reporting, and personal recollections to reconstruct key episodes, though the tone often privileges narrative cohesion over exhaustive scholarly apparatus. The book reads as both a chronicle for general readers and a primer for those interested in the mechanics of newspaper management and editorial decision-making during a transformative era.
As a contemporary retrospective published in 1921, the work serves as a valuable primary account of how an influential newspaper viewed its own rise at a pivotal moment in American life. It offers insight into the formation of standards that would shape 20th-century journalism and into the ways a single newspaper could reflect and influence public opinion. For readers seeking to understand the interplay of business, technology, and civic responsibility in the press, Davis's history remains a lively and informative portrait of the New York Times' first seven decades.