Buffalo Courier-Express

Buffalo Courier-Express
	The front page of the Buffalo Courier dated 16 April 1912, featuring the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	George E. Matthews; William J. Conners; Cowles Media Company
Launched	1926
Ceased publication	September 19, 1982
Headquarters	Buffalo, New York

The Buffalo Courier-Express was a morning newspaper in Buffalo, New York. It ceased publication on September 19, 1982.

History

Samuel Clemens (center) with American Civil War correspondent and author George Alfred Townsend, and David Gray, editor of the Buffalo Express^[1]

The Courier-Express was created in 1926 by a merger of the Buffalo Daily Courier and the Buffalo Morning Express. William J. Conners, the owner of the Buffalo Courier, brought the two papers together. The combined newspapers claimed a heritage dating to 1828. One notable part-owner and editor of the Buffalo Express was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain,^[1] whose tenure at the newspaper lasted from 1869 to 1871.^[2]

In August 1979, The Courier-Express was purchased by the Cowles Media Company, a publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After a change in corporate leadership, Cowles Media decided to close the paper in September 1982. After the local Newspaper Guild members voted to oppose a deal to sell the Courier Express to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation,^[3] the September 19, 1982 issue was the last issue published.^[4] That left Buffalo with only one daily newspaper, the Buffalo Evening News, now known as The Buffalo News.

Cowles Media donated the library to the Buffalo History Museum and Buffalo State College. The library is now housed in the E. H. Butler Library^[5] at Buffalo State College. The library consists of approximately one million news clippings, 100,000 photographs^[6] and several pieces of artworks and framed photographs. The news clippings and photographs, arranged by subject and person, cover the late 1950s to September 19, 1982. The collection served as the library for the reporters of the paper. The librarians weeded both the clippings and photographic files, discarding older files on a routine basis. As a result, many subject areas are not covered.

The library is currently being digitized. While that may take years, photographs will continually be added to the Butler Library Archives Flickr site.^[7]

Editors

Advertising poster for a Women's Edition, by Alice Russell Glenny

Editors of the Buffalo Courier

Douglas A. Levien, 1850s^[8]
David Gray, 1870s^[1]

Editors of the Buffalo Express

Almon M. Clapp, editor, founded Express in 1846^[9]
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as 'Mark Twain', 1869–1871, co-editor
Josephus Nelson Larned, co-editor with Twain
James N. Matthews, 1878–1888^[10]
George E. Matthews, 1888–1911^[10]
Burrows Matthews, 1911–1925

Editors of the Buffalo Courier-Express

Burrows Matthews, 1926–1955
Cy B. King, 1956–1970
Douglas L. Turner, 1971–1980
Joel R. Kramer, 1981–1982
Theo C. Meier, 1950s

General Managers of the Buffalo Courier-Express

Gordon Bennett, 1960s
Richard C. Lyons, 1971–74
Donald J. Maul, 1970s

Notable alumni

Tom Toles
Wilbur Porterfield, photo pictorialist, 1926–1958

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "David Gray biography". Mark Twain Project. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^ Dlugosz, Steve (May 27, 2020). "Mark Twain's experience in Buffalo described as brief but memorable". The Am-Pol Eagle. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^ Wexler, Celia Viggo (July 20, 2011). "The Newspaper that Said "No" to Murdoch". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
^ "Buffalo Morning Paper To Fold". Reading Eagle. September 8, 1982. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
^ Fujiuchi, Ken. "E. H. Butler Library: E. H. Butler Library: Home". library.buffalostate.edu.
^ "The Courier-Express Photograph Collection". Retrieved October 6, 2018.
^ "Flickr.com".
^ "Death of Douglas A. Levien," New York Times, April 28, 1897.
^ (6 April 1899). Mr. A.M. Clapp Stricken, Evening Star
^ ^a ^b Matthews, George E. (1898). The men of New York: a collection of biographies and portraits of citizens of the Empire state prominent in business, professional, social, and political life during the last decade of the nineteenth century. Cattaraugus County (N.Y.): G.E. Matthews & Co. Retrieved 31 October 2015.

External links

Media related to Buffalo Courier Express at Wikimedia Commons

History of the Buffalo Newspaper Guild
As of October 2022, NY State Historic Newspapers has the Courier-Express, 1977-1982 available online for free, public access.
As of October, 2022, Newspapers.com has the Courier-Express, 1932-1943, online for paid subscribers. Some public and academic libraries offer Newspapers.com to their users.
Buffalo Courier-Express Collection at Buffalo State College

[MTP-Gray-1] "David Gray biography". Mark Twain Project. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

[2] Dlugosz, Steve (May 27, 2020). "Mark Twain's experience in Buffalo described as brief but memorable". The Am-Pol Eagle. Retrieved December 18, 2020.

[cjr20110720-3] Wexler, Celia Viggo (July 20, 2011). "The Newspaper that Said "No" to Murdoch". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 21, 2011.

[reading82-4] "Buffalo Morning Paper To Fold". Reading Eagle. September 8, 1982. Retrieved December 29, 2009.

[5] Fujiuchi, Ken. "E. H. Butler Library: E. H. Butler Library: Home". library.buffalostate.edu.

[6] "The Courier-Express Photograph Collection". Retrieved October 6, 2018.

[7] "Flickr.com".

[8] "Death of Douglas A. Levien," New York Times, April 28, 1897.

[clappsick-9] (6 April 1899). Mr. A.M. Clapp Stricken, Evening Star

[MenofNY-10] Matthews, George E. (1898). The men of New York: a collection of biographies and portraits of citizens of the Empire state prominent in business, professional, social, and political life during the last decade of the nineteenth century. Cattaraugus County (N.Y.): G.E. Matthews & Co. Retrieved 31 October 2015.

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