Baltimore Sun financial and selected labor records - Historical Note
The Baltimore Sun was established by Arunah Shepherdson (A.S.) Abell in 1837. Abell and his partners, Azariah Simmons and William Swain, created the Philadelphia Public Ledger in 1836, and Abell saw the potential of a penny newspaper in Baltimore. In 1904 when the Great Baltimore Fire demolished the Sun Iron Building, Walter Abell, grandson of founder A.S., was managing the paper. As the fire swept closer, Walter Abell ordered subscription lists, records, and bound copies of the paper removed from the building. While much was saved due to Abell's orders, the building itself and what remained inside was destroyed. In 1910, control of the company shifted from the Abell family to a Board of businessmen led by Crawford Black as Chairman. The same year also saw the first issue of the Evening Sun, which remained in publication until 1995. The Times Mirror Company acquired the Sun in 1986, and merged with the Tribune Company in 2000.
While the financial history in this collection dates to the paper's creation in 1837, the Sun's connection with the Newspaper Guild did not begin until the 1930s. Following the lead of Heywood Broun, who established the American Newspaper Guild in 1933, the Washington Newspaper Guild was founded in January 1934. The Washington Guild President, Dan DeSouza, spoke to Baltimore journalists in March and by the end of the month the Baltimore Newspaper Guild was established. The Newspaper Guild earned representation at the Baltimore Sun in 1938, but contract negotiations were not settled until 1949. H.L. Mencken served as the Sun's liaison to the Guild from 1941-1948. By the mid 1960s the Washington and Baltimore Guilds were working together and eventually merged to create the still active Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.
See Bibliography for sources.
