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Studebaker

Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.

Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.

After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) and failure to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on March 17, 1966. Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in November 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington.

German forebears
The ancestors of the Studebaker family descend from Solingen, Germany. They arrived in America at the port of Philadelphia on September 1, 1736, on the ship Harle, (see Exhibit B) from Rotterdam, Netherlands, (see Exhibit A, p. 11), original manuscripts now in the Pennsylvania State Library at Harrisburg). This included Peter Studebaker and his wife Anna Margetha Studebaker, Clement Studebaker (Peter's brother) and his wife, Anna Catherina Studebaker and Heinrich Studebaker (Peter's cousin). (see Exhibit A, p. 11) In 1918, Albert Russel Erskine, Studebaker Corporation president, wrote the book, "History of the Studebaker Corporation", including the 1918 annual report, "Written for the information of the 3,000 stockholders of the Studebaker Corporation, the 12,000 dealers in its products living throughout the world, its 15,000 employees and numberless friends." (see Exhibit A, p. 9) This book was verified by lawyers and accountants and all board members and was a legal document. (see Exhibit A, p. 7) In the same book, Albert Russel Erskin, accurately wrote that Peter Studebaker was the "wagon-maker, which trade later became the foundation of the family fortune and the corporation which now bears his name." (see Exhibit A, p. 11)

"The tax list of York County, Pennsylvania, in 1798–9 showed among the taxable were Peter Studebaker Sr. and Peter Studebaker Jr. wagon-makers, which trade later became the foundation of the family fortune and the corporation which now bears his name." (see Exhibit D) "John Studebaker, father of the five brothers [that began the Studebaker Corporation] was the son of Peter Studebaker. (see Exhibit A, p. 13). John Clement Studebaker (son of Clement Studebaker and Sarah Rensel) was born February 8, 1799, Westmorland, PA, and died in 1877 in South Bend, St. Joseph, IN. John Studebaker (1799–1877) moved to Ohio in 1835 with his wife Rebecca (née Mohler) (1802–1887).

The five brothers

The five sons were, in order of birth: Henry (1826–1895), Clement (1831–1901), John Mohler (1833–1917), Peter Everst (1836–1897) and Jacob Franklin (1844–1887). The boys had five sisters. Photographs of the brothers and their parents are reproduced in the 1918 company history, which was written by Erskine after he became president, in memory of John M., whose portrait appears on the front cover.

18th-century colonial family business
In 1740 Peter Studebaker built his home on a property known as “Bakers Lookout”. (The home still stands in Hagerstown, Maryland.) The first Studebaker wagon factory was built in the same year next to the home. On Bakers Lookout Peter, master of the German Cutler Guild, built the first Studebaker home, the first Studebaker wagon factory where he began forging and tempering steel and seasoning wood in the colonies. Peter Studebaker built the first Studebaker mill and a wagon road. Broadfording Wagon Road was built to run through the property. Peter owned property on both sides of the Conococheague Creek, so he built a bridge over the creek in 1747. Peter began the family business on the Bakers Lookout property where he made his home and built the first Studebaker wagon factory. In this factory, Peter manufactured everything, all necessities including products he made in Solingen, Germany, and naturally wagons. Bakers Lookout, the 1740, 100-acre land patent, Hagerstown, Maryland, was the first of many land patents to be acquired by Peter Studebaker. Peter purchased approximately 1500 acres in what is now known state of Maryland. The home still stands today and is proof of the advanced technology of Peter Studebaker. (see Bakers Lookout Peter Studebakers 1740 home website)

In 1747 Peter Studebaker built a road through his owned properties known as Broadfording Wagon Road. The road he built carried heavy traffic to Bakers Lookout's wagon and forging services that were instrumental to expand the west. The Maryland Historical Trust WA-I-306 writes 04/03/2001, that this road was "One of Washington County's earliest thoroughfares, Broadfording (Wagon) Road was already in existence in 1747." (see Exhibit I) The wagon transportation industry boomed. On the property, Broadfording Wagon Road built in 1740 by Peter Studebaker, went directly through the property to allow access from the home to the factory and to the mill.

Although Peter Studebaker's life in the colonies was short, less than 18 years, the family business flourished through his descendants (see Exhibit M) and apprentices expanded the vast land holdings enlarging the Studebaker family business and its industrious wagon-making region. Peter's trade secrets were passed from father to son, generation to generation. The Studebaker family business plan, purchasing, again and again, vast amounts of land, on which they built industrious farms with mills and wagon making facilities and wagon selling facilities, each identical to the Bakers Lookout situation, industrious farms, much acreage, on which one finds the necessary resources, lumber, iron ore, oil shale and land selected with stream, spring, or river to hydropower factories, mills and equipment. Peter's technology-enabled expansion of the family business through the famous Conestoga and Prairie Schooner wagon designs. Peter's trade was the stepping-stone that expanded the transportation industry. Thomas E. Bonsall, wrote "Much more than the story of a family business; it is also, in microcosm, the story of the industrial development of America." Peter Studebaker died in the mid-1750s.

End of horse-drawn era
John M. Studebaker had always viewed the automobile as complementary to the horse-drawn wagon, pointing out that the expense of maintaining a car might be beyond the resources of a small farmer. In 1918, when Erskine's history of the firm was published, the annual capacity of the seven Studebaker plants was 100,000 automobiles, 75,000 horse-drawn vehicles, and about $10,000,000 worth of automobile and vehicle spare parts ($0 in dollars ). In the preceding seven years, 466,962 horse-drawn vehicles had been sold, as against 277,035 automobiles, but the trend was all too clear. The regular manufacture of horse-drawn vehicles ended when Erskine ordered the removal of the last wagon gear in 1919. To its range of cars, Studebaker would now add a truck line to replace the horse-drawn wagons. Buses, fire engines, and even small rail locomotive-kits were produced using the same powerful six-cylinder engines.

In the beginning

In 1895, John M. Studebaker's son-in-law Fred Fish urged for development of 'a practical horseless carriage'. When, on Peter Studebaker's death, Fish became chairman of the executive committee in 1897, the firm had an engineer working on a motor vehicle. At first, Studebaker opted for electric (battery-powered) over gasoline propulsion. While manufacturing its own Studebaker Electric vehicles from 1902 to 1911, the company entered into body-manufacturing and distribution agreements with two makers of gasoline-powered vehicles, Garford of Elyria, Ohio, and the Everitt-Metzger-Flanders (E-M-F) Company of Detroit and Walkerville, Ontario. Studebaker began making gasoline-engined cars in partnership with Garford in 1904.

Studebaker marque established in 1911

In 1910, it was decided to refinance and incorporate as the Studebaker Corporation, which was concluded on February 14, 1911, under New Jersey laws. The company discontinued making electric vehicles that same year. The financing was handled by Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs who provided board representatives including Henry Goldman whose contribution was especially esteemed.

After taking over E-M-F's Detroit facilities, Studebaker sought to remedy customer dissatisfaction complaints by paying mechanics to visit each disgruntled owner and replace defective parts in their vehicles, at a total cost of US$1 million ($0 in dollars ). The worst problem was rear-axle failure. Hendry comments that the frenzied testing resulted in Studebaker's aim to design 'for life'—and the consequent emergence of "a series of really rugged cars... the famous Big Six and Special Six" listed at $2,350 ($0 in dollars ). From that time, Studebaker's own marque was put on all new automobiles produced at the former E-M-F facilities as an assurance that the vehicles were well built.

In 1913, the company experienced the first major labor strike in the automotive industry, the 1913 Studebaker strike.

Engineering advances from WWI
The corporation benefited from enormous orders cabled by the British government at the outbreak of World War I. They included 3,000 transport wagons, 20,000 sets of artillery harness, 60,000 artillery saddles, and ambulances, as well as hundreds of cars purchased through the London office. Similar orders were received from the governments of France and Russia.

The 1913 six-cylinder models were the first cars to employ the important advancement of monobloc engine casting which became associated with a production-economy drive in the years of the war. At that time, a 28-year-old university graduate engineer, Fred M. Zeder, was appointed chief engineer. He was the first of a trio of brilliant technicians, with Owen R. Skelton and Carl Breer, who launched the successful 1918 models, and were known as "The Three Musketeers". They left in 1920 to form a consultancy, later to become the nucleus of Chrysler Engineering. The replacement chief engineer was Guy P. Henry, who introduced molybdenum steel, an improved clutch design, and presided over the six-cylinders-only policy favored by new president Albert Russel Erskine, who replaced Fred Fish in July 1915.

First auto proving ground
In 1925, the corporation's most successful distributor and dealer Paul G. Hoffman came to South Bend as vice president in charge of sales. In 1926, Studebaker became the first automobile manufacturer in the United States to open a controlled outdoor proving ground on which, in 1937, would be planted 5,000 pine trees in a pattern that spelled "STUDEBAKER" when viewed from the air. Also in 1926, the last of the Detroit plant was moved to South Bend under the control of Harold S Vance, vice president in charge of production and engineering. That year, a new small car, the Erskine Six was launched in Paris, resulting in 26,000 sales abroad and many more in America. By 1929, the sales list had been expanded to 50 models and business was so good that 90% of earnings were being paid out as dividends to shareholders in a highly competitive environment. However, the end of that year ushered in the Great Depression that resulted in many layoffs and massive national unemployment for several years.

Facilities in the 1920s

Studebaker's total plant area in Indiana was 225 acre, spread over three locations, with buildings occupying 7.5 million square feet of floor space. Annual production capacity was 180,000 cars, requiring 23,000 employees.

The original South Bend vehicle plant continued to be used for small forgings, springs, and making some body parts. Separate buildings totaling over one million square feet were added in 1922–1923 for the Light, Special, and Big Six models. At any one time, 5,200 bodies were in process. South Bend's Plant 2 made chassis for the Light Six and had a foundry of 575000 sqft, producing 600 tons of castings daily.

Plant 3 at Detroit made complete chassis for Special and Big Six models in over 750000 sqft of floor space and was located between Clark Avenue and Scotten Avenue south of Fort Street. Plant 5 was the service parts store and shipping facility, plus the executive offices of various technical departments. The Detroit facilities were moved to South Bend in 1926, except that the Piquette Avenue Plant (Plant 10) was retained for assembly of the Erskine between 1927 and 1929 and the Rockne (1931–1933).

Plant 7 was at Walkerville, Ontario, Canada, where complete cars were assembled from components that had been shipped from South Bend and Detroit factories or locally made in Canada, and is in close proximity to the current Ford Windsor Engine Factory. Output was designated for the Canadian (left-hand drive) and British Empire (right-hand drive) trade. By locating it there, Studebaker could advertise the cars as "British-built" and qualify for reduced tariffs. This manufacturing facility had been acquired from E-M-F in 1910 (see above). By 1929, it had been the subject of $1.25 million investment and was providing employment that supported 500 families.

Impact of the 1930s depression

Few industrialists were prepared for the Wall Street Crash of October 1929. Though Studebaker's production and sales had been booming, the market collapsed and plans were laid for a new, small, low-cost car—the Rockne. However, times were too bad to sell even inexpensive cars. Within a year, the firm was cutting wages and laying off workers. Company president Albert Russel Erskine maintained faith in the Rockne and rashly had the directors declare huge dividends in 1930 and 1931. He also acquired 95% of the White Motor Company's stock at an inflated price and in cash. By 1933, the banks were owed $6 million, ($0 in dollars ) though current assets exceeded that figure. On March 18, 1933, Studebaker entered receivership. Erskine was pushed out of the presidency in favor of more cost-conscious managers. Erskine committed suicide on July 1, 1933, leaving successors Harold Vance and Paul Hoffman to deal with the problems.

By December 1933, the company was back in profit with $5.75 million working capital and 224 new Studebaker dealers, while the purchase of White was cancelled. With the substantial aid of Lehman Brothers, full refinancing and reorganization was achieved on March 9, 1935. A new car was put on the drawing boards under chief engineer Delmar "Barney" Roos—the Champion. Its final styling was designed by Virgil Exner and Raymond Loewy. The Champion doubled the company's previous-year sales when it was introduced in 1939.

World War II
From the 1920s to the 1930s, the South Bend company had originated many style and engineering milestones, including the Light Four, Light Six, Special Six, Big Six models, the Dictator, the record-breaking Commander and President, followed by the 1939 Champion. During World War II, Studebaker produced the Studebaker US6 truck in great quantity and the unique M29 Weasel cargo and personnel carrier. Studebaker ranked 28th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. An assembly plant in California, Studebaker Pacific Corporation, built engine assemblies and nacelles for B-17s and PV-2 Harpoons. After cessation of hostilities, Studebaker returned to building automobiles.

Post-WWII styling

Studebaker prepared well in advance for the anticipated postwar market and launched the slogan "First by far with a post-war car". This advertising premise was substantiated by Virgil Exner's designs, notably the 1947 Studebaker Starlight coupé, which introduced innovative styling features that influenced later cars, including the flatback "trunk" instead of the tapered look of the time, and a wrap-around rear window. For 1950 and 1951, the Champion and Commander adopted a polarizing appearance from Exner's concepts, and were applied to the 1950 Studebaker Starlight coupe. The new trunk design prompted a running joke that one could not tell if the car was coming or going, and appeared to be influenced by the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, particularly by the shortened fuselage with wrap around canopy. During the war the Studebaker Chippewa Factory was the primary location for aircraft engines used in the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the marketing department attempted to evoke a reference to their contribution to the war effort.

Industry price war brings on crisis
Studebaker's strong postwar management team including president Paul G Hoffman and Roy Cole (vice president, engineering) had left by 1949 and was replaced by more cautious executives who failed to meet the competitive challenge brought on by Henry Ford II and his Whiz Kids. Massive discounting in a price war between Ford and General Motors, which began with Ford's massive increase in production in the spring of 1953—part of Ford's postwar expansion program aimed at restoring it to the position of the largest car maker which GM had held since 1931—could not be equalled by the independent carmakers, for whom the only hope was seen as a merger of Studebaker, Packard, Hudson, and Nash into a fourth giant combine after Chrysler. This had been unsuccessfully attempted by George W. Mason. In this scheme, Studebaker had the disadvantage that its South Bend location would make consolidation difficult. Its labor costs were also the highest in the industry.

Merger with Packard
Ballooning labor costs (the company had never had an official United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and Studebaker workers and retirees were among the highest paid in the industry), quality control issues, and the new-car sales war between Ford and General Motors in the early 1950s wrought havoc on Studebaker's balance sheet. Professional financial managers stressed short-term earnings rather than long-term vision. Momentum was sufficient to keep going for another 10 years, but stiff competition and price-cutting by the Big Three doomed the enterprise.

From 1950 Studebaker declined rapidly, and by 1954 was losing money. It negotiated a strategic takeover by Packard, a smaller but less financially troubled car manufacturer. However, the cash position was worse than it had led Packard to believe, and by 1956, the company (renamed Studebaker-Packard Corporation and under the guidance of CEO James J. Nance) was nearly bankrupt, though it continued to make and market both Studebaker and Packard cars until 1958. The "Packard" element was retained until 1962, when the name reverted to "Studebaker Corporation".

Contract with Curtiss-Wright
A three-year management contract was made by CEO Nance with aircraft maker Curtiss-Wright in 1956 with the aim of improving finances due to Studebaker's experience building aircraft engines during the war and military grade trucks. C-W's president, Roy T. Hurley, attempted to reduce labor costs. Under C-W's guidance, Studebaker-Packard also sold the old Detroit Packard plant and returned the then-new Packard plant on Conner Avenue (where Packard production had moved in 1954, at the same time Packard took its body-making operations in house after its longtime body supplier, Briggs Manufacturing Company, was acquired by Chrysler in late 1953) to its lessor, Chrysler. The company became the American importer for Mercedes-Benz, Auto Union, and DKW automobiles and many Studebaker dealers sold those brands, as well. C-W gained the use of idle car plants and tax relief on their aircraft profits while Studebaker-Packard received further working capital to continue car production.

Last automobiles produced
The automobiles that came after the diversification process began, including the redesigned compact Lark (1959) and the Avanti sports car (1962), were based on old chassis and engine designs. The Lark, in particular, was based on existing parts to the degree that it even used the central body section of the company's 1953–58 cars, but was a clever enough design to be popular in its first year, selling over 130,000 units and delivering a $28.6 million profit to the automaker ($0 in dollars ). "S-P rose from 56,920 units in 1958 to 153,844 in 1959."

However, Lark sales began to drop precipitously after the Big Three manufacturers introduced their own compact models in 1960, and the situation became critical once the so-called "senior compacts" debuted for 1961. The Lark had provided a temporary reprieve, but nothing proved enough to stop the financial bleeding.

A labor strike occurred at the South Bend plant starting on January 1, 1962, and lasting 38 days. The strike came to an end after an agreement was reached between company president Sherwood H. Egbert and Walter P. Reuther, president of the UAW. Despite a sales uptick in 1962, continuing media reports that Studebaker was about to leave the auto business became a self-fulfilling prophecy as buyers shied away from the company's products for fear of being stuck with an "orphan". NBC reporter Chet Huntley made a television program called "Studebaker – Fight for Survival" which aired on May 18, 1962. By 1963, all of the company's automobiles and trucks were selling poorly.

Closure of South Bend plant, 1963
After insufficient initial sales of the 1964 models and the ousting of president Sherwood Egbert, on December 9, 1963, the company announced the closure of the South Bend plant. The last Larks and Hawks were assembled on December 20, and the last Avanti was assembled on December 26. To fulfill government contracts, production of military trucks and Zip Vans for the United States Postal Service continued into early 1964. The engine foundry remained open until the union contract expired in May 1964. The supply of engines produced in the first half of 1964 supported Zip Van assembly until the government contract was fulfilled, and automobile production at the Canadian plant until the end of the 1964 model year. The Avanti model name, tooling, and plant space were sold off to Leo Newman and Nate Altman, a longtime South Bend Studebaker-Packard dealership. They revived the car in 1965 under the brand name "Avanti II". (See main article Avanti (car).) They likewise purchased the rights and tooling for Studebaker's trucks, along with the company's vast stock of parts and accessories. The plant, alongside Studebaker's General Products Division, was bought by Kaiser Jeep Corporation who used it to produce military vehicles. That unit formed the nucleus for what would later become AM General Corporation, which today is the world’s largest producer of tactical wheeled vehicles. Nevertheless, as Newman and Altman decided not to progress with any Studebaker truck production, the tooling was then sold off again to Kaiser Jeep in late 1965, which continued producing parts for Studebaker trucks for a few more years. Some '1965' model Champ trucks were built in South America using completely knocked-down kits and left-over parts. These models used a different grille from all previous Champ models.

The closure of the South Bend plant hit the community particularly hard, since Studebaker was the largest employer in St. Joseph County, Indiana. Nearly a quarter of the South Bend work force was African-American.

Closure of Hamilton plant, 1966

Limited automotive production was consolidated at the company's last remaining production facility in Hamilton, Ontario, which had always been profitable and where Studebaker produced cars until March 1966 under the leadership of Gordon Grundy. It was projected that the Canadian operation could break even on production of about 20,000 cars a year, and Studebaker's announced goal was 30,000–40,000 1965 models. While 1965 production was just shy of the 20,000 figure, the company's directors felt that the small profits were not enough to justify continued investment. Rejecting Grundy's request for funds to tool up for 1967 models, Studebaker left the automobile business on March 17, 1966, after an announcement on March 4. A turquoise and white Cruiser sedan was the last of fewer than 9,000 1966 models manufactured (of which 2,045 were built in the 1966 calendar year ). In reality, the move to Canada had been a tactic by which production could be slowly wound down and remaining dealer franchise obligations honored. The 1965 and 1966 Studebaker cars used "McKinnon" engines sourced from General Motors Canada Limited, which were based on Chevrolet's 230-cubic-inch six-cylinder and 283 cubic-inch V8 engines when Studebaker-built engines were no longer available.

The closure adversely affected not only the plant's 700 employees, who had developed a sense of collegiality around group benefits such as employee parties and day trips, but the city of Hamilton as a whole; Studebaker had been Hamilton's 10th-largest employer.

Potential link with Nissan and Toyota
In 1965, Gordon Grundy of Studebaker Canada was sent by Studebaker management to Japan to investigate potential links with Nissan and Toyota, to sell their vehicles badged as Studebakers. While Grundy was negotiating with Nissan to possibly import the Nissan Cedric, the Studebaker board found out about the Toyota Century, which was not introduced until November 1967, and then the attorney representing the board, former United States Vice President Richard Nixon, asked Grundy to contact Toyota, as well. Toyota was insulted at being Studebaker's second choice, and when word got out to Nissan that Grundy was also speaking with Toyota executives, Nissan ended negotiations, leaving Grundy empty-handed.

Network and other assets
Many of Studebaker's dealers either closed, took on other automakers' product lines, or converted to Mercedes-Benz dealerships following the closure of the Canadian plant. Studebaker's General Products Division, which built vehicles to fulfill defense contracts, was acquired by Kaiser Industries, which built military and postal vehicles in South Bend. In 1970, American Motors (AMC) purchased the division, which still exists today as AM General.

The grove of 5,000 trees planted on the proving grounds in 1937, spelling out the Studebaker name, still stands and has proven to be a popular topic on such satellite photography sites as Google Earth. The proving grounds were acquired by Bendix in 1966 and Bosch in 1996. After Bosch closed its South Bend operation in 2011, a part of the proving ground was retained and,, has been restored to use under the name "New Carlisle Test Facility".

For many years a rumor persisted of the existence of a Studebaker graveyard. The rumor was later confirmed to be true when the remains of many prototype automobiles and a few trucks were discovered at a remote, heavily wooded site bounded by the proving grounds' high-speed oval. Most of the prototypes were left to rot in direct contact with the ground and full exposure to the weather and falling trees. Attempts to remove some of these rusting bodies resulted in the bodies crumbling under their own weight as they were moved, so now they exist only in photographs.

However, there were a few notable exceptions. A few of the prototypes were rescued. The only example of a never-produced 1947 Champion wood-sided station wagon was restored and is on display at the Studebaker National Museum.

Another prototype initially slated for disposal at the proving grounds escaped the fate of the others. In late 1952 Studebaker produced one 1953 Commander convertible as an engineering study to determine if the model could be profitably mass-produced. The car was based on the 1953 2-door hardtop coupe. The car was later modified to 1954-model specifications, and was occasionally driven around South Bend by engineers. Additional structural reinforcements were needed to reduce body flexure. Even though the car was equipped with the 232 cu. in. V-8, the added structural weight increased the car's 0-60 mph acceleration time to an unacceptable level. In addition, the company did not have the financial resources to add another body type to the model line. The company's leadership mistakenly thought the 2-door sedans, 4-door sedans, and 1954 Conestoga wagon would sell better than the 2-door coupes, so the company's resources were focused on production of the sedans and the wagon. When the prototype convertible was no longer needed, engineer E. T. Reynolds ordered the car to be stripped and the body sent to the secret graveyard at the proving grounds. A non-engineering employee requested permission to purchase the complete car, rather than see it rot away with the other prototypes. Chief engineer Gene Hardig discussed the request with E. T. Reynolds. They agreed to let the employee purchase the car on the condition that the employee never sell it. In the 1970s, the car was re-discovered behind a South Bend gas station and no longer owned by the former employee. After eventually passing through several owners, the car is now in a private collection of Studebaker automobiles.

In May 1967, Studebaker and its diversified units were merged with Wagner Electric. In November 1967, Studebaker was merged with the Worthington Corporation to form Studebaker-Worthington. The Studebaker name disappeared from the American business scene in 1979, when McGraw-Edison acquired Studebaker-Worthington, except for the still existing Studebaker Leasing, based in Jericho, NY. McGraw-Edison was itself purchased in 1985 by Cooper Industries, which sold off its auto-parts divisions to Federal-Mogul some years later. As detailed above, some vehicles were assembled from left-over parts and identified as Studebakers by the purchasers of the Avanti brand and surplus material from Studebaker at South Bend.

Diversified activities
By the early 1960s, Studebaker had begun to diversify away from automobiles. Numerous companies were purchased, bringing Studebaker into such diverse fields as the manufacture of tire studs and missile components.

The company's 1963 annual report listed the following divisions:

 * Clarke – Floor Machine Division, Muskegon, Michigan
 * CTL – Missile/Space Technology Division, Cincinnati, Ohio
 * Franklin – Appliance Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota (home office; other locations also in Minnesota, Iowa, and Ontario). Manufactured private label kitchen and laundry appliances for major retailers until it was sold to White Consolidated Industries.
 * Gravely Tractor – Tractors Division, Dunbar, West Virginia, and Albany, Georgia
 * International – South Bend, Indiana (handled business matters for all divisions doing business overseas)
 * Onan – Engine/Generator Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota
 * Paxton Automotive – automobile superchargers
 * STP – Chemical Compounds Division, Des Plaines, Illinois, and Santa Monica, California. Produced automotive engine additives.
 * Schaefer – Commercial Refrigeration Division, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Aberdeen, Maryland
 * Studebaker of Canada – Automotive Manufacturing, Hamilton, Ontario
 * SASCO – Studebaker Automotive Sales Corp., South Bend, Indiana.
 * Studegrip – Tire Stud Division, South Bend, Indiana, Jefferson, Iowa, and Minneapolis, Minnesota
 * Trans International Airlines – founded by Kirk Kerkorian

Having built the Wright R-1820 under license during World War II, Studebaker also attempted to build what would perhaps have been the largest aircraft piston engine ever built. With 24 cylinders in an "H" configuration, a bore of 8 in and stroke of 7.75 in, displacement would have been 9349 in3, hence the H-9350 designation. It was not completed.

Downtown location
635 S. Lafayette Blvd., South Bend, IN
 * manufactured conestoga wagons, horse-drawn carriages, electric cars, automobiles

Clement and Henry Studebaker Jr., became blacksmiths and foundrymen in South Bend, Indiana, in February 1852. They first made metal parts for freight wagons and later expanded into the manufacture of complete wagons. At this time, John M. was making wheelbarrows in Placerville, California. The site of his business is California Historic Landmark #142 at 543 Main St, Placerville.

The first major expansion in Henry and Clem's South Bend business came from their being in the right place to meet the needs of the California Gold Rush that began in 1849. From his wheelbarrow enterprise at Placerville, John M. had amassed $8,000 ($0 in dollars ). In April 1858, he quit and moved out to apply this to financing the vehicle manufacturing of H & C Studebaker, which was already booming because of an order to build wagons for the US Army. In 1857, they had also built their first carriage—"Fancy, hand-worked iron trim, the kind of courting buggy any boy and girl would be proud to be seen in".

That was when John M. bought out Henry's share of the business. Henry was deeply religious and had qualms about building military equipment. The Studebakers were Dunkard Brethren, conservative German Baptists, a religion that viewed war as evil. Longstreet's official company history simply says, "Henry was tired of the business. He wanted to farm. The risks of expanding were not for him". Expansion continued from manufacture of wagons for westward migration, as well as for farming and general transportation. During the height of westward migration and wagon train pioneering, half of the wagons used were Studebakers. They made about a quarter of them, and manufactured the metal fittings for other builders in Missouri for another quarter-century.

The fourth brother, Peter E, was running a successful general store in Goshen, Indiana, which was expanded in 1860 to include a wagon distribution outlet. A major leap forward came from supplying wagons for the Union Army in the Civil War (1861–1865). By 1868, annual sales had reached $350,000 ($0 in dollars ). That year, the three older brothers formed the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company—Clem (president), Peter (secretary), and John M. (treasurer). By this time, the factory had a spur line to the Lake Shore railroad and, with the Union Pacific Railroad finished, most wagons were now dispatched by rail and steamship.

World's largest vehicle house

In 1875, the youngest brother, 30-year-old Jacob, was brought into the company to take charge of the carriage factory, making sulkies and five-glass landaus. Following a great fire in 1874, which destroyed two-thirds of the entire works, they had rebuilt in solid brick, covering 20 acre and were now "The largest vehicle house in the world". Customers could choose from Studebaker sulkies, broughams, clarences, phaetons, runabouts, victorias, and tandems. For $20,000, a four-in-hand for up to a dozen passengers, with red wheels, gold-plated lamps, and yellow trim, could be had.

In the 1880s, roads started to be surfaced with tar, gravel, and wooden blocks. In 1884, when times were hard, Jacob opened a carriage sales and service operation in a fine new Studebaker Building on Michigan Avenue, Chicago. The two granite columns at the main entrance, 3 ft in diameter and 12 ft high, were said to be the largest polished monolithic shafts in the country. Three years later, Jacob died, the first death among the brothers.

In 1889, incoming President Harrison ordered a full set of Studebaker carriages and harnesses for the White House. As the 20th century approached, the South Bend plant "covered nearly 100 acre with 20 big boilers, 16 dynamos, 16 large stationary engines, 1000 pulleys, 600 wood- and iron-working machines, 7 mi of belting, dozens of steam pumps, and 500 arc and incandescent lamps making white light over all". The worldwide economic depression of 1893 caused a dramatic pause in sales and the plant closed down for five weeks, but industrial relations were good and the organized workforce declared faith in their employer. Studebaker would end the nineteenth century as the largest buggy and wagon works in the world, and by 1900, with around 3,000 workers, the plant in South Bend was producing over 100,000 horse-drawn vehicles of all types yearly.

The wagons pulled by the Budweiser Clydesdales are Studebaker wagons modified to carry beer, originally manufactured circa 1900.

Family association continues
The five brothers died between 1887 and 1917 (John Mohler was the last to die). Their sons and sons-in-law remained active in the management, most notably lawyer Fred Fish after his marriage to John M's daughter Grace in 1891. "Col. George M Studebaker, Clement Studebaker Jr, J M Studebaker Jr, and [Fred Sr's son] Frederick Studebaker Fish served apprenticeships in different departments and rose to important official positions, with membership on the board." Erskine adds sons-in-law Nelson J Riley, Charles A Carlisle, H D Johnson, and William R Innis.

Chippewa Factory
701 W Chippewa Ave, South Bend, IN

Due to the war effort, and the capacity of the Downtown Facility was dedicated to Studebaker US6 truck and M29 Weasel production, the Chippewa Factory was built south of the city to initially manufacture Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone aircraft engines to be installed in the North American B-25 Mitchell. Construction began January 1941 and completed in June 1942. Due to logistics challenges, the initial order was cancelled and Studebaker was asked to build Wright R-1820 Cyclone aircraft engines instead. Retooling of the factory commenced and by January 1944 was the exclusive location of the Wright R-1820 installed in the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

After the war ended, the factory was idled until the Korean War began, and the M35 series 2½-ton 6×6 cargo truck resumed in 1950, and the M54 5-ton 6x6 truck was also manufactured at this location. Ownership of the factory changed hands a few times, but the M35 and M54 stayed in production until they were replaced by the FMTV in 1989.

Chicago, Illinois
5555 S. Archer Ave, Chicago, IL

During World War II, the plant produced aircraft engines for the B-17 Flying Fortress starting in January 1944 until the August 9, 1945 announcement for the building sale. Studebaker built 63,789 engines at the plant and each had nearly 8,000 finished parts. The aircraft were equipped with engines known as the Studebaker-built R-1820. The plant's main building, just west of Midway Airport, contained 782,988 square feet and sat on a 50-acre site. Although, engine items were fabricated and produced in the Chicago plant, they were sent to South Bend, Indiana for final assembly. The plant was acquired by Western Electric to produce telephones that were already in backlog orders because of their war efforts.

Detroit, Michigan
4333 W Fort St, Detroit, MI 461 Piquette Street, Detroit, MI 6230 John R St, Detroit, MI (E-M-F)
 * Manufactured automobiles

E-M-F and Flanders
Studebaker's agreement with the E-M-F Company, made in September 1908, was a different relationship, one John Studebaker had hoped would give Studebaker a quality product without the entanglements found in the Garford relationship, but this was not to be. Under the terms of the agreement, E-M-F would manufacture vehicles and Studebaker would distribute them exclusively through its wagon dealers.

The E-M-F gasoline-powered cars proved disastrously unreliable, causing wags to say that E-M-F stood for Every Morning Fix-it, Easy Mark's Favorite, and the like. Compounding the problems was the infighting between E-M-F's principal partners, Everitt, Flanders, and Metzger. Eventually in mid-1909, Everitt and Metzger left to start a new enterprise. Flanders also quit and joined them in 1912, but the Metzger Motor Car Co could not be saved from failure by renaming it the Flanders Automobile Company.

Studebaker's president, Fred Fish, had purchased one-third of the E-M-F stock in 1908 and followed up by acquiring all the remainder from J.P. Morgan & Co. in 1910 and buying E-M-F's manufacturing plants at Walkerville, Ontario, Canada, and across the river in Detroit. The former Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, located across Brush Street from the old E-M-F plant in the Milwaukee Junction area of Detroit, was purchased from Ford in January 1911 to become Studebaker Plant 10, used for assembly work until 1933.

E-M-F was bought out by Studebaker, which formed Studebaker Canada. This was followed by rebadging E-M-F's products: the E-M-F as the Studebaker 30, the Flanders as the Studebaker 20 Sales of these rebadged models continued through the end of 1912.

Elyria, Ohio (Studebaker-Garford)
400 Clark St, Elyria, OH
 * Manufactured automobiles

Garford

Under the agreement with Studebaker, Garford would receive completed chassis and drivetrains from Ohio and then mate them with Studebaker-built bodies, which were sold under the Studebaker-Garford brand name at premium prices. Prices listed for the Model G were $3,700 to $5,000 based on the body style used, equal to ($0 in dollars ) to ($0 in  dollars ). Eventually, vehicles with Garford-built engines began to carry the Studebaker name. Garford also built cars under its own name, and by 1907, attempted to increase production at the expense of Studebaker. Once the Studebakers discovered this, John Mohler Studebaker enforced a primacy clause, forcing Garford back on to the scheduled production quotas. The decision to drop the Garford name was made and the final product rolled off the assembly line by 1911, leaving Garford alone until it was acquired by John North Willys in 1913.

Vernon, California
4530 Loma Vista Ave, Vernon, CA
 * Manufactured automobiles

In 1938, the company built an assembly location at 4530 Loma Vista Avenue in Vernon, California, which remained in production until 1956. At one time, the facility was averaging 65 cars a day assembled from knock-down kits shipped by rail from the factory in South Bend, Indiana. The factory manufactured the Champion, the Land Cruiser, and the Starlight. During the war, the factory was in close proximity to Douglas Aircraft and Lockheed Aircraft and built engine assemblies and nacelles for B-17s and PV-2 Harpoons.

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
391 Victoria Ave N, Hamilton, ON L8L 5G7
 * Manufactured automobiles

On August 18, 1948, surrounded by more than 400 employees and a battery of reporters, the first vehicle, a blue Champion four-door sedan, rolled off of the Studebaker assembly line in Hamilton, Ontario. The company was located in the former Otis-Fenson military weapons factory off Burlington Street on Victoria Avenue North, which was built in 1941. Having previously operated its British Empire export assembly plant at Walkerville, Ontario, Studebaker settled on Hamilton as a postwar Canadian manufacturing site because of the city's proximity to the Canadian steel industry.

Studebaker manufactured cars in Hamilton from 1948 to 1966. After the South Bend plant shut, Hamilton was Studebaker's sole factory. Studebaker briefly manufactured cars in Windsor, Ontario, from 1912 to 1936.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Studebakers were assembled in Melbourne in RHD configuration from CKD kits manufactured at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada beginning in 1960. The first location was the Canada Cycle and Car Company in the neighborhood of Tottenham, which assembled Studebaker Lark sedans and station wagons, the Studebaker Champ pickup truck and the Studebaker Silver Hawk. In 1964, after the South Bend, Indiana factory closed, Australian assembly was handed off to Continental & General's factory in West Heidelberg until 1968 when the last car was built. When the factory ceased operations Renault products were brought in to replace them. Previously, Studebakers were exported to Australia fully assembled beginning in 1948 in limited numbers.

Studebaker had a long history of selling products in Australia, starting in the 1880s when horse-drawn wagons and carts were imported from the South Bend, Indiana factory, and as the company transitioned to automobiles, they were also brought in.

Legacy
While Studebaker closed fully its automotive sector in 1969, the company still left a big legacy behind it among classic car enthusiasts. The Studebaker US6 truck was the basis for the legendary GAZ-51 Soviet truck that was produced in the Soviet Union until 1975, nearly a decade after Studebaker had closed, and proceeded to form the basis for all GAZ trucks later, such as the GAZ-53, GAZ-3307 and 3309 and the GAZon Next.

The designers of the 1993 Dodge Ram stated that the Studebaker E series pickup was their main inspiration for the design.

Spectra Merchandising International, Inc. produces a number of "retro" styled audio equipment under the brand name "Studebaker."

Studebaker automobile models

 * Studebaker Electric (1902–1912)
 * Studebaker-Garford (1904–1911)
 * Studebaker Six monobloc-engine models (1911–1918)
 * Studebaker Light Four (1918–1920)
 * Studebaker Big Six (1918–1927)
 * Studebaker Special Six (1918–1927)
 * Studebaker Light Six (includes Standard Six model) (1918–1927)
 * Studebaker Commander (1927–1935, 1937–1958, 1964–1966)
 * Studebaker President (1928–1942, 1955–1958)
 * Studebaker Dictator/Director (1927–1937)
 * Studebaker Champion (1939–1958)
 * Studebaker Land Cruiser (1934–1954)
 * Studebaker Conestoga (1954–1955)
 * Studebaker Speedster (1955)
 * Studebaker Scotsman (1957–1958)
 * Hawk series:
 * Studebaker Golden Hawk (1956–1958)
 * Studebaker Silver Hawk (1957–1959)
 * Studebaker Sky Hawk (1956)
 * Studebaker Flight Hawk (1956)
 * Studebaker Power Hawk (1956)
 * Studebaker Hawk (1960–1961)
 * Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk (1962–1964)
 * Studebaker Lark (1959–1966) (Includes the Lark-based 1964–66 Cruiser, Daytona, Commander, and Challenger)
 * Studebaker Avanti (1962–1964)
 * Studebaker Wagonaire (1963–1966)

Studebaker trucks

 * Studebaker GN series (1929–1930)
 * Studebaker S series (1930–1934)
 * Studebaker T series (1934–1936)
 * Studebaker W series (1934–1936)
 * Studebaker J series (1937)
 * Studebaker Coupe Express (1937–1939)
 * Studebaker K series (1938–1940)
 * Studebaker M series (1941–1942, 1945, 1946–1948)
 * Studebaker US6 (1941–1945)
 * Studebaker M29 Weasel (1942–1945)
 * Studebaker 2R Series (1949–1953)
 * Studebaker 3R Series (1954)
 * Studebaker E series (1955–1964)
 * Studebaker Transtar (1956–1958, 1960–1964)
 * Studebaker Champ (1960–1964)
 * Studebaker Zip Van (1964)
 * M35 2-1/2 ton cargo truck (1950s through 1964)

Studebaker body styles

 * Studebaker Starlight (1947–1955, 1958)
 * Studebaker Starliner
 * Coupe Express

Affiliated automobile marques

 * Tincher: An early independent builder of luxury cars financed by Studebaker investment, 1903–1909
 * Studebaker-Garford: Studebaker-bodied cars, 1904–1911
 * E-M-F: Independent auto manufacturer that marketed cars through Studebaker wagon dealers, 1909–1912
 * Erskine: Brand of automobile produced by Studebaker, 1926–1930
 * Pierce-Arrow: owned by Studebaker 1928–1934
 * Rockne: Brand of automobile produced by Studebaker, 1932–1933
 * Packard: 1954 merger partner of Studebaker
 * Mercedes-Benz: Distributed through Studebaker dealers, 1958–1966

title: Studebaker


text:
Greensboro College

Greensboro College is a private college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and was founded in 1838 by Rev. Peter Doub. The college enrolls students from 32 states, the District of Columbia, and 29 countries.

History
The first college to open its doors within the town of Greensboro was the woman's college, Greensboro Female College. The school occupied a 25 acre campus near the heart of the city within what would become the College Hill Historic District. It was organized in 1833 for local children. It was the intent of the Rev. Peter Doub that the institution grow to serve women.

Through the Methodist Church, a charter was secured in 1838, an event which makes the college one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States. The cornerstone of the first building was laid in 1843, and in 1846 the institution opened its doors to students. Young women came from many southern states to become the first classes of the new president, the Rev. Solomon Lea, and his faculty.

In 1912, the school changed its name for the first time, becoming the Greensboro College for Women. The following year, the newly-renamed college granted its first bachelors degrees.

Not long after, in 1919, the school shortened its title to its current moniker, Greensboro College. The college would not become coeducational, however, until 1954. In 1968, Greensboro formed a consortium of local colleges—the Greensboro Tri-College Consortium—with Guilford College and Bennett College. Other later partnerships would be added with Elon College and Salem College.

Campus

Located in the College Hill Historic District of Greensboro, North Carolina, the college's properties include several buildings of interest. Most are red-brick buildings built in a neoclassical revival or colonial styles. However, the most historic buildings are located around the campus quadrangle.

The oldest building and the administrative center of Greensboro College is the Main Building, housing the offices of the president, senior administrative officers, and important departments. The building also hosts the Brock Historical Museum, which displays artifacts relating to the history of the college as well as its relationship with the United Methodist Church.

The Finch Memorial Chapel was built in 1954 and is the worshiping heart of the college community. It is named after Hannah Brown Finch, an 1885 graduate and wife of Thomas J. Finch, the latter of whom was involved with Thomasville Furniture Industries and politics. Chapel services are held every Thursday.

The J.A. Jones Library is the bibliographic heart of the college community. Named after James Addison Jones, it houses the college's library collections. The building is also home to the Levy-Loewenstein Holocaust Collection, the First Citizens Bank Global Communications Center, and the Sternberger Cultural Center, the latter of which includes a 100-seat lecture hall.

The Cowan Humanities Building houses the offices of the Art and English/Communications departments, as well as a large lecture hall and several art galleries, including the Anne Rudd Gaylon Gallery, the Irene Cullis Gallery, and the LIFT Gallery. The building is also home to Middle College.

The Odell Memorial Building houses the offices of the performing arts departments, such as Theater and Music, and the 787-seat Huggins Performance Center. The building was built in 1922, but renovated in 1997 after a substantial donation from business leader Kenneth Lenon Huggins. The performance center is named after Huggins' wife, Gail.

Proctor Hall houses the offices of most academic departments while also containing classrooms and seminar rooms of various sizes. It consists of two buildings, an east and a west building. Proctor Hall – East houses science laboratories and the offices of the Biology, Chemistry, Business, and Accounting Departments. Proctor Hall – West is where offices of other departments, such as the humanities and social sciences, are located. The Hall, first built in 1950, was named after Fred and Myrtle Proctor. The Proctors donated the funds necessary to renovate and update the halls in 1998.

Academics
Academic programs are organized across five different schools, the School of Arts, the School of Business, the School of Humanities, the School of Science and Mathematics, and the School of Social Sciences and Education. Greensboro College offers four undergraduate degrees – Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Science – across 42 undergraduate majors and 26 minors. The academic calendar consists of two semesters and a summer-school session. Full-time undergraduates must carry a minimum academic load of 12 credit hours per semester.

Additionally, the college offers five Master of Arts degrees, four in education and one in theology, ethics, and culture.

Honors program and academic honor societies
The George Center for Honors Studies welcomes accepted students whose high school GPA is at least 3.65 and whose SAT score is at least 1240 or ACT Composite score is at least 26. They are interviewed prior to being determined for suitability for the program. Honors students must complete a thesis to graduate. The student committee of the program also organizes extracurricular activities and outings for Honors students. The Honors Program is housed in the Honors House, just north of the Cowan Humanities Building.

Greensboro College also has local chapters of the following national honor societies:
 * Alpha Chi, a national honor society recognizing superior academic achievement
 * Alpha Kappa Delta, national sociology honor society
 * Beta Beta Beta, national biology honor society
 * Delta Mu Delta, international business honor society
 * Kappa Delta Pi, international education honor society
 * Phi Alpha Theta, national history honor society
 * Pi Delta Phi, international French honor society
 * Pi Sigma Alpha, national political science honor society
 * Psi Chi, national psychology honor society
 * Sigma Delta Pi, national Spanish honor society
 * Sigma Tau Delta, international English honor society
 * Theta Alpha Kappa, national religion honor society

Athletics
The Pride's athletic program competes in the NCAA's Division III and the USA South Athletic Conference. It offers 19 intercollegiate sports. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming, wrestling and tennis. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, triathlon, and volleyball.

The men's golf team has twice won the Division III national championship, in 2000 and 2011. The women's basketball team won the USA South Conference championship, earning an NCAA Division III tournament bid in 2023.

The men's soccer team was NCAA Division III runner-up in 1989 when they lost 2–0 to Elizabethtown College. In 1998, the men's soccer team lost in double overtime to Ohio Wesleyan in the NCAA Division III championship game. Women's soccer saw one of their own players, Mercedes Bauzá, chosen to play for the Puerto Rico women's national football team in 2018.

As of the beginning of the 2011–2012 school year, 77 Pride student-athletes had been named All-Americans and 26 had been named Academic All-Americans.

Middle College
Greensboro College Middle College (GMC) is a high school program on the campus of Greensboro College located in Greensboro, North Carolina. It schools the 11th and 12th grades, and allows students to finish their high school career while earning college credit. GMC's main focus is to provide a more flexible learning environment for students previously unsuccessful or dissatisfied with traditional high school.

Notable alumni

 * Eugenia Jones Bacon, novelist
 * Sallie Southall Cotten 1863, writer and clubwoman
 * Mildred Stafford Cherry, First Lady of North Carolina
 * Eileen Fulton '55, soap opera and Broadway actress
 * Carolyn Maloney '68, former U.S. Representative (D-NY) who served from 1993–2023. Also served as chairwoman of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform
 * Ryan Nelsen, professional soccer player and coach (attended)
 * Sarah Dessen, novelist (attended)
 * R. Carter Pate '76, chairman of the board of Red Lion Hotels Corporation and former CEO of MV Transportation
 * Frederick A. Davie, '78, executive vice president at Union Theological Seminary and chairman of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board
 * Stephanie Paulsell '85, Susan Shallcross Swartz Professor of the Practice of Christian Studies at Harvard Divinity School and interim Pusey Minister of the Memorial Church of Harvard University
 * Dr. Jeremy Kinney '94, curator, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
 * Heather Macy '00, basketball coach
 * Jon Hardister '06, North Carolina House of Representatives Majority Whip
 * Mercedes Bauzá '19, soccer player for Puerto Rico Sol FC and the Puerto Rico women's national football team
 * Sarah Lowe Twiggs (1839–1920), poet

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Greensboro College


text:
Joseph Pulitzer

Joseph Pulitzer ( born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World. He became a leading national figure in the Democratic Party and was elected congressman from New York.

In the 1890s the fierce competition between his World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal caused both to develop the techniques of yellow journalism, which won over readers with sensationalism, sex, crime and graphic horrors. The wide appeal reached a million copies a day and opened the way to mass-circulation newspapers that depended on advertising revenue (rather than cover price or political party subsidies) and appealed to readers with multiple forms of news, gossip, entertainment and advertising.

Pulitzer's name is best known for the Pulitzer Prizes established in 1917 as a result of his endowment to Columbia University. The prizes are given annually to recognize and reward excellence in American journalism, photography, literature, history, poetry, music, and drama. Pulitzer founded the Columbia School of Journalism by his philanthropic bequest; it opened in 1912.

Early life
He was born as Pulitzer József (name order by Hungarian custom) in Makó, about 200 km south-east of Budapest, the son of Elize (Berger) and Fülöp Pulitzer (born Politzer). The Pulitzers were among several Jewish families living in the area and had established a reputation as merchants and shopkeepers. Joseph's father was a respected businessman, regarded as the second of the "foremost merchants" of Makó. Their ancestors emigrated from Police in Moravia to Hungary at the end of the 18th century.

In 1853, Fülöp Pulitzer was rich enough to retire. He moved his family to Pest, where he had the children educated by private tutors, and taught French and German. In 1858, after Fülöp's death, his business went bankrupt, and the family became impoverished. Joseph attempted to enlist in various European armies for work before emigrating to the United States. He graduated from Columbia University, department of journalism.

American Civil War service
Pulitzer tried to join the military but was rejected by the Austrian Army, he then tried to join the French Foreign Legion to fight in Mexico but was similarly rejected, and then the British Army where he was also rejected. He was finally recruited in Hamburg, Germany, to fight for the Union in the American Civil War in August 1864. Pulitzer could not speak English when he arrived in Boston Harbor in 1864 at the age of 17, his passage having been paid by Massachusetts military recruiters. Learning that the recruiters were pocketing the lion's share of his enlistment bounty, Pulitzer left the Deer Island recruiting station and made his way to New York.

He was paid $200 to enlist in the Lincoln Cavalry on September 30, 1864. He was a part of Sheridan's troopers, in the 1st New York Cavalry Regiment in Company L, joining the regiment in Virginia in November 1864, and fighting in the Appomattox Campaign, before being mustered out on June 5, 1865. Although he spoke German, Hungarian, and French, Pulitzer learned little English until after the war, as his regiment was composed mostly of German immigrants.

Early career in St. Louis
After the war, Pulitzer returned to New York City, where he stayed briefly. He moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, for the whaling industry, but found it was too boring for him. He returned to New York with little money. Flat broke, he slept in wagons on cobblestone side streets. He decided to travel by "side-door Pullman" (a freight boxcar) to St. Louis, Missouri. He sold his one possession, a white handkerchief, for 75 cents.

When Pulitzer arrived at the city, he recalled, "The lights of St. Louis looked like a promised land to me." In the city, his German was as useful as it was in Munich because of the large ethnic German population, due to strong immigration since the revolutions of 1848. In the Westliche Post, he saw an ad for a mule hostler at Benton Barracks. The next day he walked four miles and got the job, but held it for only two days. He quit due to the poor food and the whims of the mules, stating "The man who has not cared for sixteen mules does not know what work and troubles are." Pulitzer had difficulty holding jobs; he was too scrawny for heavy labor and likely too proud and temperamental to take orders.

He worked as a waiter at Tony Faust, a famous restaurant on Fifth Street. It was frequented by members of the St. Louis Philosophical Society, including Thomas Davidson, the German Henry C. Brockmeyer; and William Torrey Harris. Pulitzer studied Brockmeyer, who was famous for translating Hegel, and he "would hang on Brockmeyer's thunderous words, even as he served them pretzels and beer." He was fired after a tray slipped from his hand and a patron was soaked in beer.

Pulitzer spent his free time at the St. Louis Mercantile Library on the corner of Fifth and Locust, studying English and reading voraciously. He made a lifelong friend there in the librarian Udo Brachvogel. He often played in the library's chess room, where Carl Schurz noticed his aggressive style. Pulitzer greatly admired the German-born Schurz, an emblem of the success attainable by a foreign-born citizen through his own energies and skills. In 1868, Pulitzer was admitted to the bar, but his broken English and odd appearance kept clients away. He struggled with the execution of minor papers and the collecting of debts. That year, when the Westliche Post needed a reporter, he was offered the job.

Soon after, he and several dozen men each paid a fast-talking promoter five dollars, after being promised good-paying jobs on a Louisiana sugar plantation. They boarded a steamboat, which took them downriver 30 miles south of the city, where the crew forced them off. When the boat churned away, the men concluded the promised plantation jobs had been a ruse. They walked back to the city, where Pulitzer wrote an account of the fraud and was pleased when it was accepted by the Westliche Post, edited by Emil Preetorius and Carl Schurz, evidently his first published news story.

On March 6, 1867, Pulitzer became a naturalized American citizen.

Entry to journalism and politics

In the Westliche Post building, Pulitzer made the acquaintance of attorneys William Patrick and Charles Phillip Johnson and surgeon Joseph Nash McDowell. Patrick and Johnson referred to Pulitzer as "Shakespeare" because of his extraordinary profile. They helped him secure a job with the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. His work was to record the railroad land deeds in the twelve counties in southwest Missouri where the railroad planned to build a line. When he was done, the lawyers gave him desk space and allowed him to study law in their library to prepare for the bar.

Pulitzer displayed a flair for reporting. He would work 16 hours a day – from 10 am to 2 am. He was nicknamed "Joey the German" or "Joey the Jew". He joined the Philosophical Society and frequented a German bookstore where many intellectuals hung out. Among his new group of friends were Joseph Keppler and Thomas Davidson.

Missouri State Representative
Pulitzer joined Schurz's Republican Party. On December 14, 1869, Pulitzer attended the Republican meeting at the St. Louis Turnhalle on Tenth Street, where party leaders needed a candidate to fill a vacancy in the state legislature. After their first choice refused, they settled on Pulitzer, nominating him unanimously, forgetting he was only 22, three years under the required age. However, his chief Democratic opponent was possibly ineligible because he had served in the Confederate army. Pulitzer had energy. He organized street meetings, called personally on the voters, and exhibited such sincerity along with his oddities that he had pumped a half-amused excitement into a campaign that was normally lethargic. He won 209–147.

His age was not made an issue and he was seated as a state representative in Jefferson City at the session beginning January 5, 1870. During his time in Jefferson City, Pulitzer voted in favor of the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment and led a crusade to reform the corrupt St. Louis County Court.

His fight against the court angered Captain Edward Augustine, Superintendent of Registration for St. Louis County. Their rivalry became so heated that on the night of January 27, Augustine confronted Pulitzer at Schmidt's Hotel and called him a "damned liar." Pulitzer left the building, returned to his room, and retrieved a four-barreled pistol. He returned to the parlor and approached Augustine, renewing the argument. When Augustine advanced on Pulitzer, the young Representative aimed his pistol at the Captain's midriff. Augustine tackled Pulitzer, and the gun fired two shots, tearing through Augustine's knee and the hotel floor. Pulitzer suffered a head wound. Contemporary accounts conflict on whether Augustine was also armed.

While in Jefferson City, Pulitzer also moved up one notch in the administration at the Westliche Post. He eventually became its managing editor, and obtained a proprietary interest.

Break from the Republican Party and Schurz
On August 31, 1870, Schurz (now a U.S. Senator), Pulitzer, and other reformist anti-Grant Republicans bolted from the state convention at the Capitol and nominated a competing Liberal Republican ticket for Missouri, led by the former Senator Benjamin Gratz Brown. Brown was successful in the November election over the mainline Republican ticket, presenting a serious threat to President Grant's re-election chances. On January 19, 1872, Brown appointed Pulitzer to the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners.

In May 1872, Pulitzer was a delegate to the Cincinnati convention of the Liberal Republican Party, which nominated New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley for the presidency with Gratz Brown as his running mate. Pulitzer and Schurz were expected to boost Governor Brown for the presidential nomination, but Schurz preferred the more idealistic Charles Francis Adams Sr. A loyal Brown man alerted the Governor of this betrayal, and Governor Brown and his cousin Francis Preston Blair sped to Cincinnati to rally their supporters to Greeley.

While in Cincinnati, he met fellow reformist newspapermen Samuel Bowles, Murat Halstead, Horace White, and Alexander McClure. He also met Greeley's assistant and campaign manager Whitelaw Reid, who would become Pulitzer's journalistic adversary. However, Greeley's campaign was ultimately a disaster, and the new party collapsed, leaving Schurz and Pulitzer politically homeless.

In 1874, Pulitzer promoted a reform movement christened the People's Party, which united the Grange with dissident Republicans. However, Pulitzer was disappointed with the party's tepid stances on the issues and mediocre ticket, led by gentleman farmer William Gentry. He returned to St. Louis and endorsed the Democratic ticket. Pulitzer's own views were in line with Democratic orthodoxy on low tariffs, and limited federal powers; his prior opposition to the Democrats was out of disgust for slavery and the Confederate rebellion. Pulitzer campaigned for the Democratic ticket throughout the state and published a damaging rumor (leaked by future Senator George Vest) that Gentry had sold a slave.

He also served as a delegate to the 1874 Missouri Constitutional Convention representing St. Louis, arguing successfully for true home rule for the city.

In 1876, Pulitzer, by now completely disillusioned with the corruption of the Republicans and their nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes, gave nearly 70 speeches in favor of Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden throughout the country; Schurz, who saw Hayes as a reformer with integrity, returned to the Republican fold. In his speeches, Pulitzer denounced Schurz and urged reconciliation between North and South. While on his speaking tour, Pulitzer also wrote dispatches to the New York Sun on behalf of the Samuel Tilden 1876 presidential campaign. After Tilden's narrow defeat under dubious circumstances, Pulitzer became disillusioned with his candidate's indecision and timid response; he would oppose Tilden's 1880 run for the Democratic nomination. Pulitzer returned to St. Louis to practice law and search for future opportunities in news.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
On his thirtieth birthday, Pulitzer's home at the old Southern Hotel burned to the ground, likely destroying most of his personal belongings and papers.

On December 9, 1878, Pulitzer bought the moribund St. Louis Dispatch and merged it with John Dillon's St. Louis Post, forming the St. Louis Post and Dispatch (soon renamed the Post-Dispatch) on December 12. With his own paper, Pulitzer developed his role as a champion of the common man, featuring exposés and a hard-hitting populist approach. The paper was considered a leader in the field of sensational journalism.

The circulation of the Post-Dispatch steadily rose during Pulitzer's early tenure (aided by the collapse of the city's other daily English-language paper, the Star). At the time of merger, the Post and Dispatch had a combined circulation of under 4,000. By the end of 1879, circulation was up to 4,984 and Pulitzer doubled the size of the paper to eight pages. By the end of 1880, circulation was up to 8,740. Circulation rose dramatically to 12,000 by March 1881 and to 22,300 by September 1882. Pulitzer bought two new presses and increased staff pay to the highest in the city, though he also crushed an attempt to unionize.

Political activism
Pulitzer's primary political rival at this time was Bourbon Democrat William Hyde, publisher of the (misleadingly named) Missouri Republican. Pulitzer's much smaller paper won a series of early political skirmishes over Hyde. First, George Vest was elected to the Senate in 1879 with Pulitzer's backing over Bourbon Samuel Glover. Next, Pulitzer secured election for an anti-Tilden delegation (including himself) to the 1880 Democratic National Convention, over Hyde's objection. Though Pulitzer could not convince Horatio Seymour, his preferred candidate, to run, the Democrats did not renominate Tilden. In March 1882, the two men even came to physical blows on Olive Street but were separated by a crowd before either was injured.

In 1880, Pulitzer made a second run for public office, this time for United States Representative from Missouri's second district. However, he was resoundingly defeated for the Democratic nomination (tantamount to victory in heavily Democratic St. Louis) by Bourbon Thomas Allen, 4,254 to 709.

Killing of Alonzo Slayback
When Thomas Allen died during his first term, Pulitzer's Post-Dispatch strongly opposed the Republican endorsed candidate, James Broadhead, an attorney working for Jay Gould. The election became heated, and Post-Dispatch managing editor John Cockerill called Broadhead's law partner Alonzo Slayback a "coward." Slayback entered the Post-Dispatch offices on October 13, armed with a gun, and threatened Cockerill; Cockerill shot him dead. The story became a national sensation and turned many conservative Democrats vehemently against Pulitzer and the Post-Dispatch. After a grand jury inquest, Cockerill was never put on trial. Pulitzer replaced him with John Dillon, former owner of the Post and unlike Pulitzer and Cockerill, a well-respected, conservative native of the city. However, the incident permanently damaged Pulitzer's reputation in the city, and he began to seek opportunities elsewhere.

New York World
In April 1883, the Pulitzer family traveled to New York, ostensibly to start a European vacation, but actually so that Joseph could make an offer to Jay Gould for ownership of the morning New York World. Gould had acquired the newspaper as a throw-in in one of his railroad deals, and it had been losing about $40,000 a year, possibly due to the stigma Gould's ownership brought. In return for the paper, Gould asked Pulitzer for a sum well over a half-million dollars, as well as the retention of the World's staff and building. After some frustration at this demand and disagreement with his brother Albert, Pulitzer was prepared to give up. At the urging of his wife Kate, however, he returned to negotiations with Gould. They agreed to a sale of $346,000 with Pulitzer retaining full freedom in the selection of staff.

The Pulitzers moved to New York full time, leasing a home in Gramercy Park. The World immediately gained 6,000 readers in its first two weeks under Pulitzer and had more than doubled its circulation to 39,000 within three months.

As he had in St. Louis, Pulitzer emphasized sensational stories: human-interest, crime, disasters, and scandal. Under Pulitzer's leadership, circulation grew from 15,000 to 600,000, making the World the largest newspaper in the country. Pulitzer emphasized broad appeal through short, provocative headlines and sentences; the World's self-described style was "brief, breezy and briggity." His World featured illustrations, advertising, and a culture of consumption for working men. Crusades for reform and entertainment news were two main staples for the World. Pulitzer explained that: "The American people want something terse, forcible, picturesque, striking, something that will arrest their attention, enlist their sympathy, arouse their indignation, stimulate their imagination, convince their reason, [and] awaken their conscience."

In 1887, he recruited the famous investigative journalist Nellie Bly.

Pulitzer also constructed the New York World Building, designed by George B. Post and completed in 1890. Pulitzer dictated several aspects of the design, including the building's triple-height main entrance arch, dome, and rounded corner at Park Row and Frankfort Street.

In 1895, the World introduced the immensely popular The Yellow Kid comic by Richard F. Outcault, one of the first strips to be featured in the newly launched Sunday color supplement shortly after.

After the World exposed an illegal payment of $40,000,000 by the United States to the French Panama Canal Company in 1909, Pulitzer was indicted for libeling Theodore Roosevelt and J. P. Morgan. The courts dismissed the indictments.

Newspaper writer and editor of The San Francisco Call, John McNaught went to New York to work under Pulitzer as his personal secretary from 1907 to 1912. When McNaught left The Evening World, he became editor of the New York World, through 1915.

Early political activism
When Pulitzer purchased the World, New York City, though overwhelmingly Democratic, did not have a major Democratic newspaper. The Tribune (under Whitelaw Reid) and Times were ardently Republican and the Sun (under Charles Dana) and Herald were independent. In the first issue under his ownership, Pulitzer announced the paper would be "dedicated to the cause of the people rather than that of purse-potentates."

In 1884, he joined the Manhattan Club, a group of wealthy Democrats including Tilden, Abram Hewitt, and William C. Whitney. Through the World, he supported the campaign of New York Governor Grover Cleveland for president. Pulitzer's campaign for Cleveland and against Republican James G. Blaine may have been pivotal in securing the presidency for Cleveland, who won New York's decisive votes by just 0.1%. The campaign also boosted the World circulation dramatically; by Election Day, it averaged about 110,000 copies per day and its Election Day special ran 223,680 copies.

Pulitzer also attacked young Republican Assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt as a "reform fraud," beginning a long and heated rivalry with the future President.

United States House of Representatives
In 1884, Pulitzer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's ninth district as a Democrat and entered office on March 4, 1885.

Though inundated with office-seekers hoping for appointment by President-elect Cleveland, Pulitzer recommended only the appointments of Charles Gibson for Minister to Berlin and Pallen as consul general in London. But Pulitzer did not secure a meeting with the President-elect, and neither man was appointed.

During his term in office, Pulitzer led a crusade to place the newly gifted Statue of Liberty in New York City. He was a member of the Committee on Commerce.

During his time in Washington, Pulitzer lived at the luxurious hotel run by John Chamberlin at the corner of 15th and I streets, N.W. However, Pulitzer soon determined that his position at the World was both more powerful and more enjoyable than Congress. He began to spend less and less time in Washington, and ultimately resigned on April 10, 1886, after little over a year in office.

Rivalry with William Randolph Hearst
In 1895, William Randolph Hearst purchased the rival New York Journal, which at one time had been owned by Pulitzer's brother, Albert. Hearst had once been a great admirer of Pulitzer's World. The two embarked on a circulation war. This competition with Hearst, particularly the coverage before and during the Spanish–American War, linked Pulitzer's name with yellow journalism.

Pulitzer and Hearst were also the cause of the newsboys' strike of 1899, a youth-led campaign to force change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst's newspapers compensated their child newspaper hawkers.

Other rivals
Charles A. Dana, the editor of the rival New York Sun and personal enemy of Grover Cleveland, became estranged from Pulitzer during the 1884 campaign. Dana's Sun endorsed Greenback nominee Benjamin Butler, a major blow in swing state New York. He attacked Pulitzer in print, often calling him "Judas Pulitzer." After Cleveland's victory, the Sun's circulation had been halved and the World replaced it as the largest Democratic paper in the country.

Leander Richardson, a former employee who left the World to run The Journalist, was even more directly antisemitic, referring to his former boss only as "Jewseph Pulitzer."

Whitelaw Reid frequently sparred with Pulitzer, both in person and in their respective papers.

Declining health and resignation
Pulitzer's health problems (blindness, depression, and acute noise sensitivity) caused a rapid deterioration, and he had to withdraw from the daily management of the newspaper. He continued to manage the paper from his New York mansion, his winter retreat at the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia, and his summer vacation retreat in Bar Harbor, Maine.

After he hired Frank I. Cobb (1869–1923) in 1904 as the editor of the New York World, the younger man resisted Pulitzer's attempts to "run the office" from his home. Time after time, they battled each other, often with heated language.

When Pulitzer's son Ralph took over administrative responsibility in 1907, Pulitzer wrote a carefully worded resignation. It was printed in every New York paper except the World. Pulitzer was insulted but slowly began to respect Cobb's editorials and independent spirit. Their exchanges, commentaries, and messages increased. The good rapport between the two was based largely on Cobb's flexibility. In May 1908, Cobb and Pulitzer met to outline plans for a consistent editorial policy but it wavered on occasion.

Pulitzer's demands for editorials on contemporary breaking news led to overwork by Cobb. Pulitzer sent him on a six-week tour of Europe to restore his spirit. Cobb continued the editorial policies he had shared with Pulitzer until Cobb died of cancer in 1923.

In a company meeting, Professor Thomas Davidson said, "I cannot understand why it is, Mr. Pulitzer, that you always speak so kindly of reporters and so severely of all editors." "Well", Pulitzer replied, "I suppose it is because every reporter is a hope, and every editor is a disappointment." This phrase became an epigram of journalism.

Marriage and family
In 1878 at the age of 31, Pulitzer married Katherine "Kate" Davis (1853–1927), a woman of high social standing from Georgetown, District of Columbia. She was five years younger than Pulitzer, from an Episcopal family, and rumored to be a distant relative of Jefferson Davis. They married in an Episcopal ceremony at the Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C. He did not reveal his Jewish heritage to Katherine or her family until after their marriage, to her shock.

Of seven children, five lived to adulthood: Ralph, Joseph Jr. (father of Joseph Pulitzer III), Constance Helen (1888–1938), who married William Gray Elmslie, D.D. Edith (1886–1975), who married William Scoville Moore, and Herbert, eventually his brother Ralph's partner at the Post. Their daughter, Katherine Ethel Pulitzer, died of pneumonia in May 1884 at age 2. On December 31, 1897, their oldest daughter, Lucille Irma Pulitzer, died at the age of 17 from typhoid fever. An Irish immigrant named Mary Boyle largely raised the children while their parents were busy.

Pulitzer's grandson Herbert Pulitzer, Jr. was married to the American fashion designer and socialite Lilly Pulitzer.

Following a fire at his former residence, Pulitzer commissioned Stanford White to design a limestone-clad Venetian palazzo at 11 East 73rd Street on the Upper East Side; it was completed in 1903. Pulitzer's thoughtful seated portrait by John Singer Sargent is at the Columbia School of Journalism that he endowed.

The family continued to be involved in the operation of the Post-Dispatch and other newspapers under the Pulitzer Publishing Company until selling them to Lee Enterprises in 2005. The Pulitzer group also comprised television stations, which would ironically be sold to Hearst Communications, owned by the descendants of William Randolph Hearst.

Death
For six months during 1908, Pulitzer was attended to by his personal physician C. Louis Leipoldt aboard his yacht Liberty. While traveling to his winter home at the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia, in 1911, Pulitzer had his yacht stop in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. On October 29, 1911, Pulitzer listened to his German secretary read aloud about King Louis XI of France. As the secretary neared the end, Pulitzer said in German: "Leise, ganz leise" (English: "Softly, quite softly"), and died. His body was returned to New York for services and interred in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

Journalism schools
In 1892, Pulitzer offered Columbia University's president, Seth Low, money to set up the world's first school of journalism. The university initially turned down the money. In 1902, Columbia's new president Nicholas Murray Butler was more receptive to the plan for a school and journalism prizes, but it would not be until after Pulitzer's death that this dream would be fulfilled.

Pulitzer left the university $2,000,000 in his will. In 1912, the school founded the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. This followed the Missouri School of Journalism, founded at the University of Missouri with Pulitzer's urging. Both schools remain among the most prestigious in the world.

Pulitzer Prize
In 1917, Columbia organized the awards of the first Pulitzer Prizes in journalism. The awards have been expanded to recognize achievements in literature, poetry, history, music, and drama.

Legacy and honors

 * The U.S. Post Office issued a 3-cent stamp commemorating Joseph Pulitzer in 1947, the 100th anniversary of his birth.
 * The Pulitzer Arts Foundation in Saint Louis was founded by his family's philanthropy and is named in their honor.
 * In 1989 Joseph Pulitzer was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
 * He is featured as a character in the Disney film Newsies (1992), in which he was played by Robert Duvall, and the Broadway stage production (Newsies) adapted from it which was produced in 2011.
 * In the 2014 historical novel, The New Colossus, by Marshall Goldberg, published by Diversion Books, Joseph Pulitzer gives reporter Nellie Bly the assignment of investigating the death of poet Emma Lazarus.
 * The Hotel Pulitzer in Amsterdam was named after his grandson Herbert Pulitzer.
 * Mount Pulitzer in Washington state is named for him.

title: Joseph Pulitzer


text:
Jewish Council for Public Affairs

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) is an American Jewish nonprofit organization that advocates for progressive and liberal policies. Founded in 1944 as the umbrella organization for local Jewish advocacy arms known as community relations councils, for almost 80 years it represented approximately 125 local Jewish federations and community relations councils and was the coordinating body for 15 national Jewish organizations.

In 2022, JCPA split from the Jewish Federations of North America and became independent.

History
The JCPA was founded as the National Community Relations Advisory Council in 1944 by the Council of Jewish Federations to represent local Jewish advocacy arms known as community relations councils. In the 1960s, it was renamed the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC). The group adopted the JCPA name in 1997. Arnold Aronson was program director from 1945 to 1976. David L. Bernstein served as president and chief executive officer since January 2016.

The National Community Relations Advisory Council opposed the Rosenberg Committee, believing them to be a Communist group. The council issued a statement that the Rosenberg Committee's accusation that the Rosenberg trial was motivated by antisemitism was causing public panic within the Jewish community.

The council, along with the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and other Jewish groups and community leaders asked Nelson Mandela to clarify his pro-Palestinian views during his 1990 visit to New York City. During a meeting in Geneva with Jewish-American communal leaders that included the JPCA, Mandela apologized for offending the Jewish-American establishment, expressed appreciation for South African Jews who opposed apartheid, praised certain Israeli leaders, and agreed that the State of Israel had a right to exist. Following Mandela's death, Rabbi Steve Gutow, President of the JCPA praised him as "came to embody courage in the face of severe injustice."

In 2021, the DC chapter of the Sunrise Movement called for the removal of the JCPA, the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism from a voting rights coalition due to their Israeli ties and support for Zionism. Sunrise DC apologized after Jewish organizations condemned the chapter for antisemitism.

As national Jewish advocacy organizations such as the Jewish Federations of North America and the American Jewish Committee focused more of their political work on supporting work, the JCPA's influence within the Jewish establishment waned. After JCPA signed an open letter in the New York Times in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, conservative donors within the federation system boiled over.

Break with Jewish Federations
In December 2022, the JCPA announced that it would end its role speaking on behalf of 125 Jewish community relations councils, almost all part of local Jewish federations, and 16 national Jewish organizations. As a result, JCPA broke with the Jewish Federations of North America and would lose funding from the dues-paying local federations.

JCPA hoped that changes would enable it to be part of progressive coalitions and strengthen Jewish support for progressive policies. As part of the transition, activist Amy Spitalnick, who led a successful lawsuit against the organizers of the Unite the Right rally, was hired as CEO in May 2023.

Activities
The JCPA works on shaping consensus on public issues, developing strategic responses, and working with the media, elected officials, coalition partners, and others through public relations, advocacy, and lobbying. The JCPA also helps the 125 Jewish community relations councils organize events and advocacy around the country, promoting interfaith and community partnerships.

International issues that the JCPA is concerned with include Israel–United States relations, global antisemitism, the United Nations, the well-being of Jews in endangered areas, genocide, and human rights. Domestic issues that the JCPA is concerned with include anti-Semitism, social justice, poverty, education, public health, the environment, immigration, individual rights, and religious liberties including the preservation of the separation of church and state.

It has been active in supporting rights of Israeli Arabs and has fought for equality in Israel.

Policy
The JCPA supports a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, stating on their website that their organization supports "Israel as the Jewish homeland and works to deter efforts to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination." The JCPA's Israel Action Center was created in 2010 to combat BDS movement activities in the United States, accusing the movement of "bias against Israel". David Bohm, the board's chair, has said the JCPA has an unclear position on working with progressive anti-Zionist groups, saying that many anti-Zionist sentiments are antisemitic, but the organization might be willing to participate in coalitions with anti-Zionist groups.

Initiatives
Shocked by the atrocities in Darfur, the JCPA helped found the Save Darfur Coalition in 2004. It continues to organize the Jewish community in support of continued US action to bring peace to Sudan, supporting the creation of South Sudan and working with the White House and Congress to ensure humanitarian assistance.

In September 2007, the JCPA launched an anti-poverty program "There shall be no needy among you." The effort seeks to raise awareness and action to combat hunger, homelessness and other vestiges of poverty in America. The JCPA has led multiple Food Stamp Challenges, organizing Members of Congress, clergy, and others to live for one week on the average food stamp allotment of $31.50. Starting in 2008, the JCPA and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger have sponsored an annual Hunger Seder Mobilization, tying the Passover message of freedom to the ongoing struggles with hunger in America. The mobilization begins each year with a National Hunger Seder in the US Capitol where Members of Congress and national faith and anti-hunger advocates read from a specially prepared haggadah. Hunger Seders have been held in over 30 states across the country.

Along with Catholic Charities USA and the National Council of Churches, the JCPA has been a cosponsor of the annual Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization since 2008. Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilizes community's to hold events aimed at making ending poverty a national priority with a different theme each year. Past themes have included "Good Jobs, Green Jobs," poverty, hunger, and affordable housing.

The JCPA is also actively involved in environmentalism and climate change issues though its program the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL), an affiliate of the National Religious Partnership on the Environment.

In partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America, the JCPA created the Israel Action Network in 2010 to help communities counter the delegitimization of Israel. The IAN was created to educate, organize and mobilize the organized North American Jewish community to develop strategic approaches to attacks on Israel and use partnerships to promote peace and security for two states for two peoples.

Other national campaigns of the JCPA have included the Vote On Guns campaign to end gun violence following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the 2013 "Immigration Nation" campaign in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

title: Jewish Council for Public Affairs


text:
JCPA

JCPA may refer to:

 * The Jean Chrétien Pledge to Africa Act, a piece of Canadian patent legislation allowing the manufacture and export of medicines to countries without local manufacturing capacity
 * Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a think tank located in Jerusalem
 * Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an American-Jewish non-profit organization that represents 14 national and 125 local Jewish community relations agencies.

title: JCPA


text:
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP; commonly Presidents' Conference) is the umbrella organization for the American Jewish community. Comprising 50 national Jewish organizations, it was founded in 1956 to develop a consensus voice among Jewish organizations, especially to the U.S. government.

Mission
The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations is the American Jewish community's unofficial umbrella organization. Since the 1970s, the chairperson of the Conference of Presidents has assumed the role of de facto spokesperson for the American Jewish community on international affairs, especially on matters related to Israel. Its authority is generally based on its ability to development consensus among the largest Jewish organizations, and therefore it claims to speak on behalf of the majority of affiliated American Jews.

Formation
The Conference of Presidents was formed when Jewish groups felt a need to respond to the perceived tilt of the Eisenhower administration away from Israel. In 1954, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Henry Byroade attempted to intimidate Israel, B'nai B'rith president Philip Klutznick invited the leaders of 16 American Jewish organizations to meet in New York City as the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. In March 1955, the conference had 20 members and met in Washington, D.C. to discuss the Middle East. The 1955 conference was the first public forum that enabled the American government to hear the opinions of the largest representative body of American Jews after World War II. At the forum, the Conference of Presidents declared its goals as three-fold: 1) the defense of American and the welfare of its people, 2) the spread of freedom and attainment of peace throughout the world, and 3) the attainment of peace, development, and security for the people of Israel in their ancestral homeland.

In the early years, the Conference of Presidents, like other coordinating agencies such as the Council of Jewish Federations, the Jewish Welfare Board, and the Synagogue Council of America, operated mainly as coordinating bodies with no powers of coercion over their constituent members. However, these groups were able to forge unprecedented levels of cooperation largely because there was a strong consensus about the Jewish communal agenda.

Growth
By the 1970s, the Conference of Presidents and AIPAC assumed overall responsibility for Israel-related lobbying within the Jewish communal landscape. The Conference of Presidents was responsible for speaking to the Executive Branch of the U.S. government, while AIPAC dealt mainly with the legislative branch.

For its first 30 years, the organization was headed by Yehuda Hellman. After Hellman's death in 1986, Malcolm Hoenlein became chairman. Hoenlein took a much stronger role in shaping US policy, especially within the executive branch. By 1990, the group grew to 48 members and 8 official observers. By then, its mission was to "strengthen the US-Israel alliance and protect and enhance the security and dignity of Jews abroad."

On February 12, 2009, the conference's leaders met with Pope Benedict XVI in order to re-assert the importance of Jewish–Catholic relations in the wake of the controversy over negationist comments made by Society of St. Pius X bishop Richard Williamson.

Contemporary
On August 4, 2019, William Daroff was announced as Hoenlein's successor as CEO. The Conference of Presidents co-organized the March for Israel on November 14, 2023. Daroff claimed that more than 290,000 people attended the rally, making it "the largest pro-Israel gathering in US history".

Progressive Jewish groups have floated leaving the Conference, particularly after the Conference declined to extend membership to liberal group J Street in 2014. In 2023, progressive group The Workers Circle withdrew from the Conference over what The Workers Circle claimed as policy differences. CoP CEO William Daroff stated that The Workers Circle owed $15,000 in membership fees and had not raised any concerns prior to its announcement. Other left-leaning Jewish groups expressed that they would remain in the Conference.

International Leadership Award
In December 2008, the conference presented Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and his government as a whole, with its inaugural "International Leadership Award" for his support for Israel. Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice-chairman of the conference, stated that the award was given to express the group's appreciation for Canada's "courageous stands" to boycott the Durban II anti-racism conference. He also praised Canada's "support for Israel and [its] efforts at the U.N. against incitement and ... the delegitimization [of Israel], where they have taken a role in the forefront."

Support for Jonathan Pollard
In December 2008, the conference asked President George W. Bush to pardon Jonathan Pollard, a former US navy analyst who was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for spying for Israel. Malcolm Hoenlein stated that Pollard should be pardoned on humanitarian grounds, adding that "It's time that he be released. He has expressed remorse." Pollard, who was branded as a traitor in the US but considered a hero in Israel, was released in November 2015, almost thirty years from the day when he was arrested. Pollard was scheduled to speak to members of the Conference in January 2016 in New York. US Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Eliot Engel, to discuss efforts to lighten Pollard's parole conditions, in which both congressmen have been actively involved.