Description
The Evening Star: The Rise and Fall of a Great Washington Newspaper is the story of the 129-year history of one of the preeminent newspapers in journalism history when city newspapers across the country were at the height of their power and influence. The Star was the most financially successful newspaper in the Capital and among the top ten in the country until its decline in the 1970s. The paper began in 1852 when the capital city was a backwater southern town. The Star’s success over the next century was due to its singular devotion to local news, its many respected journalists, and the historic times in which it was published. The book provides a unique perspective on more than a century of local, national, and international history.
The book also exposes the complex reasons for the Star’s rise and fall from dominance in Washington’s newspaper market. The Noyes and Kauffmann families who owned and operated the Star for a century play an important role in that story. Patriarch Crosby Noyes’ life and legacy is the most fascinating –a classic Horatio Alger story of the illegitimate son of a Maine farmer who by the time of his death was a respected newspaper publisher and member of Washington’s influential elite. In 1974 his descendants sold the once-great newspaper Noyes built to Joseph Allbritton. Allbritton and then Time, Inc. tried to save the Star but failed.
About the Author
Faye Haskins was Archivist and then Photo Librarian in the Special Collections Division, Washingtoniana Collection at the District of Columbia Public Library where the Papers of the Washington Star Newspaper and the Star Photo Collection are held. She holds Masters degrees in History and Library Science from the University of Maryland and is the author of The Art of D.C. Politics: Broadsides, Banners, and Bumper Stickers and Behind the Headlines: The Evening Star’s Coverage of the 1968 Riots, journal articles published in Washington History, a publication of the Historical Society of Washington, DC. She is an independent author and historian. She resides in the Hill Country near Austin, Texas.
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- Publish date: September 11, 2019
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 326
- Dimensions: 6.29 x 0.92 x 9.32 inches
