''The Dallas Dispatch'' was a daily evening newspaper published in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
, United States from 1906 until it was combined with the evening ''Dallas Journal'' in 1938 to create ''The Dallas Dispatch-Journal'', the name of which was shortened to ''The Dallas Journal'' in 1939 and which ceased publication in 1942.
The ''Dispatch'' began publication on September 17, 1906 with a four-page issue. (It presumably was not related to an earlier ''Dallas Dispatch'', which had gone out of business in July 1894.) The paper was owned by the
Scripps-McRae Association Alfred O. Andersson
Alfred Oscar Andersson (1874–1950) was the publisher of the '' Dallas Dispatch'' and, briefly, of the ''Dallas Dispatch-Journal'', daily afternoon newspapers of general circulation published in Dallas, Texas.
Growing up and career
Andersson w ...
was its first editor and H. J. Richmond its first business manager.
Andersson was its publisher for most of the newspaper’s existence, and Lewis W. Bailey was its editor for many years. Andersson retired as publisher in March 1937 without relinquishing his ownership interest, and in June 1938 he formed The Dispatch-Journal Publishing Company with
Karl Hoblitzelle and John Moroney to acquire the ''Dispatch'' and another evening newspaper
''The Dallas Journal'' which had been a sister publication of ''
The Dallas Morning News
''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...
''. The resulting ''Dallas Dispatch-Journal'' was published six evenings a week with no Sunday edition. The ''Dispatch'' lived on as part of the new publication’s name until December 1939, when
James M. West Sr. of Houston acquired control and shortened the name to ''The Dallas Journal''.
The ''Dispatch'' campaigned for an emergency hospital, the cleaning up of criminal law enforcement, and new franchises for city utilities. It gave more attention to crime news than did its competition and "probably set some kind of record with extra editions." It was said that it would "print anything a reporter was big enough to sign his name to," and that that once included using "ass" (referring to a
donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
) in a headline, turning that edition into a collector’s item.
''Dispatch'' employees included James F. Chambers Jr., a sports and crime reporter who became president and publisher of
''The Dallas Times-Herald'', and
Ralph Hall, who served in the
Texas Senate and later the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
until 2015.
References
Further reading
*Something About Newspapers
essation of earlier ''Dallas Dispatch'' ''Dallas Morning News'', July 23, 1894, p. 6.
*New Afternoon Paper. ''Dallas Morning News'', Sept. 18, 1906, p. 4.
*Former Publisher Lauded at Dinner. ''Dallas Morning News'', Mar. 4, 1937, sec. I, p. 2.
*Journal, Dispatch Merge. ''Dallas Morning News'', June 21, 1938, sec. I, p. 1.
*Alfred O. Andersson Dies; Published Old Dispatch. ''Dallas Morning News'', May 12, 1950, sec. III, p. 1.
*Kelly, Jean. "Colorful Old Daily, Now Departed: Alumni of Dispatch Hold Reunion. ''Dallas Morning News'', Oct. 30, 1968, sec. D, p. 1.
*''The WPA Dallas Guide and History''. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1992. {{ISBN, 0-929398-31-9.
Defunct newspapers of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
Newspapers established in 1906
1906 establishments in Texas
1938 disestablishments in Texas