Early life
E. W. Scripps was born and raised in Rushville, Illinois, to James Mogg Scripps from London, and Julia Adeline Osborne (third wife) from New York. E. W., as with many businessmen of his day, went by his initials rather than writing out his first and middle name. He often signed his middle name as "Wyllis".Edward Willis ScrippsNewspaper career
Both E. W. and his half-sister Ellen Browning Scripps, Ellen worked with his older half-brother, James E. Scripps, James when he founded ''The Detroit News'' in 1873. E. W. started as an office boy at the paper. In 1878, with loans from his half-brothers, E. W. went on to found ''The Penny Press'' (later the ''Cleveland Press'') in Cleveland. With financial support from sister Ellen, he went on to begin or acquire some 25 newspapers. This was the beginning of a media empire that is now the E. W. Scripps Company. In 1907, Scripps created United Press International, United Press Associations, now United Press International (UPI), from smaller regional news services. Scripps later said "I regard my life's greatest service to the people of this country to be the creation of the United Press", to provide competition to the Associated Press. Scripps believed in editorial independence, stating:Later life
In 1898, he finished building a home in San Diego, where his half-sister lived nearby, thinking that the dry, warm climate would help his lifelong allergic rhinitis. He built it as a winter home to escape the cold of West Chester Township, Butler County, Ohio, West Chester, (Butler County, Ohio, Butler County), Ohio but eventually lived there year-round, and conducted his newspaper business from the ranch. His ranch encompassed what is today the community of Scripps Ranch, San Diego, California, Scripps Ranch as well as Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. In 1903, he and his half-sister Ellen were the founding donors of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Initially Scripps was reluctant to support the venture, thinking scientists could not be businesslike. However, he developed a deep friendship with the scientific director, William Emerson Ritter, and together they began to plan projects for the Institute. As the Institute started to succeed, he became an enthusiastic supporter, and took a great interest in its work. In 1921, Scripps founded ''Science Service'', later named the Society for Science & the Public, with the goal of keeping the public informed of scientific achievements. Scripps College is also named in honor of his half-sister, Ellen Browning Scripps, because a large part of its endowment derives from the media fortune they had built. Scripps died at the age of 71 on March 12, 1926 onboard his yacht USS Turquoise, ''Ohio'' as it lay anchored in Monrovia Bay, Liberia. Among his descendants was Samuel H. Scripps (1927 – 2007), grandson, who became a leading philanthropist for theater and dance in America in the late 20th century.See also
* Samuel H. Scripps – E. W. Scripps' grandson, a philanthropist in theater and dance * ''The Day Book'' – E. W. Scripps' six year experiment in ad-free journalismReferences
Further reading
* ''E. W. Scripps'' (Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1933) by Negley D. Cochran * ''E. W. Scripps and the Business of Newspapers'' (1999) by Gerald J. Baldasty. . * ''Science Service as one Expression of E. W. Scripps's Philosophy of Life.'' (Washington, D.C.: Science Service, 1926) by William E. Ritter * "Newspaper Man", ''Time'', March 22, 1926 * Molly McClain, "The Scripps Family's San Diego Experiment," ''The Journal of San Diego History'' 56, nos. 1–2 (2010). *Molly McClain, ''Ellen Browning Scripps: New Money and American Philanthropy'' (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2017) * *Archives
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