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''The Hartford Times'' was a daily afternoon
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
serving the
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, community from 1817 to 1976. It was owned for decades by the
Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.New Haven Register The ''New Haven Register'' is a daily newspaper published in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned by Hearst Communications. The Register's main office is located at 100 Gando Drive in New Haven. The ''Register'' was established about 1812 and i ...
'', who failed to turn things around leading to its closure in 1976.


History

''The Times'' was a leading newspaper in Connecticut with the largest circulation in the state in 1917. It was started by Frederick D. Bolles and
John M. Niles John Milton Niles (August 20, 1787 – May 31, 1856) was a lawyer, editor, author and politician from Connecticut, serving in the United States Senate and as United States Postmaster General 1840 to 1841. Biography Born in Windsor, Connecticu ...
, a future senator, as an anti-federalist weekly by the name of ''The Hartford Weekly Times'' in 1817. It styled itself as a champion of reform and an advocate for the people throughout its history. One early editor was
Gideon Welles Gideon Welles (July 1, 1802 – February 11, 1878), nicknamed "Father Neptune", was the United States Secretary of the Navy from 1861 to 1869, a cabinet post he was awarded after supporting Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election. Although opposed ...
, later secretary of the Navy during the Civil War. Alfred E. Burr led the paper for over six decades from 1829 until 1890, making it a daily and giving him considerable political influence statewide. In 1920 at the height of its success the paper commissioned architect
Donn Barber Donn Barber FAIA (October 19, 1871 – May 29, 1925) was an American architect. Biography Barber was born on October 19, 1871 in Washington DC, the son of Charles Gibbs Barber, and the grandson of Hiram Barber. He studied at Holbrook Mili ...
to build a new headquarters,
The Hartford Times Building The Hartford Times Building is an historic Beaux-Arts building in downtown Hartford, Connecticut built as the headquarters of the now defunct Hartford Times. The newspaper commissioned architect Donn Barber, who had designed the nearby Travel ...
. He salvaged six massive granite pillars and other architectural details from the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, a famous work of
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...
. A series of murals behind the columns allegorize the motto, "News is an immortal bubble and the press endures within." During the 1940s, the paper owned a radio station named
WTHT WTHT (99.9 FM broadcasting, FM; "The Wolf") is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Auburn, Maine, the station serves the Portland, Maine, Portland area. The station is owned by Binnie Media. Programming is simulcast o ...
. As late as the 1960s the paper had circulation over 140,000 but its last years were marked by rapid decline. Andrea Nissen, an assistant city editor at the time of the demise said:
e werebrevetted by incompetency. Constant changes in management vitiated the confidence of the community and of ourselves... I remember three or four different editors and publishers. There was little hegemony to spare and our leaders went as fast—and with equally devastating results—as Sherman through Atlanta."


Notable journalists

Several accomplished individuals contributed to the newspaper, including
Brit Hume Alexander Britton Hume (born June 22, 1943), known professionally as Brit Hume, is an American journalist and political commentator. Hume had a 23-year career with ABC News, where he contributed to ''World News Tonight with Peter Jennings'', ''N ...
, as a
reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
; the television writer Robert Palm; the American
painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, James Britton, employed as a staff artist; film critic
Lou Lumenick Louis J. Lumenick (born September 11, 1949) is an American film critic. He was the chief film critic and film editor for the ''New York Post'' where he reviewed films from 1999 until his retirement in 2016. He is currently researching the histor ...
, employed as a reporter and city editor of the Times' short-lived morning edition, The Morning Line; U.S. diplomat and speechwriter Robert Fagan, who worked as a reporter; and editorial cartoonist,
Edmund S. Valtman Edmund Siegfried Valtman (May 31, 1914 – January 12, 2005) was an Estonian and American editorial cartoonist and winner of the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, he sold his first cartoons at age 15 to t ...
, who won a 1962
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for his cartoon, " What You Need, Man, Is a Revolution Like Mine". The newspaper additionally owned the Hartford
radio stations Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-b ...
WTHT-AM 1230 (1936–1954) and WTHT-FM 106.1 (1948–1950) as well as TV station WGTH (1954–1955).


References


External links


WWUH Timeline for Connecticut Broadcasting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartford Times 1826 establishments in Connecticut 1976 disestablishments in Connecticut Defunct newspapers published in Connecticut Mass media in Hartford, Connecticut Newspapers established in 1826 Publications disestablished in 1976