Joseph Edward Ridder (April 4, 1886 – April 21, 1966) was an American newspaper publisher who was the chairman of Ridder Publications. He was the son of newspaper magnate

Herman Ridder Herman Ridder (March 5, 1851 – November 1, 1915) was an American newspaper publisher and editor. Biography Ridder was born in New York City, of German Catholic parents. Because of his parents' financial difficulties, Ridder had to leave school a ...

Biography

Ridder was born on April 4, 1886 to

and his wife Mary C. Amend. Four years after he was born, his father became business manager of the

New Yorker Staats-Zeitung The ''New Yorker Staats-Zeitung'', nicknamed ''"The Staats"'', claims to be the leading German language, German-language weekly newspaper in the United States and is one of the oldest, having been published since the mid-1830s. In the late 19th c ...

. He attended

De La Salle Institute English: Sign of Faith , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic( De La Salle Brothers} , patron = , established = , founder = Brother Adjutor of Mary, FSC , status = Open ...

with his twin brother Victor F. Ridder and graduated from Columbia College in 1907. After graduating from Columbia, Ridder worked in the press room of the Staats-Zeitung, which his father recently acquired. Mechanically adept, Ridder helped his father design and invent the Intertype machine, which was marketed through the International Type-setting Machine Company. Ridder worked for

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

until his father's death in 1915, when he rejoined his brothers at the family newspaper. He also served in the

Motor Transport Corps The Motor Transport Corps (M.T.C.) was formed out of the United States Army Quartermaster Corps on 15 August 1918, by General Order No. 75. Men needed to staff this new corps were recruited from the skilled tradesmen working for automotive man ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After putting the newspaper on a sound financial footing, Ridder bought The Long Island Press in 1926. The same year, he and his brothers purchased the ''

New York Journal of Commerce New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, the St. Paul Dispatch,'' and

Pioneer Press The Pioneer Press publishes 32 local newspapers in the Chicago area. It is a division of Tribune Publishing, and is based in Chicago. The community newspapers are the main source of local news in Illinois communities such as Winnetka, Highland ...

. He later sold The Long Island Press to the Newhouse family in 1934. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Ridder was staunchly pro-American and defended his family paper from accusations of pro-German sympathies. He became president and operating head of the ''

Journal of Commerce ''The Journal of Commerce'' is a biweekly magazine published in the United States that focuses on global trade topics. First published in 1827 in New York, it has a circulation of approximately 15,000. It provides editorial content to manage da ...

'' and filed many dispatches from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after

. The family newspaper later extended to the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, controlling 15 newspapers and several broadcasting companies. The ''Time'' magazine estimated the net worth of Ridder Publications to be at $15,000,000 in 1946 dollars. He was a major contributor to the syndicate that defended the

1964 America's Cup The 1964 America's Cup was held in September 1964 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, ''Constellation'', skippered by Bob Bavier, defeated the British challenger, ''Sovereign'', skippered by Peter Scott, in a four-race sweep. ''Constel ...

against challengers. His son,

Eric Ridder Eric Ridder (July 1, 1918 – July 23, 1996) was an American sailor and Olympic champion. He was born in Hewlett, New York, and died in Locust Valley, New York. He competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, where he won a gold medal ...

, was the skipper for ''Constellation'', owned by the

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

. Ridder was a close friend of

James Forrestal James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic fami ...

and worked with former

United States Postmaster General The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

James Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaste ...

on his 1936 Presidential Campaign. A former friend of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, he broke with the president when he declared intentions to run for a third term. Nonetheless, he took a position on the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

's Price Renegotiation Board during

. He was a member of

India House India House was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 at Cromwell Avenue in Highgate, North London. With the patronage of lawyer Shyamji Krishna Varma, it was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britai ...

University Club of New York The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellec ...

Personal life

Ridder married Hedwig Schneider in 1911 and after Schneider's death in 1960, remarried her sister. He had two daughters and two sons, Olympic sailor and newspaper publisher

and

Bernard J. Ridder Bernard Joseph "Ben" Ridder (June 29, 1913 – July 29, 1983) was an American newspaper publisher who served as chairman of the board of directors of Ridder Publications, Inc. and an executive in the California Thoroughbred horse racing industr ...

, who was a publisher of '' The Pasadena Star-News''. He died on April 20 at the

Good Samaritan Hospital Good Samaritan Hospital or Good Samaritan Medical Center may refer to: India *Good Samaritan Hospital (Panamattom), Koprakalam, Panamattom, Kerala *Good Samaritan Centre, Mutholath Nagar, Cherpunkal, Kottyam, Kerala United States *Banner - Univer ...

at 80 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridder, Joseph E. 1886 births 1966 deaths Columbia College (New York) alumni American newspaper executives American newspaper chain owners Ridder family Businesspeople from New York City