Joseph Palmer Knapp (May 14, 1864 – January 30, 1951) was an American publisher and philanthropist. He was Chairman of the Board and principal shareholder of the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company. Knapp has also been credited with the invention of the multi-color six-cylinder

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a famil ...

. He was the son of Joseph Fairchild and Phoebe Palmer Knapp. His father was a past president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and his mother was a hymn writer, credited with over 500 hymns, most notably "

Blessed Assurance "Blessed Assurance" is a well-known Christian hymn. The lyrics were written in 1873 by blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby to the music written in 1873 by Phoebe Knapp. History Crosby was visiting her friend Phoebe Knapp as the Knapp home was having a ...

" with

Fanny Crosby Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns ...

. He was educated at Columbia College, matriculating with the class of 1884, but left after a year to become a member of the board in his father's company. In 1891, Knapp founded American Lithograph Company, which became a leading printer of

Sunday magazines A Sunday magazine is a publication inserted into a Sunday newspaper. It also has been known as a Sunday supplement, Sunday newspaper magazine or Sunday magazine section. Traditionally, the articles in these magazines cover a wide range of subject ...

for newspapers. (The company later became Publication Corporation, which eventually owned a number of Knapp publishing properties.) Knapp published the ''Associated Sunday Magazine'' from 1903 to 1905. In 1906, Knapp and partner George Hazen purchased the Crowell Publishing Company of Springfield, Ohio, incorporating it in New Jersey. Crowell published the family magazines '' Farm & Fireside'' and '' Woman's Home Companion''. Knapp's ''Every Week'', published between 1915 and 1918, reached a circulation of more than 550,000.Platnick, Norm. "The Sunday Magazine", updated from the original version in the ''Illustrator Collector's News'', May-June 1999.
/ref> In 1919, Knapp acquired P.F. Collier & Son, a New York-based publisher of books and magazines, including

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

. He merged P.F. Collier & Son with the Crowell Publishing Company in 1939, and served as chairman of the merged firm, the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company, until 1946. Knapp was publisher of the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

Sunday Magazine''"Press: Different This Week"
'' Time'', January 5, 1942. in 1935 when he changed its name and began to syndicate it to other newspapers as the Sunday supplement '' This Week''. In the early 1950s, it accompanied 37 Sunday newspapers. (After Knapp's death, at its peak in 1963, ''This Week'' was distributed with the Sunday editions of 42 newspapers for a total circulation of 14.6 million.) Knapp owned a hunting lodge in North Carolina known as Mackay Island. This property is now national wildlife refuge.

Philanthropy

Knapp was interested in game bird conservation, and in 1937 founded the More Game Birds in America Foundation (with others including J. P. Morgan), which today is known as Ducks Unlimited. He contributed greatly to the

Currituck County Currituck County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

North Carolina and to the University of North Carolina. Currituck County dedicated one of their public schools to Knapp. This school is currently the J.P. Knapp Early College High School, which was founded in 2008.

References

External links

Guide to the Joseph Palmer Knapp and the Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge: Some Historical Notes by Allan R. Miller 1987
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Joseph P. 1864 births 1951 deaths American philanthropists Columbia College (New York) alumni American publishers (people)

Philanthropy

Further reading

References

External links