J. David Stern

Julius David Stern (April 1, 1886 - October 10, 1971) (ofter referred to as J. David Stern) was an American newspaper publisher, best known as the liberal Democrat publisher of The Philadelphia Record from 1928 to 1947, as well as other newspapers including the New York Post from 1933 to 1939.

Biography

Stern was born in Philadelphia in 1886, and graduated from William Penn Charter School in 1902. After attending the University of Pennsylvania for undergraduate work (1906) and law school (1909),^[1] Stern got his start in the newspaper field in 1908 with a reporter position at the Philadelphia Public Ledger. Within three years he had moved on to become general manager of the Providence News.^[2] At age 25 he purchased the New Brunswick, New Jersey Times for $2,500, and later sold it for $25,000.^[3] In 1914-15, he moved to Springfield, Illinois where we acquired an combined the city's two evening papers, subsequent selling the combined operation to the owners of the morning papers.^[2]

In 1919, Stern purchased the Camden, New Jersey Morning Courier. In 1926, Stern he also acquired the Camden Morning Post and combined the two to create the Courier-Post. And in June 1928, Stern purchased The Philadelphia Record after the death of publisher Rodman Wanamaker, with the help of $2.5 million loan from businessman Albert M. Greenfield.^[4] During the 1930s, disputes between Stern and Moses Annenberg (publisher of the rival The Philadelphia Inquirer) became a "publisher's war".^[4]

In late 1933, Stern acquired the New York Post, then known as the New York Evening Post^[2] until he removed the "Evening" from its name. He sold the Post to Dorothy Schiff (and her husband George Backer) in 1939.^[5]

Stern was an early supporter of labor, and the first to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with his editorial staff in 1934. Nevertheless, Stern was forced to shut down the Record and sell all his holdings (including radio station WCAU and two Camden newspapers) to the Philadelphia Bulletin after his papers were struck by the American Newspaper Guild in 1947.^[4] Stern announced publicly that he had made a "grave mistake in recognizing the Guild."^[6]

Politically Stern was a liberal Democrat. He supported Al Smith in the 1928 Presidential Election, and gave early support to Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[6]

Other work

In 1952, Stern published a science fiction novel called Ediolon.^[6][6] He also published an autobiography called Memoirs of a Maverick Publisher in 1962.^[6]

Personal

Long retired from the newspaper business and living in Florida, Stern died on October 10, 1971 at age 85 in West Palm Beach, Florida.^[7][8][9] He was survived by his wife, Juliet (Lit) Stern, and two sons and two daughters.^[6] Stern's son David Stern III was also in the newspapers business, and the creator of Francis the Talking Mule.^[10]

References

External links

"J. David Stern" at Closed for Business: The Story of Bankers Trust Company During the Great Depression, digital history project of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania