Republican-American
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | American-Republican Inc. |
| Publisher | William J. Pape II |
| Headquarters | 389 Meadow Street, Waterbury, Connecticut 06722-2090 |
| Website | rep-am.com |
The Republican-American is a family-owned newspaper based in Waterbury, Connecticut. It is the result of the combination of two separate newspapers – the Waterbury American and the Waterbury Republican.
The Waterbury American first appeared as a four-page, weekly newspaper, published by Josiah Giles on December 14, 1844. Waterbury’s first newspaper quickly grew in size and circulation and by 1850 it was the fourth largest newspaper in Connecticut. On May 22, 1866 it became a daily newspaper published in the afternoon.
On October 29, 1881 the Waterbury Republican made its debut as a weekly newspaper published by John Henry Morrow. Within three years, it became a daily newspaper – first published on January 2, 1884 in the afternoon slot. Two years later the publisher switched to a morning publication and it has remained so ever since.
In 1901, William Jamieson Pape, formerly of the Passaic Daily News in New Jersey, decided to acquire his own newspaper. He formed a partnership with another newsman, William M. Lathrop (news editor of Pennsylvania Grit), and purchased the Waterbury Republican. At first, the Republican was slow to gain circulation and was up against two other competitors in the city, but things changed the following year. A massive fire in 1902 destroyed much of the downtown area of the city. The extensive coverage given by the Waterbury Republican resulted in a huge increase in its circulation.
William J. Pape became sole owner of the Republican in 1910 and in 1922 acquired the Waterbury American. The two newspapers continued to be published – the Republican in the morning and the American in the afternoon. The Sunday Republican first appeared on October 7, 1906 and continues publication today.
In 1924, the Republican and American began printing their Sunday comic pages in color and started selling their color printing services to other newspapers. A few years later, Pape founded a separate company, Eastern Color Printing Company, to oversee the color printing end of the business. In 1934, it produced what is considered the first modern comic book, named Famous Funnies. It featured the adventures of Mutt and Jeff, Donald Dare the Demon Reporter, Buck Rogers and other comic characters.
In the 1930s, publisher Pape became suspicious of a sudden rise in voter registrations in the city. Suspecting something was amiss, he directed the Republican and American reporters to start digging into the matter. They found names of voters on the lists who had died or who had long before moved out of town. As a result of their efforts, the Democratic and Republican registrars of voters were removed from office.
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Wikipedia