Southwestern Company
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| Private | |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1855 |
| Founder | Rev. J. R. Graves |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
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Key people
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Henry Bedford, Chairman and CEO of Southwestern Spencer Hays, Chairman of The Executive Committee |
| Website | www |
Henry Bedford, Chairman and CEO of Southwestern
Southwestern owns Southwestern Advantage, previously known as Southwestern Company, it is a company that recruits and trains college and university students to sell educational books, software, and website subscriptions door-to-door using direct selling methods. Students participating in the program are independent contractors, not employees of the company, selling the products directly to private families at retail for delivery at the end of the season.
In 1855, Southwestern Publishing House was established in Nashville, Tennessee. The company's name was chosen because, at that time, Nashville was in the southwestern part of the United States. Founded by the Baptist minister James Robinson Graves, Southwestern originally published The Tennessee Baptist, a Southern Baptist newspaper, and religious booklets which were sold by mail for 20¢ and 30¢ each.
Prior to the Civil War, most Bibles were printed in the North, rather than the Confederacy. Graves acquired stereotype plates from the North and began printing Bibles for sale in August 1861. Southwestern also produced and sold educational books.
The December 1864 Battle of Nashville resulted in a Union victory. Feeling vulnerable due to articles he had published against the North, Graves relocated to Memphis. The company resumed publishing in 1867.
After the Civil War in 1868, Graves discontinued the company’s mail order business model, and began training young men as independent dealers to sell Bibles and educational books door-to-door as a way to earn money for college. Graves retired in 1871.
In 1879 the company relocated to Nashville under the new ownership of Jacob Florida.
In 1899, P. B. Jones, a twenty-two year veteran who started in the summer sales program, acquired majority ownership of the Southwestern Publishing House becoming its President and General Manager.
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Wikipedia