The Minneapolis Journal Archive

The Minneapolis Journal began publishing on November 26, 1878 as the Evening Journal with Clarence A. French, Charles H. Stevens, and Frank E. Curtis as the founders. The Journal provided news coverage of Minneapolis as well as Saint Paul, the state, and the nation. Its first years of publication were chaotic and challenging, as they were for most daily newspapers of that time period. But the Journal survived and flourished for the next 60 years.

The Journal was politically Republican as was its main rival, the Minneapolis Tribune. The Journal covered sports, women’s issues, entertainment, theater, and business news. In 1888, the Journal hired a full time news photographer, Edwin A. Bromley. Political cartoons by Charles Bartholomew, known as “Bart.,” began to appear on the front page in 1890. These popular cartoons were reprinted in newspapers throughout the United States and Europe. In 1898, the newspaper began a “Junior Journal” section on Saturdays for young readers. Its locally produced content appeared for fifteen years. A highlight of the “Junior Journal” was its featured writing and artwork of schoolchildren from Minneapolis, greater Minnesota, and Northwestern states including Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Montana, and Nebraska

Herschel V. Jones started as a reporter for the Journal in 1885. He became an influential business and commercial reporter and editor, helping the newspaper gain the support of the Minneapolis business community. In 1908, Jones purchased the Journal, and his family went on to manage the paper longer than any other owner. Jones was instrumental in developing the market page which documented the importance of Minnesota as a major wheat producer and Minneapolis as the milling center of the nation.

In 1939, the Journal was purchased by the Cowles family and merged with the Minneapolis Star to form the Minneapolis Star-Journal. In 1947, the “Journal” was dropped and the title became the Minneapolis Star . In 1982, the evening Star merged with the morning Minneapolis Tribune to form the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, which in turn became the Star Tribune in 1987.