How a Knoxville delivery boy built one of the world's most respected newspapers

Former New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs was considered a journalism trailblazer in wanting to cover news stories objectively at a time when newspapers were known for often being full of partisan political stories.

But there was bit of partisan pride, at least, as several Knoxville citizens recently commemorated the important role Knoxville played in Ochs’ newspaper career.

It was here that he got printer’s ink in his blood, as they say, so on Thursday, Sept. 29, a historical plaque honoring him was unveiled by the Society of Professional Journalists. It hangs on the northeast corner of Market Square alongside Wall Avenue near the former location of the Knoxville Chronicle, where he worked as a youth.

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As Ochs’ co-biographer and event participant Alex S. Jones was quoted as saying in the proclamation read by Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, “While Adolph Ochs’ greatest achievement was creating The New York Times, his start was in Knoxville, and he never lost his sense of gratitude and kinship with that city.”

The plaque unveiling, which followed a related forum at the East Tennessee History Center the day before, was attended by several dozen people.

The marker had come about through the efforts of longtime News Sentinel journalist and former SPJ national president Georgiana Vines, as well as some research by Jack Neely of the Knoxville History Project.

Vines said at the dedication that the organization had made prior efforts to recognize Ochs and his connection to Knoxville, but that was stalled in part because he is already recognized in New York. She said one official even told her to forget the idea, and she jokingly told the audience that she does not forget.

While praising the work of Neely in researching Ochs’ connections to Knoxville, she admitted pleasure that the project did indeed come to fruition, in part due to the journalistic inspiration it can offer.

“The New York Times still stands as a beacon of journalism at a time when there are rapid changes in the journalism profession,” she said.

On a lighter note, she thought it was neat the plaque was placed by a bar, a place where journalists have been historically known to hang out after a day of intense work covering the news. “I think Adolph Ochs would like that,” she said.

The building at 36 Market Square is owned by Scott and Bernadette West, who also paid to have the plaque installed.

The marker reads in part, “Ochs began his career in journalism in Knoxville at age 11. He got his first newspaper experience as a paperboy for the Knoxville Chronicle, whose editor and publisher was Capt. William Rule. The paper was then on Market Square near Asylum (now Wall Avenue). He worked as a ‘printer’s devil,’ an office boy and apprentice. By age 16, he was an experienced printer.”

It goes on to tell of his taking control of the Chattanooga Times in 1878 at 19 and later the then-floundering New York Times in 1896 at 38. While not considered a perfect man or publisher ‒ for example, his family supported Confederate memorial causes of yesteryear ‒ he was also considered a trend setter with a book review section and new style of printing photos.

Some of these issues were discussed in a forum titled “What Would Ochs Have to Say” on Sept. 28. Panelists included Neely, UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media professor Dr. Michael Martinez, and Jones, a former Greeneville resident who co-wrote a 1999 history of the Ochs family and The New York Times and won an unrelated Pulitzer Prize in 1987.

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During the plaque dedication, Neely mentioned that Ochs was one of several noted authors or publishers with a connection to Market Square.

“Market Square is the most literary spot in East Tennessee, and Adolph Ochs began his career here as part of that,” he said. “This is a story that connects Knoxville to the world because The New York Times, the modern New York Times that he created, became a global paper.”

Mayor Kincannon said she only more recently learned of Ochs’ connections to Knoxville.

“I am a longtime reader of The New York Times,” she said. “It’s an amazing newspaper and I had no idea at the time that the person who took that newspaper from sort of a small-town edition with many competitors to the paper of record for now for the world was a homegrown talent from right here in Knoxville, Tennessee.”

The mayor also called the dedication an homage to the importance of journalism.

“Not all heroes wear capes, and I sometimes have my hard times with journalists, but you hold me accountable, and you hold the city of Knoxville accountable, and you keep the city of Knoxville informed,” she said.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Famed New York Times publisher Adolph Ochs started career in Knoxville