Southwestern Company - History

History

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 Reverend James Robinson Graves, Southwestern originally published The Tennessee Baptist, a Southern Baptist newspaper, and religious booklets which sold by mail for 20¢ and 30¢ each.

The Civil War began in the early years of the company. During the summer of 1861, an unexpected shortage of Bibles hit the South due to the separation from the industrial North. Nowhere in the Confederacy was there a publishing house with the plates and printing materials needed to produce a Bible. Rev. Graves acquired stereotype plates from the North in order to print Bibles. By August 1861, pocket-sized Bibles bound in hard covers were being printed in Nashville. Thousands of “The Little Bible” were sold for 12¢ - 50¢ each. Southwestern also produced and sold educational books.

The December 1864 Battle of Nashville resulted in a Union victory. Graves relocated the company to Memphis, TN feeling vulnerable due to articles he had published against the North.

After the Civil War in 1868, Graves discontinued the company’s mail order business model in favor of engaging young men as independent dealers to sell Southwestern Bibles and educational books as a way to earn money for college.

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.

In 1921, J.B. Henderson, a sixteen-year veteran who started in the summer sales program, became the sole company owner. During the 1920s, Henderson grew Southwestern to one of the largest person-to-person sales companies in America.

By 1947, Southwestern had lost nearly all of its independent dealers as a result of World War II. J.B. Henderson, Dortch Oldham, and Fred Landers, each of whom left to serve in the Pacific during the war, struck a deal to rebuild the company with Henderson serving as President. Throughout those next twenty years, Southwestern experienced tremendous growth as the United States rebounded from the Great Depression. Led by Fred Landers, Spencer Hays, and Ted Welch, the number of independent reps grew to over 1,500.

In 1959, Dortch Oldham, a twenty-four year veteran who started in the summer sales program, became the majority shareholder of Southwestern; an ownership role that would last until 1968 and a presidential role that would last until 1972.

In 1968, Times-Mirror Company acquired ownership of Southwestern.

In 1972, Spencer Hays, a fourteen-year veteran who started in the summer sales program, became its president.

In 1975, Times-Mirror formed a fund-raising company called Nashville Educational Marketing Services under Southwestern, later to be renamed Great American Opportunities.

Jerry Heffel became the company's president in 1980. In 1982, Spencer Hays, Jerry Heffel, Ralph Mosley, and other executives organized to purchase Southwestern and sister-company Great American Opportunities by leveraged buyout from Times-Mirror, forming Southwestern/Great American, Inc. Hays was named executive chairman of the board and Ralph Mosley was named chairman and CEO.

In 2011, the summer sales program and its operating unit updated its name to Southwestern Advantage.

Southwestern earned position 4,832 on the Inc. 5000 list in 2012 as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States.