New York World - Later Years

Later Years

In 1911, Joseph Pulitzer died, passing control of the World to his sons Ralph, Joseph and Herbert Pulitzer. The World continued to grow under its executive editor Herbert Bayard Swope, who hired writers such as Frank Sullivan and Deems Taylor. Among the World's noted journalists were columnists Franklin Pierce Adams (F.P.A.) who wrote "The Conning Tower," Heywood Broun who penned "It Seems To Me" on the editorial page, and hardboiled writer James M. Cain. C. M. Payne created several comic strips for the newspaper.

The paper published the first crossword puzzle in December 1913. The annual reference book called The World Almanac was founded by the newspaper, and its name, World Almanac, is directly descended from the newspaper. The belief that the World Series of baseball is also named after the newspaper, however, is unfounded.

The paper ran a twenty article exposé on the Ku Klux Klan starting September 6, 1921.

In 1931, Pulitzer's heirs went to court to sell the World. A surrogate court judge decided in the Pulitzer sons' favor; it was purchased by Roy W. Howard for his Scripps-Howard chain. He promptly closed the World and laid off the staff of 3,000 after the final issue was printed on February 27, 1931. Howard added the World name to his afternoon paper, the Evening Telegram, and called it the New York World-Telegram.