| The Philadelphia Press | |
| Type: | Daily newspaper |
| Format: | Broadsheet |
| Founders: | John Weiss Forney |
| Publisher: | acquired by Public Ledger |
| Editor: | Charles Emory Smith (1880–1908) |
| Language: | English |
| Headquarters: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
The Philadelphia Press (or The Press) is a defunct newspaper that was published from August 1, 1857, to October 1, 1920.
The paper was founded by John Weiss Forney. Charles Emory Smith was editor and owned a stake in the paper from 1880 until his death in 1908. In 1920, it was purchased by Cyrus H. K. Curtis, who merged the Press into the Public Ledger.[1]
In 1882, a Philadelphia Press newspaper story sparked a sensational trial after a journalist caught body snatchers from the Jefferson Medical College stealing corpses from Lebanon Cemetery for use as cadavers by medical students.[2]
Before being published in book form, Stephen Crane's 1895 novel The Red Badge of Courage was serialized in The Philadelphia Press in 1894.[3] Earlier, in 1888, Robert Louis Stevenson's The Black Arrow appeared in the paper in serialized form under the title "The Outlaws of Tunstall Forest," with illustrations by Alfred Brennan, before the first hardcover book publication by Charles Scribner's Sons.[4]
In addition to written contributions, illustrations were also produced for the newspaper. Four illustrators, each a member of the 'Charcoal Club' founded by Robert Henri, became known as the 'Philadelphia Four':