Courtesy of Corbis-Bettmann

Adolph Ochs 1858-1935

Adolph Ochs began his newspaper career in Knoxville, Tennessee at age 11, when he left grammar school to become an apprentice typesetter. At age 19, he borrowed $250 to purchase a controlling interest in The Chattanooga Times, and in 1896 he purchased The New York Times, which was then a unprofitable publication with many competitors. At a time when newspapers were highly partisan, he set the standard for objective news reporting. By the 1920s, The Times readership had increased from 9,000 to 780,000. Ochs moved The New York Times to a new building on Longacre Square in Manhattan in 1904, and the area was soon renamed Times Square. In 1928, Ochs funded the construction of the Mizpah Congregation Temple in Chattanooga and dedicated it to the memory of his parents.