Scope and arrangement
These Tribune records were separated from the papers of Gordon Lester Ford. The bulk of the collection consists of letters, 1867-1880 (mostly January, 1875), from readers ordering subscriptions and special Tribune publications. Some concern the placement of advertisements and notices.
Most of the letters are numbered - each year begins a new sequence - and the numbers do not always correspond with chronological order. A group of letters found unsorted appears to be the remnants of A and B files. These have been maintained separately within each folder.
The rest of the Tribune records consists of: cancelled checks, 1863-1872 (some with Whitelaw Reid's signature); clippings of articles and cartoons; contracts, including one between the Tribune Association and Jose de Armas y Cespedes, 1873, to produce a Spanish language Tribuna de Nueva York; financial statements and accounts, 1872-1873 and undated; mortgages and leases, 1875-1876; promotional letters, 1877-1878, signed by Reid, sent to increase the newspaper's circulation and promote the Republican Party's candidate for president; letters and clippings, 1878, concerning the premium of a Webster's dictionary offered to subscribers; and correspondence, 1858-1885. The correspondence, largely from the 1870s, is among Tribune staff members (a significant amount is between Reid and Ford), and with readers, advertisers, and others. It concerns, business, personnel, and editorial matters; the 1877 strike; and matters relating to the Tribune Building.
Included among the letters are notes, memoranda, sane additional financial documents, meeting notices of the New York Associated Press, 1878 and 1880 (Ford was the secretary), and minutes of an April 10, 1877 staff meeting. Two folders of editorial correspondence, 1870-1880, of Whitelaw Reid are included.
Also included is a certificate of appreciation presented to Thomas N. Rooker, January 1, 1876, by his colleagues on the Tribune staff, and a large volume listing staff assignments of the City Department, March 25, 1867 - March 25, 1868. A City Department staff directory is on the first page.