Buffalo Courier-Express

The Buffalo Courier-Express was a morning newspaper in Buffalo, New York. It ceased publication on September 19, 1982.

History
The Courier-Express was created in 1926 by a merger of the Buffalo Daily Courier and the Buffalo Morning Express. William James Conners, the owner of the Buffalo Courier, brought the two papers together. The combined newspapers claimed a heritage dating to 1828. One notable part-owner and editor of the Buffalo Express was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as Mark Twain, whose tenure at the newspaper lasted from 1869 to 1871.

In August 1979, The Courier-Express was purchased by the Cowles Media Company, a publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After a change in corporate leadership, Cowles Media decided to close the paper in September 1982. After the local Newspaper Guild members voted to oppose a deal to sell the Courier Express to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, the September 19, 1982 issue was the last issue published. That left Buffalo with only one daily newspaper, the Buffalo Evening News, now known as The Buffalo News.

Cowles Media donated the library to the Buffalo History Museum and Buffalo State College. The library is now housed in the E. H. Butler Library at Buffalo State College. The library consists of approximately one million news clippings, 100,000 photographs and several pieces of artworks and framed photographs. The news clippings and photographs, arranged by subject and person, cover the late 1950s to September 19, 1982. The collection served as the library for the reporters of the paper. The librarians weeded both the clippings and photographic files, discarding older files on a routine basis. As a result, many subject areas are not covered.

The library is currently being digitized. While that may take years, photographs will continually be added to the Butler Library Archives Flickr site.

Editors of the Buffalo Courier

 * Douglas A. Levien, 1850s
 * David Gray, 1870s

Editors of the Buffalo Express

 * Almon M. Clapp, editor, founded Express in 1846
 * Samuel Langhorne Clemens, also known as 'Mark Twain', 1869–1871, co-editor
 * Josephus Nelson Larned, co-editor with Twain
 * James N. Matthews, 1878–1888
 * George E. Matthews, 1888–1911
 * Burrows Matthews, 1911–1925

Editors of the Buffalo Courier-Express

 * Burrows Matthews, 1926–1955
 * Cy B. King, 1956–1970
 * Douglas L. Turner, 1971–1980
 * Joel R. Kramer, 1981–1982
 * Theo C. Meier, 1950s

General Managers of the Buffalo Courier-Express

 * Gordon Bennett, 1960s
 * Richard C. Lyons, 1971–74
 * Donald J. Maul, 1970s

Notable alumni

 * Tom Toles
 * Wilbur Porterfield, photo pictorialist, 1926–1958