Frank Gannett
Frank Ernest Gannett (1876-1957) founded the Gannett media corporation. He was
born in South Bristol, New York and graduated from Cornell University.
At the age of 30, he purchased his first newspaper, the Elmira Gazette (now the Star-Gazette). Six years later, in 1912, he purchased the Ithaca Journal. In 1918, he and his partners moved their headquarters to Rochester, NY and five years later he bought them out forming his eponymous holding company which then consisted of six newspapers. At one time (1939-1940), he ran for presidential nomination. He was a founding member of the National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government.
Active in state politics, Gannett took a nuetral stand to the New Deal in 1936 before joining the opposition against President Roosevelt's court-packing scheme. He helped the Republicans retake control of Rochester's City Council a year later.
In his remaining years he worked hard to modernize his regional newspaper conglomerate. He was always striving to obtain modern ideas and machinery. However, it was only after he died that the company grew nation-wide. The Gannett Corporation that he founded today includes such newspapers as USA Today.
The libraries at Elmira College, Utica College and Ithaca College are named for him, in addition to the student health center at Cornell University (Gannett Health Services). There is also the Frank E. Gannett Field House named after him at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA.
Frank Gannett is buried in historic Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester, NY.
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