George Gough Booth

Notable work and positions

The Detroit News (Evening News Association) - President and Publisher
Booth Newspapers, Inc. (now MLive Media Group) - Co-founder and Chairman
Cranbrook Educational Community - Co-founder

Biography

George Gough Booth (1864-1949) was a Detroit newspaper publisher and philanthropist. Born in Toronto, he moved with his family to Detroit in 1881 and initially worked in an ornamental ironworks business in Windsor, Ontario. In 1887 he married Ellen Warren Scripps, daughter of Detroit Evening News (later The Detroit News) founder James E. Scripps, whose half-brother was newspaper chain founder Edward W. Scripps. The following year, Booth sold his ironworks business and joined The Detroit News as business manager at his father-in-law's urging, later becoming president of the paper in 1906. Separately, beginning in the 1890s, Booth purchased small Michigan newspapers, which he combined with holdings of his brother Ralph to form Booth Publishing Company in 1914, the forerunner of Booth Newspapers, Inc. (now MLive Media Group). He guided the chain as chairman and later president through decades of growth, retiring from administrative roles in 1946. With his wife, Booth founded the Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, beginning with the purchase of a farm in 1904 and expanding after 1922 into six institutions: Brookside School, Christ Church Cranbrook, Cranbrook School, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Institute of Science, and Kingswood School. He and his brother Ralph were also major benefactors of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Career highlights

• President, The Detroit News Succeeded his father-in-law, James E. Scripps, in 1906.
• Co-founded Booth Newspapers, Inc. 1914, with his brother Ralph · Grew into a chain spanning southern Michigan, now MLive Media Group.
• Founded Cranbrook Educational Community With his wife, Ellen Scripps Booth, beginning in 1904; expanded into six institutions after 1922.