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Du Quoin Call to close after 127 years

To our readers:

It is with deep regret we announce that today's edition of the Du Quoin Call will be its last.

Although well-supported by the community for many, many years, the Call has been facing many of the same issues that newspapers all around the country are facing - rising costs, with fewer sources of income, particularly advertising and classifieds. Unfortunately, interest in the paper has been on a steady decline for several years and today it is no longer sustainable.

In its heyday the Call - for most of its life The Du Quoin Evening Call - was subscribed to by more than 70% of all homes in Du Quoin, a level of loyalty almost unheard of in the newspaper business. Since its debut on Nov. 2, 1895 it has been a favorite place for Du Quoin residents to find their local news, good and bad; stories about themselves and their neighbors; local sports and obituaries, and where they kept up with the day-to-day goings-on about town. The newspaper celebrated with the community in good times and mourned with it in bad.

According to Volume 2 of a Perry County history published in 1998, the Evening Call was introduced in 1895 by Major Andrew J. Alden, a former Union officer and a southern Illinois native who was the son of Pinckneyville Democrat publisher Roy Alden. Alden disposed of the Call within a couple years, and it was held by different people until 1899, when Augustus William (A.W.) Essick became publisher. When Essick died on Nov. 22, 1945, the paper was bought by Lucius (L.S.) Smith Jr., who died in 1984.

In December 1986, stock in the newspaper was sold by Smith's family to American Publishing, a holding company for Hollinger Inc., the former Canadian media giant run by Conrad Black. It was the first time the paper was owned by non-local interests, and the Evening Call was among eight southern Illinois newspapers acquired by Hollinger at the time, including the Benton Evening News, the Canton Daily Ledger, the Carmi Times, the Eldorado Daily Journal, the Marion Daily Republican, the Murphysboro American, and the West Frankfort Daily American.

In 1997, the Call became part of Liberty Group Publishing, one of about 160 newspapers sold to Liberty by Hollinger. In June 2005 an investment group bought Liberty, and the Evening Call became part of the new GateHouse Media. And in August 2016, the Evening Call and other local papers in Marion, Benton, Harrisburg and Chester were acquired by Paddock Publications, publishers of the Daily Herald in the north, northwest and west suburbs of Chicago.

Until the sale to Paddock in 2016, GateHouse had been intending to shutter the Call and some other southern Illinois newspapers.

We're pleased we could give the Call an additional six years of life, although that doesn't make today's announcement any easier.

The newspaper's growth in the mid- to late- 20th century is attributable to many Evening Call employees and leaders, but perhaps none more iconic than Gene Gallmeister and John Croessman. Gallmeister started out at the Call in 1954 after he left the service, and spent the next 70-plus years there as a pressman, graphics editor and eventually as the man in charge of publications. Fred Huff Sr. and Gallmeister graduated from Du Quoin Township High School together in 1944, and both would go to work at the Call. "He started working part-time at The Call just a few months before I did," Huff recalled. "He never worked anywhere else. He knew every piece of that press."

Croessman came back to his hometown of Du Quoin with a journalism degree after four years at SIU, and went to work for the Evening Call. When ill health forced him to retire in 2017, it was with 42 years of service to the newspaper and the community. Today, John Croessman Square on Main Street in Du Quoin is a testament to the community's regard for his work.

These men, and the men and women who have dedicated themselves to the Call over the past century and right up until today, have done the best they could to bring Du Quoin a quality newspaper.

On behalf of all of them - the publishers, editors, reporters, photographers, advertising reps, circulation and office staff, paperboys, pressmen and more, who built and sustained the Call for 127 years - we bid you a bittersweet adieu.

Stefanie Anderson General Manager

Gene Gallmeister
The former Du Quoin Evening Call storefront on Division Street. Du Quoin Call file photo
The Goss "Comet" press, built in Chicago, that was housed in the back of the Division Street building. It was installed on Nov. 30, 1921 and could print up to 8 pages at one time. Du Quoin Call file photo
A photo of the Du Quoin Evening Call office thought to be from the 1970s. Jean Bullock recognizes her mother, Dorothy Gallmeister, at the far left, and others have identified Renee Speers standing at the far right. So far, no one has been able to identify the gentleman for us. If you think you know his identity, message us at the Du Quoin Call Facebook page or email us at editor@duquoin.com. Du Quoin Call file photo