“The Washington Star” was a daily newspaper in Washington, D.C. for over one hundred years. Though it has had many owners, Joseph Borrows Tate founded the paper on December 16, 1852. After him, Texas surveyor William Douglas Wallach bought the paper in 1853 and used it to report on the American Civil War. A notable time for the paper came when cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman joined and created thousands of political cartoons. Most recognizable, he is credited with drawing a cartoon of President Theodore Roosevelt which spurred the creation of the teddy bear as we know it today.

It was on this day, August 7, 1981, that “The Washington Star” closed, ending 128 years of operation. The paper was overwhelmed with management issues, especially with editor-in-chief Murray Gart lacking the necessary experience to keep the paper afloat. In a last effort to keep a pronounced reader base, “The Washington Star” created localized special zonal news sections, but due to a lack of resources, the paper ended up recycling many of its regional stories into its local sections. After going bankrupt, “The Washington Post” purchased everything the “Star” owned.