Article September 25, 1920 Issue

In spite of unsuccessful attempts in Boston, New York,...

—James Melvin Lee

History of American Journalism

In spite of unsuccessful attempts in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, et cetera, to establish daily religious newspapers, Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, made up her mind that she would start a daily paper modeled along lines which had been suggesting themselves to her for a long time in connection with her work. ... She resolved that her newspaper, instead of being a mirror for reflecting destructive agencies, should be a journal to record achievements in every useful field of human endeavor. She accordingly started The Christian Science Monitor, in Boston, November 25, 1908. From the start the paper was more international in scope than most rivals in the secular field. Special attention was paid to commercial conditions in foreign lands in general, and in South America in particular. Art and education were given prominent positions in the paper; its religious propaganda was limited to daily article on one of the back pages. From the first issue the paper was successful, due largely to the wonderful cooperation of the church of which Mrs. Eddy was the visible head. It is but justice to the Monitor to say that no paper has a higher standard of ethics. Its circulation has not been confined by any means to members of the Christian Science church.

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