A bomb and fire destroyed the Los Angeles Times building, killing 21 people and injuring many others. Times leaders immediately blamed organized labor, intensifying Los Angeles’ already bitter battles over unions and industrial power. The disaster became a defining backdrop for the newspaper’s politics in the early Chandler years.
After months of dispute about the cause of the 1910 blast, investigators arrested James McNamara and Ortie McManigal, followed soon by John McNamara. The arrests and later legal proceedings strengthened the view that the Times building had been intentionally bombed, not destroyed by accident. The episode deepened distrust between the city’s leading newspaper and organized labor.
Harrison Gray Otis, the powerful longtime leader associated with the Times’ anti-union stance, died in 1917. After his death, Otis’s son-in-law Harry Chandler took control as publisher, marking the start of direct Chandler-family leadership of the newspaper. This transition set the direction for the next several decades of ownership and influence.
In 1917, Harry Chandler formally succeeded Otis as publisher and expanded the newspaper’s business and civic reach. Under Chandler, the Times strengthened its role as a major regional paper and as a political voice in Southern California. The paper’s growth also tied it more closely to local power networks in business and government.
Norman Chandler joined the Los Angeles Times organization in 1922, working closely under his father Harry Chandler. His entry marked the beginning of a planned generational shift in leadership. Over time, Norman gained experience in management and operations that would shape the paper’s mid-century expansion.
In 1935, the Times moved into a new Art Deco headquarters at the corner of First and Spring streets. The building became a public symbol of the paper’s stability and ambition during the Great Depression. It also anchored what later grew into the larger Times Mirror Square complex.
Norman Chandler became president and general manager in 1941, taking on major responsibility for the paper’s day-to-day direction. This leadership role positioned him to succeed his father and guide the company through the wartime and postwar years. The change also reflected a shift toward more modern corporate management at the paper.
The Los Angeles Times won its first Pulitzer Prize in 1942 for public service tied to its role in a First Amendment case involving contempt-of-court punishments for press coverage. The award highlighted the paper’s growing national profile and its willingness to fight legal limits on reporting. It also signaled that the Times’ influence extended beyond Southern California politics.
Harry Chandler died in 1944, and leadership passed to his son Norman Chandler. The succession kept control within the Chandler family and set up a new phase focused on post–World War II growth. Under Norman, the company invested heavily in expansion and modernization.
As part of the Mirror launch, Times Mirror Square expanded with a major office-building project at Second and Spring. This construction reflected the company’s postwar confidence and the increasing scale of its operations. The growing complex also reinforced the Times’ visibility as a central downtown institution.
To compete more aggressively in the Los Angeles newspaper market, the Chandler-led company launched an afternoon tabloid called The Mirror. The new paper debuted in October 1948 and was supported by expanded facilities at Times Mirror Square. The launch showed the company’s strategy of using multiple publications to reach different audiences and advertisers.
In 1960, Norman Chandler stepped aside as publisher in favor of his son, Otis Chandler. The transition marked the end point of the 1917–1960 era of Chandler-family leadership covered here, and it set the stage for major changes in newsroom ambition and editorial approach in the 1960s. It also ensured that Chandler control continued into a new generation, but with different priorities.
Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family (1917-1960)