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Special section • Star Century: 100 years of The Indianapolis Star

George F. McCulloch

1903-04

•McCulloch began publication of The Indianapolis Star on June 6, 1903. To launch his paper, McCulloch paid a hot-air balloonist $650 to drop a half-million red cardboard stars on Indianapolis.

•After overseeing the newspaper's move to a four-story building on Monument Circle, the Muncie industrialist sold his interest in 1904.

•Under McCulloch, The Star grew to a circulation of 70,836 within six months of its debut.

John C. Shaffer

1904-05, 1911-43

•Daniel G. Reid bought The Star in 1904 and hired John Shaffer from the Chicago Post to serve as publisher.

•In 1905, Shaffer left and was replaced by Alexander McCormick.

•Shaffer re-emerged in 1908 when he bought The Star from Reid. After a lengthy court battle over the company's ownership, Shaffer began his tenure as editor and publisher in 1911.

•Shaffer was a friend of Presidents William H. Taft and Warren G. Harding but never accepted public office, boasting that he "never asked a favor of a politician and never would."

•Shaffer died in 1943.

Ben Lawrence

1943-44

•Lawrence succeeded Shaffer as publisher and held the post until 1944, when The Star was purchased by Eugene C. Pulliam.

•Lawrence, a former Portland Oregonian writer, was hired by Shaffer in 1904 and served as business manager and general manager of The Star.

•Lawrence was credited for establishing Associated Press operations in Indiana, later serving as AP's state president.

•He died in 1965.

Eugene C. Pulliam

1944-75 (See story)

•Eugene C. Pulliam purchased The Indianapolis Star from the Shaffer estate in 1944.

•Four years later, Pulliam purchased The Indianapolis News and served as publisher of both papers until his death in 1975.

•Pulliam eventually owned 51 newspapers, including the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette.

Eugene S. Pulliam

1975-99

•Eugene S. Pulliam succeeded his father and led The Star for almost 25 years.

•During his tenure, the newsrooms of The Star and The News merged in 1995.

•Under the younger Pulliam's direction, The Star won two Pulitzer Prizes.

Dale Duncan

1999-2000

•After serving as president and general manager of the Indianapolis newspapers, Duncan became publisher after Pulliam's death.

•He served in the post until the $2.6 billion purchase of the papers' parent, Central Newspapers, by media giant Gannett Co. in 2000.

•Duncan spent 21 years with Capital Cities/ABC, first as a reporter and later as publisher and group executive in the publishing division.

Barbara Henry

2000-present

•Barbara Henry, a Gannett veteran, was named publisher by the media company on Aug. 1, 2000.

•Henry is a former Pulliam Fellow who was working at the Statehouse bureau of The Indianapolis News in 1974, just as President Richard Nixon resigned. The intern interviewed then-Gov. Otis Bowen, launching her journalism career.

•Before returning to Indianapolis, Henry became publisher of The Des Moines (Iowa) Register, another Gannett newspaper.

•Henry was recently named manager of the year in the Gannett chain and is a two-time publisher of the year.