KENDALL/HUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY

KENDALL/HUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY. In 1944 William C. BROWN guaranteed his new publishing company had sales by purchasing the rights to twenty-six book titles from the Swift Company of St. Louis, Missouri. (1) Between 1944 and 1947, the WILLIAM C. BROWN PUBLISHERS grew its list of titles to more than 100. (2)

In 1949 the Manufacturing Division was established. At that time the company was one of a few publishers who owned and operated all facets of textbook publication from the original concept and submission of the manuscript through the shipment of bound books packaged and available for sale.

By 1961 the WILLIAM C. BROWN COMPANY had grown to include not only guaranteed local titles (non-traditional) but also speculative college textbook publishing (traditional). Offices headed by associate editors were established nationwide. The associate editors were responsible for representing both facets of publishing for William C. Brown Companies (guaranteed and speculative). The associate editors would sell the speculative titles and at the same time try to obtain manuscripts for publication. When editors were selling the speculative titles, they would use the name "W.C. Brown & Company, Publishers," the name chosen for the traditional publishing division. When the editors signed authors to guaranteed publishing agreements for local usage, they used the name "William C. Brown Book Company."

As the two divisions grew, the similarity of names generated confusion in the marketplace. To eliminate the confusion, the William C. Brown Book Company was renamed Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. The name was chosen in keeping with the common practice of using a family name in college publishing. Kendall was a Brown family name. Eventually, W.C. Brown and Kendall/Hunt each retained their own field force of associate editors, allowing the editors to focus on their specific publishing philosophy whether it was guaranteed or speculative. In 1992, WCB Communications, Inc. as W.C. Brown & Company, Publishers had come to be known, was sold to the Times-Mirror Corporation.

Beginning in 1994, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company became a stand-alone company and the only part of the original William C. Brown Publishing Company to remain under the ownership of the Brown family. With more than 6,000 titles in print, the company served both the higher education and PreK-12 markets and offered traditional and non-traditional publishing in both markets.

The corporate headquarters in 1992 were located at the WESTMARK CORPORATE CENTER, with Higher Education Acquisitions Editors and PreK-12 Sales Representatives located throughout the United States and Canada, with a new, state-of-the-art Distribution Center.

The 1972 through 1992 Dubuque City Directory listed 2460 Kerper Blvd.

In May, 1992 the corporate headquarters address was 4050 Westmark Drive.

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Source:

1. Peterson, Walter F. A History of the Wm C. Brown Companies, Dubuque: William C. Brown Communications, Inc. p. 8

2. Ibid., p. 18