Greenwood Publishing Group

History

1967–1999

The company was founded as Greenwood Press, Inc. (GPI) in 1967 by Harold Mason, a librarian and antiquarian bookseller, and Harold Schwartz, who had a background in trade publishing. Based in Greenwood, New York, the company initially focused on reprinting out-of-print works, particularly titles listed in the American Library Association's first edition of Books for College Libraries (1967), under the Greenwood Press imprint; and out-of-print periodicals, published with the series name "American Radical Periodicals" under the Greenwood Reprint imprint. In 1969, the company was sold to Williamhouse-Regency, a paper and stationery manufacturing company then on the American Stock Exchange, which led to further expanding its reprint activities as well as starting a microform publishing imprint, Greenwood Microforms.

By 1970, the company established a small scholarly monograph project. The same year, Robert Hagelstein, formerly with the Johnson Reprint Corporation division of Academic Press, was hired as vice-president. In 1973, Mason and Schwartz left the company, and Hagelstein was named president, a position he would hold until his retirement at the end of 1999. During those twenty-seven years, the press wound down its reprint activities, diverting its focus to new scholarly, reference, and professional books. This large-scale redirection of the company resulted in the publication of more than 10,000 titles during those years.

On August 25, 1976, the company was sold to the Congressional Information Service (CIS). In 1979, it became part of the Dutch publishing giant Elsevier following the latter's purchase of CIS. That same year, the Greenwood subsidiary initiated its Quorum Books imprint, which published professional titles in business and law.

On January 1, 1986, GPI expanded further when it purchased Praeger Publishers (founded in 1950 as Frederick A. Praeger, Inc.) from CBS, Inc.; and again in 1989 when it acquired Bergin & Garvey and Auburn House.

At the beginning of 1990, the company's name was changed from Greenwood Press, Inc., to Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG). When Elsevier merged with Reed International in 1993, GPG became part of Reed Elsevier, and by the mid-1990s the operational part of GPG joined with Heinemann USA, which had been part of Reed.

When Hagelstein retired at the end of 1999, Wayne Smith was named president. Under Smith, GPG made a number of additional acquisitions including the Ablex Publishing, Oryx Press, and Libraries Unlimited imprints, and expanded GPG's online and CD-ROM products under its Greenwood Electronic Media imprint.

2000–present

On July 12, 2001, Reed Elsevier completed its acquisition of Harcourt. Harcourt became a wholly owned subsidiary of Reed Elsevier and GPG became part of Harcourt Education.

On December 13, 2007, GPG became part of Houghton Mifflin Company as a result of Houghton's acquisition of Harcourt.

On October 1, 2008, ABC-Clio and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) announced an agreement granting ABC-Clio a perpetual license to use the imprints and publish the titles of Greenwood Publishing. (GPG), including Greenwood Publishing, Praeger Publishers (including Praeger Security International), and Libraries Unlimited. In addition, HMH would also transfer certain assets, including copyrights, contracts, and inventory, of Greenwood Publishing Group to ABC-Clio. This agreement became effective immediately. The 88 Post Road West office in Westport, Connecticut, was closed as a result; layoffs began in December 2008. The transfer of GPG to ABC-Clio occurred during 2009.

In December 2021, Bloomsbury Publishing bought ABC-Clio and with it Greenwood.

Subsidiaries

Imprints

• Greenwood Press (reference works)
  • Greenwood World Publishing
  • Greenwood Reprint
  • Greenwood Electronic Media
  • Greenwood Microforms

Former imprints

• Praeger Publishers (scholarly and general interest): Became subsidiary of ABC-Clio.
  • Praeger Security International (international security studies - founded by Heather Ruland Staines and Adam T. Heath): Became subsidiary of ABC-Clio.
• Libraries Unlimited (for libraries and teachers): Became subsidiary of ABC-Clio.
• Ablex Publishing
• Auburn House
• Bergin & Garvey
• Oryx Press
• Quorum Books

Former subsidiaries

• Heinemann USA

Selected publications

• The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Folklore
• The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy

References

References

1. "Useful information for ABC-CLIO authors".
2. "Company Overview of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc". [[Businessweek]].
3. "About us: Greenwood publishing company profile". Greenwood Publishing Group.
4. Smith, Richard Candida. (2017). "Improvised Continent: Pan-Americanism and Cultural Exchange". [[University of Pennsylvania Press]].
5. Richard D. Lyons. (June 5, 1994). "Frederick A. Praeger Dies at 78; Published Books on Communism". [[The New York Times]].
6. (December 18, 1985). "CBS Agrees to Sell Praeger Publishers Unit". [[The New York Times]].
7. (December 13, 2007). "Houghton Mifflin Company Completes Acquisition of Harcourt Education, Harcourt Trade and Greenwood-Heinemann Divisions from Reed Elsevier, Creating Preeminent K–12 Educational Publisher". [[Houghton Mifflin]].
8. (October 1, 2008). "Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Grants ABC-CLIO Perpetual License to Publish Greenwood Publishing Group Titles". RedOrbit.
9. (October 6, 2008). "ABC-CLIO Takes Over Greenwood". [[Publishers Weekly]].
10. "Westport's Greenwood Publishing to Close, 150 Jobs Cut". Westport Now.
11. "Greenwood-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | DA Creative Director".
12. (December 16, 2021). "Bloomsbury Buys ABC-CLIO for $22.9Million". Publishers Weekly.