 |
History |
|
Purpose / Values | |
Corporate Organization | |
News | |
Contact Us | |
Job Opportunities |
| Our Story |  |
|
| Timeline | ||
History
Our Story
Our company’s history dates back to the first half of the 19th century.
There are indications that the company was publishing religious pamphlets
as far back as 1840 but the company finally settled in the mid-1850s as
the Southwestern Publishing House under the leadership of Rev. James
Robinson Graves. Initially the company sold its products through the
mail but after the Civil War, Rev. Graves developed a new sales concept
by engaging young Southern men to sell the products door-to-door.
As the years passed and the business grew, another significant change in the business was adapted by two brothers, J.D. Henderson and W.E. Henderson. They founded the concept of each salesman receiving a commission based on individual sales and eliminated the division of profits by crews. J.B. Henderson, W.E. Henderson, Dortch Oldham, Fred Landers and Rich Penuel developed skills through their involvement in the Southwestern program that allowed them to keep the company afloat during the Depression, World War II and many years to follow.
After being sold to Times-Mirror in 1969, Spencer Hays led the company through many more good years. In the early 1970s Southwestern started a fund-raising subsidiary which became a separate company in 1975, now known as Great American Opportunities, Inc. In 1982, executives from Southwestern and Great American organized a buy-out of Southwestern from Times-Mirror, and once again the Company was owned by the people who managed and built it.
Today, four companies (and several divisions) comprise Southwestern/Great American, Inc. More than 300 of the Company’s 600-plus full-time employees and associates got their start selling books in the Southwestern Program.
As the years passed and the business grew, another significant change in the business was adapted by two brothers, J.D. Henderson and W.E. Henderson. They founded the concept of each salesman receiving a commission based on individual sales and eliminated the division of profits by crews. J.B. Henderson, W.E. Henderson, Dortch Oldham, Fred Landers and Rich Penuel developed skills through their involvement in the Southwestern program that allowed them to keep the company afloat during the Depression, World War II and many years to follow.
After being sold to Times-Mirror in 1969, Spencer Hays led the company through many more good years. In the early 1970s Southwestern started a fund-raising subsidiary which became a separate company in 1975, now known as Great American Opportunities, Inc. In 1982, executives from Southwestern and Great American organized a buy-out of Southwestern from Times-Mirror, and once again the Company was owned by the people who managed and built it.
Today, four companies (and several divisions) comprise Southwestern/Great American, Inc. More than 300 of the Company’s 600-plus full-time employees and associates got their start selling books in the Southwestern Program.
| Year | Company/division established | |
|---|---|---|
| 1855 | The Southwestern Publishing House | |
| 1862 | The Southwestern Company | |
| 1975 | Great American Opportunities, Inc. | |
| 1978 | Favorite Recipes Press (FRP) | |
| 1978 | Southwestern Professional Services/Business Resources (SBR) | |
| 1984 | Heritage House, Inc. | |
| 1989 | Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America | |
| 1989 | Great American Video | |
| 1994 | Southwestern UK Ltd | |
| 1999 | Southwestern Legacy Financial Services | |
| 2001 | SBR Consulting | |
| 2002 | Tasty Selections Partnership | |
| 2003 | Nordis | |
| 2003 | Unfair Advantage Partnership | |
| 2004 | Wildtree Herbs Partnership |
Pictured above is a group of Southwestern salesmen in the late 1800’s. These young men traveled across the southern states to sell Bibles door-to-door.