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The Antioch Company was founded in 1926 by Ernest Morgan and
Walter Kahoe, students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Ernest and
Walter worked at the campus print shop as part of a work/study program offered
by the college.
Distressed by the volume of paper cut-offs generated by the
printing process, the two students decided to find ways to turn waste into an
opportunity. Scrounging printing supplies and using the shop's press after
hours, they printed a trial press run of decorative bookplates.
With permission from the college, the students named their
venture The Antioch Bookplate Company. Eventually, Kahoe sold his interest to
Morgan for the sum of two hundred dollars. Morgan continued his education
during daylight hours and printed bookplates and bookmarks by night.
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As Morgan neared the end of his academic education, an attractive employment
opportunity with McGraw-Hill presented itself. He had to decide between a
promising future with an established publishing firm or continuing the struggle
to make his own business grow.
After much thought, he chose to risk following his own course because his
dreams included much more than simply earning a living. His goal was to create
a "community of work," based on the Quaker values with which he was raised.
These values included honesty, mutual respect, tolerance, recognition of the
dignity of people and their ideas, and corporate and individual responsibility.
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Far ahead of his time, Ernest looked upon the workplace as a community of
equals, sharing in the process of meaningful work and its rewards. As early as
1929, profit-sharing was practiced at The Antioch Bookplate Company. When the
company incorporated after World War II, employees were allowed to nominate two
of their own board members, a practice that continues to this day.
The company grew. Its business and people prospered. Antioch's products
included bookplates, bookmarks, calendars and commercial printing. Sales
reached $350,000 annually in 1968, when Lee Morgan, Ernest's youngest son,
joined the company as treasurer, eventually becoming president and C.E.O.
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