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PIA Celebrates 125 Years

The Printing Industries of America association will be celebrating its 125th year in operation this year. A new logo and webpage highlighting its rich history kicks off the celebration.

“It’s important to look at our history to not only see what we’ve accomplished, but to learn from our past,” Michael Makin, CEO of Printing Industries of America, said, “This association has grown and evolved over the years to nurture printers as they’ve embraced change in the industry, and we’re excited to look back and explore our rich history. There’s certainly a lot of information to glean from the past 125 years.”

Representatives from local printing organizations gathered in Chicago in 1887 to discuss two important issue at the time, excessive competition and a response to the international typographers union to institute a nine-hour work day.

According to the PIA, 68 delegates attended representing 18 Master Printers’ Associations and four individual printing firms from 22 cities. Initially known as the United Typothetae of America, it had no permanent headquarters during its first 15 years. The first permanent headquarters office was established in New York City in 1902. In 1908 the office was moved to Philadelphia, and in 1912, it was moved to Chicago where it remained until it was moved to Washington, D.C. in 1929.

In 1999, it combined forces with the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (itself founded in 1924) and since 2003 has been headquartered in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.