Largely the brainchild of Bishop Leonidas Polk, who believed that it would be "an integral part of the institution",[1] the University Press of Sewanee was founded in 1880.
[2] According to a 1991 report made by the university's Print Services department, the earliest incarnation of the press was an unofficial and largely independent operation.
The press was officially incorporated on July 28, 1905, and soon after, capital stock worth $20,000 was raised to support the endeavor.
[3] The press published the "Sewanee Theological Library" textbook series, the Sewanee Review (issued quarterly), and the magazine Pathfinder (a monthly publication established by Glen Levin Swiggett that was devoted to art and literature).
[7] In 1985, the university decided to halt "print publications and complex jobs" via the press, and by 1991, the publishing authority of the university had been assigned to the director of Public Relations.