Encyclopedia Of Detroit
Scripps Booth, James
James Scripps Booth was a Detroit-area artist and automotive engineer. Born on May 31, 1888, in Detroit, Michigan, Booth was the eldest child of George Gough Booth, of the Booth publishing chain, and Ellen Scripps Booth, of the Scripps publishing empire. Booth grew up in a household that encouraged an awareness and appreciation of the arts, and he spent many hours sketching in and around his parents' home in Detroit, surrounded by an extensive art collection. He also encountered many distinguished artists, writers, and musicians. Booth received most of his education through private schools and left school before finishing tenth grade. He taught himself the basics of automobile mechanics by systematically dismantling and reassembling the family's car. While employed at the Detroit Evening News he developed his writing skills, broadened his automotive background, and refined his art techniques.
In 1910 at the age of 22, he married Jean Alice McLaughlin in Detroit. Following their marriage, Booth and his wife moved to Paris, where Booth studied art at the École des Beaux-Arts. They also spent some time living in Etaples, France, where Booth learned the fundamentals of working with pastels from Michigan-born artist Myron Barlow. In the decades following the couple’s return to the U.S., several of Booth’s works received critical acclaim at exhibitions at the Detroit Museum of Art and at other shows in both Michigan and California.
As Booth perfected his artistic talents, he also developed a keen interest in mechanical engineering and automotive design. Many of his early drawings consisted of new designs for automobiles. In 1913, Booth developed his first automobile prototype, the “Bi-Autogo,” a unique two-wheeled cyclecar. The Bi-Autogo utilized the first V-8 engine ever built in Detroit. Booth’s Scripps-Booth Cyclecar Company was defunct within a year but was responsible for memorable designs. In 1914, with the financial support of his uncle William Booth, publisher of The Detroit News, Booth began his second business venture, the Scripps-Booth Automobile Company. The company produced more traditional upscale automobiles and was much more successful than the cyclecar business. Booth resigned in 1913 and moved to Pasadena, California. The company was purchased by General Motors and continued to operate until 1922.
In the 1930's Booth moved his family back to Detroit from California, established an industrial design/art studio in Indian Village, and assumed responsibilities both as a trustee of the Brookside School and Cranbrook Foundation and as a director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art. During World War II, Booth published the General Handbook, Motor Mechanics Simplified: Understand Your Car, used by the American Red Cross in their automotive mechanics classes.
Following Booth’s death on September 13, 1954, a large collection of his automotive drawings, artwork, and several of his cars were donated to area institutions, including the Detroit Historical Museum.
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