The Journal of Combinatorial Theory was conceived and created during the middle 1960s, a singular time in the history of mathematics and science publishing in the United States. Not only was there little tradition of specialty journals in the sciences, but the majority of serious scientific journals were published by societies or university presses, not by commercial publishers. On the other hand, European publishing houses had been producing such journals for a century or more. And the growth of scientific research level publishing in America, beginning in the late 1930s and early 1940s, was largely in the hands of the immigrant descendants of this old tradition.
Academic Press, whose owners had their roots in Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, Leipzig, had embarked on a program of mathematics journals in a variety of fields that eventually included algebra, differential equations, functional analysis, number theory, systems theory, economic theory, and others. As the acquisitions editor responsible for this program, I was very much attuned to advice about developing fields and discussed many possibilities with every advisor, formal or informal, who was willing to share his or her visions for the future. As everyone who knew Gian-Carlo Rota can imagine, I found in him a rich source of ideas and direction in how to pursue them.
I do not know what discussions or negotiations might have gone on with various members of the combinatorics community prior to my meeting Rota. It is probable that quite a number of ideas were being explored among different groups. The background from my point of view was clear