Everything about William Allen White totally explained
William Allen White (
February 10,
1868 –
January 31,
1944) was a renowned
American newspaper editor, politician, and author. Between
World War I and
World War II White became the iconic
middle American spokesman for thousands throughout the United States.
Life
Born in
Emporia,
Kansas, White moved to
El Dorado with his parents, Allen and Mary Ann Hatten White, where he spent the majority of his childhood. He attended the
College of Emporia and
University of Kansas and in 1892 started work at
The Kansas City Star as an editorial writer.
Emporia Gazette
White purchased his hometown newspaper, the
Emporia Gazette for $3,000 in 1895. The paper is still run by the descendents of White.
Progressive politics
White developed a friendship with President
Theodore Roosevelt in the 1890s until Roosevelt's death in 1919. Roosevelt spent several nights at White's
Wight and Wight-designed home, Red Rocks, during trips across the
United States. The house is now a museum and is on the
National Register of Historic Places. White was to say later, "Roosevelt bit me and I went mad." The two would be instrumental in forming the
Progressive (Bull-Moose) Party in 1912 in opposition to the forces surrounding incumbent Republican president
William Howard Taft. Later, White opposed
Franklin D. Roosevelt in each of his four elections as president.
Personal life
White married Sallie Lindsay in 1893. They had two children,
William Lindsay, born in 1900, and a daughter Mary, born in 1904. Mary died in a 1921 horse-riding accident, leading White to write a famous eulogy "Mary White" on
August 17,
1921.
Sage of Emporia
The last quarter century of White's life was spent as an unofficial national spokesman for
middle America. This led President Franklin Roosevelt to ask White to help generate public support for the
Allies before America's entrance into
World War II. White was fundamental in the formation of the
Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, sometimes known as the White Committee. White spent much of his last three years involved with this committee.
Sometimes referred to as the Sage of Emporia, he continued to write editorials for the
Gazette until his death in 1944. He was also a reviewer for the
Book of the Month Club.
Success
He won a
1923 Pulitzer Prize for his editorial "To an Anxious Friend", published
July 27,
1922, after being arrested in a dispute over free speech following objections to the new Kansas Industrial Court law pushed by rival publisher and then Governor
Henry Justin Allen.
Objecting to the rise of the
Ku Klux Klan in the state, he made an unsuccessful run for
Kansas Governor in 1924. White was an early supporter of the
Progressive Party led by
Robert M. La Follette, Sr.
After death
His autobiography, which was published posthumously, won a
1947 Pulitzer Prize.
Life described him:
» He is the small-town boy who made good at home. To the small-town man who envies the glamour of the city, he's living assurance that small-town life may be preferable. To the city man who looks back with nostalgia on a small-town youth, he's a living symbol of small-town simplicity and kindliness and common sense.
The
University of Kansas Journalism School is named for him. There are also two awards the William Allen White Foundation has created: The William Allen White Award for outstanding Journalistic merit and The Children's Book Award.
Rock group's use of White's image
Starting in the 1980s, alternative rock group
They Might Be Giants used large cardboard cutouts of White's face during many concerts, as well as in the video for "Don't Let's Start". His image also appears on the
compact disc (CD) single, several other videos, and is used at live performances.
Quotations
From editorial
Mary White:
From an editorial published in February 1943, shortly after President Franklin D. Roosevelt returned from the
Casablanca Conference with
Winston Churchill:
Published works
White had 22 works published throughout his life. Many of these works were collections of short stories, magazine articles, or speeches he gave throughout his long career.
Poetry
Biographies
Woodrow Wilson, The Man, His Times, and His Tasks (1924)
Calvin Coolidge, The Man Who is President (1925)
Masks in a Pagaent (1928)
A Puritan in Babylon: The Story of Calvin Coolidge (1938)
The Autobiography of William Allen White (1946)
Fiction
The Real Issue: A Book of Kansas Stories (1896)
The Court of Boyville (1899)
Stratagems and Spoils: Stories of Love and Politics (1901)
In Our Town (1906)
A Certain Rich Man (1909)
God's Puppets (1916)
The Martial Adventures of Henry & Me (1918)
In the Heart of a Fool (1918)
Political and social commentary
The Old Order Changeth: A View of American Democracy (1910)
Politics: The Citizen's Business (1924)
Some Cycles of Cathay (1925)
Boys-Then and Now (1926)
What It's All About: Being A Reporter's Story of the Early Campaign of 1936 (1936)
The Changing West: An Economic Theory About Our Golden Age (1939)Further Information
Get more info on 'William Allen White'.
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