| Birth: | Feb. 10, 1868 | | Death: | Jan. 29, 1944 | 
Journalist, Author, Politician. White started his newspaper career in El Dorado, Kansas. He was later a reporter in Lawrence and in 1892 went to work for the Kansas City Star as an editorial writer. In 1895, he purchased the Emporia Gazette, where he remained for the remainder of his life. In 1923, he won a Pulitzer for his editorial writing and again in 1947 (posthumously) for his autobiography. He was merely a local figure around Emporia until 1896, when he wrote an editorial, "What's the Matter with Kansas" in which he strongly opposed the Populists' position. It made its way to Chicago and New York. "Boss" Mark Hanna, Republican national chairman, had it reproduced and sent throughout the country. Following President McKinley's election in 1896, White became a national player making contacts throughout the country and became a nationally known syndicated commentator for many years. He was a friend and political advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican party called on him to assist in drafting Republican national platforms. In 1936, he worked for the presidential nomination of Alf Landon. In 1924, he ran for governor of Kansas to oppose the two other candidates that the Ku Klux Klan had endorsed. In the race, he was called "un-American and cowardly" and finished third. White was honored by Kansas as being only one of four Kansans to have a statue in the rotunda of the state capitol. The other three are Dwight Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart, and Kansas' first native born governor, Arthur Capper. His eulogy of his daughter, Mary, writen in 1921, became widely read and inspired a made for TV movie over fifty years after the work was writen. The University of Kansas named their school of journalism after him and the William Allen White award is given annually to outstanding national children's books. His son, William Lindsay White followed his father as a writer. William Lindsay was a war correspondent in Europe, wrote best-selling books and Hollywood screenplays. He succeeded his father as the editor and publisher of the Emporia Gazette. (bio by: KJLII)
Family links:
Parents:
Allen White (1819 - 1882)
Mary A Hatten White (1830 - 1924)
Spouse:
Sallie Lindsay White (1869 - 1950)*
Children:
William Lindsay White (1900 - 1973)*
Mary White (1904 - 1921)*
*Calculated relationship
Search Amazon for William White | | | Burial:
Maplewood Memorial Lawn Cemetery
Emporia
Lyon County
Kansas, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: KJLII
Record added: Sep 10, 2006
Find A Grave Memorial# 15689910 |
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