Edward John Noble (August 8, 1882 – December 28, 1958) was an American

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...

and

candy Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...

industrialist originally from Gouverneur,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He co-founded the Life Savers Corporation in 1913. He founded the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Calif ...

when he purchased the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Comp ...

in 1943 following the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

's (FCC) decree that

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

divest itself of one of its two radio networks.

Early life

He was born in

Gouverneur, New York Gouverneur (pronounced GUH-vuh-nor) is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,526. That down from 7,085 in 2010. The town is named after statesman and landowner Gouverneur Morri ...

. His parents, "Harvey (1847-1925) and Edna Wood Noble (1855-1932)." had three children. After being educated at local public schools, Noble attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

for one year; he then transferred to

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, "graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 1905."

Career

In 1912, chocolate manufacturer Clarence Crane of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

invented Life Savers as a "summer candy" that could withstand heat better than chocolate. Since the peppermints looked like miniature life preservers, he called them Life Savers. After registering the trademark, Noble bought the rights to the candy for $2,900. Instead of using cardboard rolls, which were not very successful, he created tin-foil wrappers to keep the mints fresh. Pep-O-Mint was the first Life Savers flavor. Noble was the first chairman of the

Civil Aeronautics Authority The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services including scheduled passenger airline serviceStringer, David H."Non-Skeds: T ...

. In June 1939, he was appointed the first

Under Secretary of Commerce A United States Under Secretary of Commerce is one of several positions in the United States Department of Commerce, serving under the United States Secretary of Commerce. History In June 1939, Edward J. Noble was appointed the first Under Secreta ...

by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a role created especially for him, serving until August 1940 (

Wayne Chatfield-Taylor Wayne Chatfield-Taylor (December 19, 1893 – November 22, 1967) was Under Secretary of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Early life Chatfield-Taylor was born in Chicago, Illinois on December ...

was appointed to replace him). Following the

's order that RCA divest itself of one of its two radio networks, he founded the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) when he purchased the Blue Network (formerly part of NBC) on October 12, 1943. He tried to build ABC into an innovative and competitive broadcaster, but was hampered by financial problems and the pressure of competing with long-established NBC and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. By 1951, he entered negotiations to merge the network with United Paramount Theaters, headed by

Leonard Goldenson Leonard H. Goldenson (December 7, 1905 – December 27, 1999) was the founder and president of the United States-based television network American Broadcasting Company (ABC), from 1953 to 1986. Goldenson, as CEO of United Paramount Theatres, ...

; Goldenson became chairman of the ABC network, while Noble sat on its board of directors for the rest of his life. Noble, 76, died at his home in Greenwich on December 28, 1958, after several months of illness.

Legacy

In 1943, Noble bought the

St. Catherines Island St. Catherines Island is a sea island on the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, 42 miles (80 km) south of Savannah in Liberty County. The island, located between St. Catherine's Sound and Sapelo Sound, is ten miles (16 km) long an ...

on the coast of Georgia; in 1968, ten years after his death, the island was transferred to the Edward J. Noble Foundation. The island is now owned by the St. Catherines Island Foundation, and the island's interior is operated for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes. The foundation aims to promote conservation of natural resources, the survival of endangered species, and the preservation of historic sites, and to expand human knowledge in the fields of

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, an ...

, natural history,

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...

, and other scientific and educational disciplines. Noble was part of the St. Lawrence Seaway Project and was appointed to the advisory board by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954. He owned

Boldt Castle Boldt Castle is a major landmark and tourist attraction in the Thousand Islands region of the U.S. state of New York. Open to guests seasonally between mid-May and mid-October, it is located on Heart Island in the Saint Lawrence River. Heart I ...

, the Thousand Island Club, and a summer residence on Wellesley Island. The ornamental street lights in the village park are all that remain of the gift of new street lights that were given to the village by Edward and his brother, Robert. The lights were in memory of their father. Three hospitals and a foundation are named after him. A building on the campus of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY is also named after him.

Personal

He married ''Barbara J. Day'' in 1937 at the Episcopal

Church of the Heavenly Rest The Church of the Heavenly Rest is an Episcopal church located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 90th Street, opposite Central Park and the Carnegie Mansion, on the Upper East Side of New York City. The church is noted for the architecture of i ...

References

External links

E.J. Noble Hospital in Gouverneur, NYEdward John Noble Foundation
company information from BusinessWeek {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Edward John 1882 births 1958 deaths American Broadcasting Company executives Presidents of the American Broadcasting Company American television executives American television company founders People from Gouverneur, New York Yale University alumni Syracuse University alumni United States Under Secretaries of Commerce