William Allen White (February 10, 1868 – January 29, 1944) was an American newspaper editor, politician, author, and leader of the Progressive movement. Between 1896 and his death, White became a spokesman for middle America. At a 1937 banquet held in his honor by the Kansas Editorial Association, he was called "the most loved and most distinguished member" of the Kansas press.

Early life

White was born in

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka and Wichita at the intersection of U.S. Route 50 with Interstates 33 ...

and moved to

El Dorado, Kansas El Dorado ( ) is city and county seat of Butler County, Kansas, United States. It is situated along the Walnut River in the central part of Butler County and located in south-central Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city ...

, with his parents, Allen and Mary Ann Hatten White, where he spent the majority of his childhood. He loved animals and reading books. He attended the College of Emporia and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

, and in 1889 started work at ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'' as an editorial writer.

''The Emporia Gazette''

In 1895, White bought the '' Emporia Gazette'' for $3,000 from William Yoast Morgan and became its editor.

What's the matter with Kansas? – 1896

White was a political

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

at this early stage of his career. In 1896 a White editorial titled " What's the Matter With Kansas?" attracted national attention with a scathing attack on

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

, the Democrats, and the Populists. White sharply ridiculed Populist leaders for letting Kansas slip into

economic stagnation Economic stagnation is a prolonged period of slow economic growth (traditionally measured in terms of the GDP growth), usually accompanied by high unemployment. Under some definitions, "slow" means significantly slower than potential growth as e ...

and not keeping up economically with neighboring states because their anti-business policies frightened away economic capital from the state. White wrote:

"There are two ideas of government," said our noble Bryan at Chicago. "There are those who believe that if you legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, this prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find its way up and through every class and rest upon them." That's the stuff! Give the prosperous man the dickens! Legislate the thriftless man into ease, whack the stuffing out of the creditors and tell the debtors who borrowed the money five years ago when money "per capita" was greater than it is now, that the contraction of currency gives him a right to repudiate.

The Republicans sent out hundreds of thousands of copies of the editorial in support of

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

during the intensely fought presidential election of 1896, providing White with national exposure.

With his warm sense of humor, articulate editorial pen, and uncommon sense approach to life, White soon became known throughout the country. His ''Gazette'' editorials were widely reprinted; he wrote stories on politics syndicated by the

George Matthew Adams Service George Matthew Adams (August 23, 1878 – October 29, 1962) was an American newspaper columnist and founder of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service, which syndicated comic strips and columns to newspapers for five decades. His own writings w ...

; and he published many books, including biographies of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

and

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...

. "What's the Matter With Kansas?" and "Mary White" (a tribute to his 16-year-old daughter on her death in 1921) were his best-known writings. Locally he was known as the greatest booster for Emporia. 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 Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

following objections to the way the state of Kansas handled the men who participated in the Great Railroad Strike of 1922.

Small-town ideals

In his novels and short stories, White developed his idea of the small town as a metaphor for understanding social change and for preaching the necessity of community. While he expressed his views in terms of the small town, he tailored his rhetoric to the needs and values of emerging urban America. The cynicism of the post-World War I world stilled his imaginary literature, but for the remainder of his life he continued to propagate his vision of small-town community. He opposed

chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many p ...

s and mail order firms as a threat to the business owner on Main Street. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

shook his faith in a cooperative, selfless, middle-class America. Like most old

Progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...

his attitude toward the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

was ambivalent: President Franklin D. Roosevelt cared for the country and was personally attractive, but White considered his solutions haphazard. White saw the country uniting behind old ideals by 1940, in the face of foreign threats.

Fighting corruption

White sought to encourage a viable moral order that would provide the nation with a sense of community. He recognized the powerful forces of corruption but called for slow, remedial change having its origin in the middle class. In his novel ''In the Heart of a Fool'' (1918), White fully developed the idea that reform remained the soundest ally of

property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically h ...

. He felt that the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

fostered political unity, and believed that a moral victory and an advance in civilization would be compensation for the devastation of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. White concluded that democracy in the New Era inevitably lacked direction, and the New Deal found him a baffled spectator. Nevertheless, he clung to his vision of a cooperative society until his death in 1944.

Politics

White became a leader of the Progressive movement in Kansas, forming the Kansas Republican League in 1912 to oppose

railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

. White helped

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

form the Progressive (Bull-Moose) Party in the 1912 presidential election in opposition to the conservative forces surrounding incumbent Republican president

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

. White was a reporter at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and a strong supporter of

's proposal for the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. The League went into operation but the U.S. never joined. During the 1920s, White was critical of both the isolationism and the conservatism of the Republican Party. According to Roger Bresnahan:

White's finest hour came in his vigorous assault, beginning with ''Gazette'' editorials in 1921, on the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...
– a crusade that led him to run for governor of Kansas in 1924 so that his anti-Klan message would reach a broader state and national audience. As expected, White did not win the election, but he was widely credited with deflating Klan intentions in Kansas.

In the 1928 presidential election, he condemned the Democratic nominee

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Ci ...

as the candidate of "the saloon,

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

, and

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

" for Smith's opposition to

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

. In the 1930s he was an early supporter of the Republican presidential nominees, Alf Landon of Kansas in 1936, and Wendell Willkie in 1940. However, White was on the liberal wing of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

and wrote many editorials praising the

of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Sponsoring painter John Steuart Curry

White was the leader in persuading Kansas newspaper editors and publishers to run a fund-raising campaign so as to invite Kansas's most famous artist, John Steuart Curry, to paint murals for Kansas. He got the support of Governor Walter Huxman and other politicians, and the result was the prestigious invitation to paint murals for the Kansas Capitol. The result was ''

Tragic Prelude ''Tragic Prelude'' is a mural painted by Kansan John Steuart Curry for the Kansas State Capitol building in Topeka, Kansas. It is located on the east side of the second floor rotunda. On the north wall it depicts abolitionist Kansan John Brown ...

''.

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 An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

before America's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1940 White was fundamental in the formation of the

Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (CDAAA) was an American mass movement, political action group formed in May 1940. Also known as the White Committee, its leader until January 1941 was William Allen White. Other important members ...

, sometimes known as the White Committee. He resigned on 3 Jan. 1941, writing to a newspaper columnist that "In our New York and Washington chapters we have a bunch of war mongers and under our organization we have no way to oust them and I just can't remain at the head of an organization that is being used by those chapter to ghost dance for war." 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 founding editor of the

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ...

along with longtime friend Dorothy Canfield.

Family

White married Sallie Lindsay in 1893. They had two children, William Lindsay, born in 1900, and Mary Katherine, born in 1904. Mary died in a 1921 horse-riding accident, prompting her father to publish a famous eulogy, "Mary White," on May 17, 1921. White visited six of the seven continents at least once in his long life. Due to his fame and success, he received 10 honorary degrees from universities, including one from Harvard. White taught his son William L. the importance of journalism, and after his death, William L. took charge of the ''Gazette'' and continued its local success; after he died, his wife Kathrine ran it. Their daughter Barbara and her husband, David Walker, took it over much as William had earlier, and today the paper remains family-run, currently headed by Willian Allen White's great-grandson, Christopher White Walker.

White and the Two Roosevelts

White developed a friendship with President

in the 1890s that lasted 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. White was to say later, "Roosevelt bit me and I went mad." Later, White supported much of the

, but voted against Franklin D. Roosevelt every time.

Famous visitors to Red Rocks (White family home in Emporia)

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' C ...

* Henry J. Allen * Frances Louise Tracy and Anne Morgan, who were, respectively, the wife and the daughter of

J.P. Morgan JP may refer to: Arts and media * ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell * ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine * ''Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper * Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band * ''Jurassic Par ...

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...

* Dorothy Canfield

Posthumous honors

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

'' described White: The city of Emporia raised $25,000 in war bonds during

and were granted naming rights for a B-29 bomber in early 1945. They unsurprisingly chose to name it after their most famous citizen, William Allen White. This bomber was sent with a crew of men to the island of Tinian in the South Pacific and was part of the same bomber squadron that the ''

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it ...

'' was in. During World War II, the ''William Allen White''

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

was launched from

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a city council.

on May 8, 1944. His autobiography, which was published posthumously in 1946 won the 1947

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

In 1948 a 3¢ stamp was issued in his honor by the U.S. Postal Service. The

Journalism School is named for him, as is the library building at

Emporia State University Emporia State University (Emporia State or ESU) is a public university in Emporia, Kansas, United States. Established in March 1863 as the Kansas State Normal School, Emporia State is the third-oldest public university in the state of Kansas. ...

. 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 Children's Book Award is a generic term that has been applied to: * Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Medal, annual "most distinguished American picture book for children" * Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award from the Vermont Department of Libr ...

. The town of Emporia honors him to this day with city limits signs on

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

US-50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlan ...

, and K-99 announcing "Home of William Allen White." White's image is used by the band

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (often abbreviated as TMBG) is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a duo, often accompanied by a dr ...

in stagecraft and music videos.

Quotations

From editorial "Mary White": From editorial "Student Riots", ''The Emporia Gazette'', April 8, 1932: From a 1933 editorial about the futility of war (referring to

): From an editorial published in February 1943, shortly after President Franklin D. Roosevelt returned from the Casablanca Conference with

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

: From a March 20, 1899 editorial, ''The Emporia Gazette'':

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

* ''Rhymes by Two Friends'', with

Albert Bigelow Paine Albert Bigelow Paine (July 10, 1861 – April 9, 1937) was an American author and biographer best known for his work with Mark Twain. Paine was a member of the Pulitzer Prize Committee and wrote in several genres, including fiction, humor, and v ...

(1893)

Biographies

* ''

, The Man, His Times, and His Tasks'' (1924) * ''

, The Man Who is President'' (1925) * ''Masks in a Pageant'' (1928); profiles presidents from McKinley to Wilson * ''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) * ''Forty Years on Main Street'' (1937) * ''The Changing West: An Economic Theory About Our Golden Age'' (1939)

Notes

External links

*

William Allen White

Profile from Kansas State Historical Society
* * *
William Allen White House

* ttp://tmbw.net/wiki/William_Allen_White This Might Be a Wiki: the tmbg knowledge base
William Allen White letters
at the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rel ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:White, William Allen 1868 births 1944 deaths People from Emporia, Kansas People from El Dorado, Kansas University of Kansas alumni Writers from Kansas American newspaper editors Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners Kansas Progressives (1912) The Kansas City Star people Kansas Republicans College of Emporia alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters