Benjamin Franklin Robertson Jr. (June 22, 1903 – February 22, 1943) was an American writer, journalist and

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 ...

war correspondent. He is best known for his renowned Southern

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

''Red Hills and Cotton: An Upcountry Memory'', first published in 1942 and still in print. A native of

Clemson, South Carolina Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, '' the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-g ...

, a horticulture graduate of

Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For t ...

, class of 1923, and writer for ''The Tiger'', the college student newspaper. He was an honorary member of

Gamma Alpha Mu Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter re ...

local writers fraternity. He died in 1943 in a plane crash in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. The

SS Ben Robertson SS ''Ben Robertson'' was a Liberty ship, Maritime Commission hull number 2432, built during World War II and named for Clemson University alumnus (Class of 1923), journalist, and war correspondent Benjamin F. Robertson, who was killed in the cr ...

, launched in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

in 1944, was named for him.Ben Robertson Papers
Special Collections, Clemson University Libraries

Early life and education

Ben Robertson was born June 22, 1903 in Calhoun, which became

in 1943. He was the son of Mary (née Bowen) Robertson and Benjamin Franklin Robertson. His father was the South Carolina state

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

and had his offices in Calhoun at Clemson Agricultural College, now

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

. Ben attended Clemson where he wrote for the college newspaper, was a first lieutenant in the corps of cadets, editor-in-chief of the year book his senior year and graduated in 1923 with a degree in

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. He then went to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

where he received a degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

in 1926.

Career

His professional career in journalism began with a short stint at the

News and Courier ''The Post and Courier'' is the main daily newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the ''Charleston Courier'', founded in 1803, the ''Charleston Daily News'', founded 1865, and ''The Evening Post'', ...

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoun ...

. His first major job after graduating was at the

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honolu ...

. In 1927 he went to Australia to work for The News in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. From 1929 to 1934 he reported for the

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

, after which he went to work for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

in New York and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. In 1935 he went to the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

and also sent stories to the

Anderson Independent The ''Anderson Independent-Mail'', marketed as ''Independent Mail'' and sometimes referred to as ''Anderson Independent Mail'', is a newspaper for Anderson County in the state of South Carolina. It is owned by GANNETT SATELLITE INFORMATION NETWO ...

in South Carolina. In 1937 Ben Robertson returned to AP and also did disaster relief work for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desig ...

during the

Ohio River flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ($10.2 billion ...

. He even shipped out for a time on the

MS City of Rayville The SS ''City of Rayville'', also referred to as the MV and/or MS ''City of Rayville'' was a 5883-ton American steamship. She was built in 1920 by Oscar Daniels & Co. of Tampa, Florida. It was the first American vessel sunk by enemy action in Wor ...

. In 1938, Robertson served as a political columnist for the short-lived ''Clemson Commentator'', a semi-weekly that first published on June 6, and ceased printing on July 22, 1938. In 1938 pioneering

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...

John Lomax John Avery Lomax (September 23, 1867 – January 26, 1948) was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist, and a folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk music. He was the father of Alan Lomax, John Lomax Jr. and Bess Lo ...

visited Ben Robertson in South Carolina and Ben introduced him to the all-day ''singing festivals'' of the area which enabled Lomax to preserve the lyrics of many local

folksongs Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

. His work as a war correspondent began in 1940 covering

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

for the New York paper PM. He worked with

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe fo ...

covering

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

of London. While reporting the Blitz in London, Robertson also traveled to Northern Ireland and Dublin. <>In most of 1942 he roved for PM and the

Chicago Sun The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

. In January 1943, Robertson joined

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 Republican nominee for President. Willkie appealed to many convention delegates as the Republican ...

and

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

in a series of talks in three large Canadian cities, urging a campaign for Russian relief.

Books

In his short life, Ben Robertson published three books. The first was ''Traveler's Rest'', published in South Carolina in 1938, was an

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

based on his ancestors' experience in South Carolina. According to

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

, the book was not received well by his neighbors in Clemson. The second was ''I Saw England'', published in 1941 by

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, which told of his interaction with the British during wartime. The last was ''Red hills and Cotton: An Upcountry Memory'', his best-known book was published in 1942 by Alfred A. Knopf and republished in 1960 by the University of South Carolina Press. It has been in print ever since. Ben Robertson's papers are in the manuscript collection of Clemson University.

Death and after

Ben Robertson was one of 24 passengers killed on February 22, 1943 in the crash of the

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...

Yankee Clipper, NC18603, c/n 1990, (U.S. Navy BuNo ''48224'') into the

Tagus River The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections, to ...

Lisbon, Portugal Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. He was killed while en route from the United States to his new job, chief of the ''New York Herald-Tribune's'' London bureau. Caught in a storm, the flying boat was wrecked while attempting an emergency landing, having apparently hooked a wingtip on the water on a turn during approach; also killed is actress

Tamara Drasin Tamara Drasin (c. 1905 – 22 February 1943), often credited as simply Tamara, was a singer and actress who introduced the song " Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" in the 1933 Broadway musical '' Roberta''. Tamara Drasin is sometimes confused with t ...

. Fellow passenger

Jane Froman Ellen Jane Froman (November 10, 1907 – April 22, 1980) was an American actress and singer. During her thirty-year career, she performed on stage, radio and television despite chronic health problems due to injuries sustained in a 1943 plane cra ...

was one of 14 who survived; her story of survival was made into the 1952 film " With a Song in My Heart" starring

Susan Hayward Susan Hayward (born Edythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American film actress, best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories. After working as a fashion model for the Walter Thornton Model A ...

. Robertson's body was recovered and identified by a name bracelet he had on one wrist. After a funeral service in the Clemson College Chapel on April 18, 1943, he was buried in the Robertson family plot in West View Cemetery in

Liberty, South Carolina Liberty is a city in Pickens County, South Carolina, United States. It is part of the Greenville– Mauldin–Easley Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city was chartered on March 2, 1876. Toponymy How exactly Liberty got its name has be ...

. A

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a ship class, 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 constr ...

, the SS ''Ben Robertson'', named for him, was launched at Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation,

, on January 4, 1944. Mrs. Julian Longley, Robertson's sister, of

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the c ...

, was sponsor for the new ship, part of a nationwide maritime program of naming Liberty ships for war correspondents killed in action. ''The Tiger'', "''The Ben Robertson Is Launched at Savannah Shipyard January 7''" ic Thursday 20 January 1944, Volume XXXIX, Number 6, page 1.

References

External links