Briton Hadden
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Briton Hadden (February 18, 1898 – February 27, 1929) was the co-founder of ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine with his
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
classmate
Henry Luce Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967) was an American magazine magnate who founded ''Time'', ''Life'', '' Fortune'', and ''Sports Illustrated'' magazines. He has been called "the most influential private citizen in the Amer ...
. He was ''Time''s first editor and the inventor of its revolutionary writing style, known as Timestyle. Though he died at 31, he was considered one of the most influential journalists of the twenties, a master innovator and stylist, and an iconic figure of the
Jazz Age The Jazz Age was a period from 1920 to the early 1930s in which jazz music and dance styles gained worldwide popularity. The Jazz Age's cultural repercussions were primarily felt in the United States, the birthplace of jazz. Originating in New O ...
.


Early life

Born in Brooklyn, Hadden got his start in
newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
writing at Brooklyn's Poly Prep Country Day School, where he wrote for the school magazine, the ''Poly Prep'', and distributed a hand-written, underground sheet to his classmates that was called ''The Daily Glonk''. Moving to the Hotchkiss School, he wrote for the ''Hotchkiss Record'', a weekly newspaper. After an intense competition, he was elected the chairman of the newspaper and Luce the assistant managing editor. Hadden then turned the ''Record'' from a weekly into a bi-weekly. At Yale, Hadden was elected to the staff of the ''
Yale Daily News The ''Yale Daily News'' is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut, since January 28, 1878. Description Financially and editorially independent of Yale University since its founding, th ...
'' and later served as the paper's chairman twice (1917-1918 and 1919–1920). Luce was the News' managing
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
the second time. While at Yale, he was a brother of
Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...
(Phi chapter) and a member of
Skull and Bones Skull and Bones (also known as The Order, Order 322 or The Brotherhood of Death) is an undergraduate senior Secret society#Colleges and universities, secret student society at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The oldest senior-class ...
. It was during a break from school, when Hadden and Luce traveled south to Camp Jackson, South Carolina, as ROTC officer candidates, that they began seriously discussing the idea of creating a magazine that would condense all the news of the week into a brief and easily readable "digest."


Career

After receiving his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
from
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 1920, Hadden wrote for the '' New York World'', where he was mentored by one of New York's most famous and accomplished newspaper editors, Herbert Bayard Swope. In late 1921, Hadden wrote to Luce, who had recently been let go by the '' Chicago Daily News'', and suggested that they both go to work for the '' Baltimore News''. In Baltimore, they spent their nights working on the idea of a
news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...
, which, at first, they planned to call ''Facts''.


Founding ''Time'' magazine

In 1923, Hadden and Luce co-founded ''Time'' magazine along with Robert Livingston Johnson and another Yale classmate. Hadden and Luce served alternating years as the company's president, but Hadden was the editor for four and a half of the magazine's first six years, and was considered the "presiding genius". Johnson served as the magazine's vice president and advertising director. In its earliest years the magazine was edited in an abandoned beer brewery, subsequently moving to Cleveland in 1925, and returning to New York in 1927. For the next year and several months, both ''Time'' and ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' were edited at 25 W. 45th Street in Manhattan. Thus two of the major magazine editors of the 1920s—Briton Hadden and Harold Ross—worked in the same building.


Illness and death

In December 1928, Hadden became ill. He died two months later, most likely of streptococcus viridans, which had entered his bloodstream, causing
sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...
and ultimately the failure of his heart. Before he died, Hadden signed a will, which left all of his stock in Time Inc. to his mother and forbade his family from selling those shares for 49 years. Within a year of Hadden's death, Luce formed a syndicate, which succeeded in gaining hold of Hadden's stock.


Legacy

Luce took Hadden's name off the masthead of ''Time'' within two weeks of his death. In the next 38 years, he delivered more than 300 speeches around the world, mentioning Hadden four times. Luce acquired control of Hadden's papers, and he kept them at Time Inc., where no one outside the company was allowed to view the papers as long as Luce lived. Throughout his life, Luce repeatedly claimed credit for Hadden's ideas in public speeches and in ''Time'' magazine. Luce presided over the growth of the ''Time''-''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' empire, and donated funds towards the construction of a building at 202 York Street in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
, that would eventually become the ''Yale Daily News new home. The office is today called the Briton Hadden Memorial Building.


References


External links


Time Magazine biography


{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadden, Briton 1898 births 1929 deaths American magazine founders American magazine publishers (people) Hotchkiss School alumni Yale University alumni Deaths from sepsis Time (magazine) people Poly Prep alumni Members of Skull and Bones