Curtis Daniel MacDougall (1903 - 1985) was an American

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, teacher and writer.

Background

Curtis Daniel MacDougall was born on February 11, 1903, in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the southern end of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Fond du Lac met ...

. He obtained a BA in English from Ripon College in 1923 and a Master's degree in journalism from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1926). In 1933, he received his PhD in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Career

MacDougall joined the Northwestern faculty in 1935.

Journalist

MacDougall worked for the '' St. Louis Star-Times'' and

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 ...

. He also edited the ''Evanston Daily News'' and the '' Chicago Sun''. In 1936, MacDougall published an editorial that criticized the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. He published a reply from FBI director

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

. The FBI proceeded to surveil MacDougal for 35 years.

Writer

From 1939 to 1942, MacDougall worked for the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...

and edited writers included

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; June 10, 1915April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only write ...

and

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for ''The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral histor ...

Professor

In 1942, MacDougall began teaching at Northwestern University for thirty years through 1971. His works appear below.

Politician

In 1944, MacDougall ran for the Illinois 10th District in the US Congress, was arrested for illegally distributing political literature, and lost the election. In 1948, he ran for US Senate (presumably on the ticket of the Progressive Party, given his 1965 history of the Wallace campaign, ''Gideon's Army''), and lost. In 1970, he ran in the 13th District primary for US Congress on the Democratic ticket and lost.

Personal life and death

MacDougal married Genevieve; they had five children, of whom three survived him. Students of

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

at Northwestern University called him "Doctor Mac." MacDougal was working on the ninth edition of ''Interpreting Reporting'' when he died. Curtis Daniel MacDougall died age 82 on November 10, 1985, following surgery.

Honors, awards

* 1965: Honorary Litt.D. from Columbia College

Legacy

The Newberry independent research library in Chicago houses the Curtis MacDougall Papers.

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University (EIU) is a public university in Charleston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradual ...

offers a Curtis D. MacDougall Scholarship.

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The university enrolls arou ...

offers a "Curtis D. MacDougall Tuition Scholarship."

Works

MacDougall was the author of the influential book ''Interpretative Reporting'' (1938), which has been widely cited. William David Sloan has commented that "his many books, articles, and speeches helped set the tone and added to the debate surrounding journalism education for a half century." He authored two skeptical works ''Hoaxes'' (1958) and ''Superstition and the Press'' (1983), the latter which his family considered his chief work. His book on

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

es has been described as a classic on the subject. MacDougall defined a hoax as "a deliberately concocted untruth made to masquerade as truth." ;Books The Library of Congress catalog contains the following: * ''College course in reporting for beginners'' (1932) * ''Teachers' manual of exercises, suggestions and bibliographical notations to be used in connection with Interpretative reporting'' (1938) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1968) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1972) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1977) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1982) ** ''Interpretative reporting'' (1987) * ''Hoaxes'' (1940) ** ''Hoaxes'' (1958) * ''Newsroom problems and policies'' (1941) ** ''Newsroom problems and policies'' (1963) * ''Covering the courts'' (1946) * ''Understanding public opinion'' (1952) ** ''Understanding public opinion'' (1966) * ''Greater dead than alive'' (1963) * ''Press and its problems'' (1964) *''Gideon's Army'' (3 volumes) (1965) * ''Principles of editorial writing'' (1973) * ''Superstition and the press'' (1983) ;Books edited * ''Reporters report reporters'' (1968) ;Articles, Pamphlets, Speeches, Letters * "Newspaper Hoaxes," ''Times-Index'' (1935) * Letter to W.E.B. DuBois (28 September 1948) * "Schools of Journalism Are Being Ruined" (1972)

References

External links

Biography, Northwestern University library
Curtis MacDougall Papers
a
the Newberry Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacDougall, Curtis D. 1903 births 1985 deaths American male journalists American skeptics Journalists from Wisconsin 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American journalists