Ivy Ledbetter Lee
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Ivy Ledbetter Lee (July 16, 1877 – November 9, 1934) was an American publicity expert and a founder of modern
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
. Lee is best known for his public relations work with the
Rockefeller Family The Rockefeller family ( ) is an American Industrial sector, industrial, political, and List of banking families, banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the History of the petroleum industry in th ...
. His first major client was the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
, followed by numerous major railroads such as the New York Central, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Harriman lines such as the
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
. He established the Association of Railroad Executives, which included providing public relations services to the industry. Lee advised major industrial corporations, including steel, automobile, tobacco, meat packing and rubber, as well as public utilities, banks and foreign governments. Lee pioneered the use of internal magazines to maintain employee morale, as well as management newsletters, stockholder reports and news releases to the media. He did a great deal of pro bono work, which he knew was important to his own public image. During WWI, he became the publicity director for the American Red Cross.


Early life and career

Lee was born near Cedartown, Georgia, the son of Emma Eufaula (Ledbetter) and a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
minister, James Wideman Lee, author of several books and a contributor to John L. Brandt's ''Anglo-Saxon Supremacy, or, Race Contributions to Civilization'' (1915); who founded a prominent
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
family. Ivy Lee studied at Emory College and then graduated from Princeton. He worked as a newspaper reporter and stringer. He was a journalist at the ''
New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...
'', the ''New York Times'', and the ''
New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...
''. Lee got his first job in 1903 as a publicity manager for the Citizens Union. He authored the book ''The Best Administration New York City Ever Had'' (1903). He later took a job with the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
. Lee married Cornelia Bartlett Bigalow in 1901. They had three children: Alice Lee in 1902, James Wideman Lee II in 1906, and Ivy Lee, Jr. in 1909. Together with George Parker, he established the nation's third public relations firm, Parker and Lee, in 1905. The agency boasted of "Accuracy, Authenticity, and Interest." It made this partnership after working together in the Democratic Party headquarters, handling publicity for Judge Alton Parker's unsuccessful presidential race against
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
in 1904. The Parker and Lee firm lasted less than four years, but the junior partner, Lee, was to become one of the most influential pioneers in public relations. He evolved his philosophy in 1906 into the ''Declaration of Principles'', the first articulation of the concept that public relations practitioners have a public responsibility that extends beyond obligations to the client. In the same year, after the 1906 Atlantic City train wreck, Lee issued what is often considered to be the first
press release A press release (also known as a media release) is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing new information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public releas ...
, after persuading the company to disclose information to journalists before they could hear it elsewhere. When Lee was hired full-time by the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...
in 1912, he was considered to be the first public relations person placed in an executive-level position. In fact, his archives reveal that he drafted one of the first job descriptions of a VP-level corporate public relations position. In 1919, he founded a public relations counseling office, Ivy Lee & Associates. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Lee served as a publicity director, and later as Assistant to the Chairman of the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
. Through his sister Laura, Lee was an uncle to novelist William S. Burroughs. Ivy Lee died of a
brain tumor A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...
in New York City at age 57.


Effect on public relations

Many historians credit Lee with being the originator of modern crisis communications. His principal competitor in the new public relations industry was
Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( ; ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". While credited with advancing the profession ...
, and he has been credited with influencing Pendleton Dudley to enter the then-nascent field. In 1914, he was to enter public relations on a much larger scale when he was retained by John D. Rockefeller Jr to represent his family and
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
("to burnish the family image"), after their bloody repression of the coal mining strike in Colorado known as the " Ludlow Massacre." Lee warned that the Rockefellers were losing public support due to ordering the massacre of striking workers and their families (and the burning of their homes). He developed a strategy that Junior followed to repair it. It was necessary for Junior to overcome his shyness, go personally to Colorado to meet with the miners and their families, inspect the conditions of the homes and the factories, attend social events and listen to the grievances (all the while being photographed for press releases). This was novel advice which attracted widespread media attention, and opened the way to wallpaper over the conflict and present a more humanized version of the wealthy Rockefellers. Lee guided public relations of Rockefellers and their corporate interests, including a strong involvement in the construction of the Rockefeller Center, even after he moved on to establish his own consulting firm. He was the person who brought the original, unfunded plan for
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
's expansion to Junior's attention, and he convinced Junior to rename the center after the family against the latter's wishes. Lee became an inaugural member of the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
in the US when it was established in New York in 1921. In the early 1920s, he promoted friendly relations with Soviet Russia. In 1926, Lee wrote a famous letter to the president of the US Chamber of Commerce in which he presented a convincing argument for the need to normalize US-Soviet political and economic relations. His supposed instruction to the son of the Standard Oil fortune was to echo in public relations henceforth: "Tell the truth, because sooner or later the public will find out anyway. And if the public doesn't like what you are doing, change your policies and bring them into line with what people want." The context of the quote was said to be apocryphal, being spread by Lee as self-promotion, making it both famous and infamous. Lee is considered to be the father of the modern public relations campaign when, from 1913 to 1914, he successfully lobbied for a railroad rate increase from a reluctant federal government. Lee espoused a philosophy consistent with what has sometimes been called the "two-way street" approach to public relations, in which PR consists of helping clients listen as well as communicate messages to their publics. Lee advised foreign governments and provided public relations counsel to a German company during the early days of the Nazi government, work that put him in communication with the party leaders, possibly including Adolf Hitler. Shortly before his death in 1934, the
US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
had been investigating his work in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
on behalf of the company
IG Farben I. G. Farbenindustrie AG, commonly known as IG Farben, was a German Chemical industry, chemical and Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was formed on December 2, 1925 from a merger of six chemical co ...
. During his work with the dye trust, Lee protested the group's use of Nazi propaganda and fascist messages. But in doing so, he may have been unaware that his advice was being transmitted directly to the Nazi government and that the Dye Trust had quickly become nationalized under the regime. Lee also worked for the
Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...
Corporation, in which capacity he famously advised managers to list and number their top priorities every day, and work on tasks in the order of their importance until daily time allows, not proceeding until a task was completed. For this suggestion company head Charles M. Schwab later paid him $25,000 (the equivalent of $400,000 in 2016 dollars), saying it had been the most profitable advice he had received. Over his career he also was a public relations advisor to
George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was a prolific American inventor, engineer, and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for bei ...
,
Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...
, John W. Davis, Otto Kahn and
Walter Chrysler Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940) was an American industrial pioneer in the automotive industry, automotive industry executive, and the founder and namesake of American Chrysler, Chrysler Corporation. Childhood Chrysler ...
.


Effect on Productivity Studies

Productivity experts and platforms have cited the "Ivy Lee Method" for improving individuals' efficiency in managing tasks and getting things done. This was the method that Lee reportedly taught Charles M. Schwab and his employees at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. It works on the principle of listing six important tasks for each day – setting clear priorities the night before – and focusing on completing them the next day before adding more. By emphasizing focus and recognizing limits on a person's time and energy, the method runs counter to the idea of multitasking.


In popular culture

Ivy Lee is name checked by the British indie rock band Sea Power on their 2017 album Let the Dancers Inherit the Party with a song titled The Voice of Ivy Lee.


See also

* Spin


Bibliography

Written works by Ivy Ledbetter Lee: *
City for the people – The best administration New York ever had
'. "Campaign book." New York City: Committee on Press and Literature of the Citizens Union. 1903. * ''Information''. (Please help cite publisher), 1933 *
Present-day Russia
'. New York: Macmillan, 1928. * ''Public Relations''. (Please help cite publisher), 1925 * ''Notes and Clippings''. (Please help cite publisher), 1921. * "James Wideman Lee: biographical sketch." in, James W. Lee, ''The geography of genius.'' New York: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1920, pp. xi–xxiv. *

'. The crux of the railroad difficulty, 1916 * ''Declaration of Principles''. 1906 * Character of "J. Ward Moorehouse" in U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos is based on life of Ivy Lee.


References


Further reading

* Hiebert, Ray Eldon. ''Courtier to the crowd: the story of Ivy Lee and the development of public relations''. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1966. *


External links


Short Biography




{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ivy 1877 births 1934 deaths Rockefeller family Rockefeller Center History of Atlanta American public relations people People from Cedartown, Georgia Princeton University alumni Bethlehem Steel people The New York Times journalists New York World Public relations pioneers New York (state) Democrats