Joseph Judge (February 4, 1928—April 20, 1996) was a writer and editor for '' National Geographic'' magazine, retiring as Senior Associate Editor in 1990 after 25 years of service.

Early life

Judge was born in Washington, D.C. His parents were Joe Judge, the baseball player, and Alma Gauvreau Judge. He attended Gonzaga College High School and then

The Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U. ...

, graduating in 1950. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and subsequently worked for ''

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

'' magazine in New York. He married Phyllis Mitchell of Scituate, Massachusetts in 1956.

Government career

Judge returned to Washington to work as a special assistant at the

United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemplo ...

, working in the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.

''National Geographic'' career

As a writer for ''National Geographic'', Judge wrote articles on Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home);

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

; Washington, D.C.; Boston, Massachusetts;

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Australia and many other places. During his tenure as Senior Associate Editor (1985–1990), Judge was noted for taking on controversial topics, including disputes about the discovery of America and the discovery of the North Pole. Under his leadership, the magazine also made efforts to attract a younger and more urbanized audience. Judge was ousted from ''National Geographic'' in April 1990 (along with many other members of the editorial staff, including editor Wilbur E. Garrett) as

Gilbert M. Grosvenor Gilbert Melville Grosvenor (born May 5, 1931) is the former president and chairman of the National Geographic Society, who previously served as the editor of ''National Geographic'' magazine.Lanken, Dane. "The bee in Grosvenor's bonnet", ''Canadia ...

, grandson of one of the Society's founders, took personal charge of the magazine. In November 1986, after five years of research, Judge wrote and published ''Columbus's First Landfall in the New World'' which advocated Samana Cay in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

as the true location of Guanahani, the first island seen by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

on his first voyage to America. (This idea had first been proposed by Gustavus Fox in 1882). Prior to that time, official

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, ...

maps had shown San Salvador Island as the first landfall. While Judge's theory attracted some support, and drew attention to the many shortcomings of San Salvador, the issue remains unsettled. In 1983, CBS television had aired "The Race to the Pole," a docudrama about Dr. Frederick Cook and his alleged trip to the North Pole in 1908—a claim that was widely discredited at the time, but treated approvingly by CBS. Shortly afterward, the family of Robert E. Peary, Cook's rival, appealed to the National Geographic Society for help in restoring Peary's reputation. Significantly, the family offered to open Peary's personal papers, which contained many items unseen by historians, to help settle the issue. Judge hired noted polar explorer Wally Herbert to review the evidence. When Herbert's evaluation appeared—significantly placed in the Magazine's 100th anniversary issue of September 1988—he concluded that although Peary came close to the Pole, he did not actually reach it. Herbert's view is today shared by many polar historians. But the magazine quickly backtracked from Herbert's position, apparently under pressure. Within months, National Geographic Society had hired another group of experts, the Navigation Foundation under the leadership of

Adm. William Davies Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

, to make yet another review of the evidence. In January 1990, the magazine published Davies' findings, based on analysis of shadows seen on photographs taken by Peary in 1909. Davies' analysis vindicated Peary, and the official stamp of approval on the ''National Geographics reversal of position was given by no less than the Society's president

, in a signed letter appearing in the pages of the magazine. This incident could not have been beneficial for the editorial staff; Judge and a dozen other senior staffers were let go from ''National Geographic'' magazine on April 17, 1990 after what was officially described as several months of dispute over editorial content.

Other works and retirement

Following his retirement from ''National Geographic'', Judge was the author of ''Season of Fire: The Confederate Strike on Washington'' (Rockbridge, 1994), about the exploits of Gen. Jubal A. Early, who twice led his troops to the capital gates in 1864. He also authored a book of poetry about life in Alaska called ''Toughing it Out''. Judge remained interested in the Columbus landfall problem until the end of his life. His papers concerning this topic were donated to the Mariners' Museum in Virginia. His son, Mark Judge, also became a journalist, and wrote a book called '' God and Man at Georgetown Prep: How I Became a Catholic Despite 20 Years of Catholic Schooling'', describing how his father's Catholicism helped him regain his faith later in life. Another son, Joseph Mitchell Judge, is curator of the

Hampton Roads Naval Museum The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It celebrates the long history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is co-located with Nauticus in dow ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Judge, Joseph American magazine writers American magazine editors 1929 births 1996 deaths Military personnel from Washington, D.C. Writers from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Gonzaga College High School alumni Catholic University of America alumni American male non-fiction writers