Milton Lehman (1917–1966) was an American freelance journalist and book author, best known for his 1963 biography of rocket scientist

Robert Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully lau ...

Background

Milton Lehman was born in 1917 in Pittsburgh. He attended the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

as an undergraduate and completed a master's in journalism at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

Lehman served as a "special assistant" to

Francis Keppel Francis Keppel (April 16, 1916 – February 19, 1990) was an American educator. As U.S. Commissioner of Education (1962–1965) he was instrumental in developing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and in overseeing enforcement of ...

, former

United States Commissioner of Education The Commissioner of Education was the title given to the head of the federal Office of Education, which was historically a unit within and originally assigned to the Department of the Interior in the United States. The position was created on March ...

. In the early 1940s, he served as a "special assistant" to the late

Eric Johnston Eric Allen Johnston (December 21, 1896 – August 22, 1963) was a business owner, president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, a Republican Party activist, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and a U.S. governm ...

when he was president of the

Motion Picture Association of America The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the Major film studios, five major film studios of the Cinema of the United States, United States, the Major film studios#Mini-majors, mini-major Amazon MGM Stud ...

. During World War II, Lehman served as an Army combat correspondent for the Mediterranean edition of '' Stars and Stripes'' newspaper. In 1948, Lehman co-wrote a three-part article for the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' with Stephen J. Spingarn about Spingarn's time in the war as a colonel in the 5th Army

Counter Intelligence Corps The Counter Intelligence Corps (Army CIC) was a World War II and early Cold War intelligence agency within the United States Army consisting of highly trained special agents. Its role was taken over by the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps in 1961 and ...

(1943–1945). In 1963, Lehman published the first biography of rocket scientist Robert Goddard, for which aviator Charles A. Lindbergh wrote a preface. When he died, Lehman was serving as a writer and editor for the

United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Im ...

Personal life and death

Lehman married Mildred Kharfen, a fellow journalist; they had three children. Milton Lehman died age 48 on October 13, 1966, of a heart attack at his home in

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, and is part of the Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fourth ...

; he was buried in Pittsburgh.

Works

Lehman wrote some 250 articles, contributed to national magazines including the ''Saturday Evening Post'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

'', '' Look'', and ''New York Times''. Books: * ''This High Man: The Life of Robert H. Goddard'' (1963) * Republished as ''Robert H. Goddard: Pioneer of Space Research'' (1963) Articles: * "Smallpox, the Killer That Stalks New York," ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' (1948) * "The White House Shudders," ''Collier's Weekly'' (November 13, 1948) * "How We Caught Spies in World War II" (three parts), ''Saturday Evening Post'' (November 27, December 4, December 12, 1948)

Legacy

Milton's papers concerning Robert Goddard reside in the archives of

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

in Worcester, Massachusetts.

References

External links

Clark University - Milton Lehman Papers

Encyclopedia Britannica - Milton Lehman
1966 deaths 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 1917 births {{US-journalist-1910s-stub