Thomas More Storke (November 23, 1876 – October 12, 1971) was an American journalist, politician, postmaster, and publisher. He won the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1962. Storke also served as an interim

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

, appointed to serve between the resignation of

William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "J ...

in November 1938 and the January 1939 swearing-in of

Sheridan Downey Sheridan Downey (March 11, 1884 – October 25, 1961) was an American lawyer and a Democratic politician from Wyoming and California. In 1934, he ran for lieutenant governor of California as Upton Sinclair's running mate in the " End Poverty ...

, who had been elected to succeed McAdoo.

Early life and journalism career

Born in Santa Barbara, Storke was an only child who grew up bilingual in Spanish and English and was born to eminent local citizen and politician Charles A. Storke and Martha Storke. Through his mother he was descended from the Ortega and Olivera families. As a child he attended public schools and moved on to Stanford University one year early with a degree in economics. Storke graduated in 1898 at age 22. In 1900, Storke borrowed $2,000 () and bought the ''Santa Barbara Daily Independent'', the least favored newspaper in town. In 1909 he sold the outlet to get into the oil business and purchased the ''Santa Barbara Daily News'' in 1913. The spring prior, he was appointed as the Santa Barbara postmaster. Storke readopted the ''Daily Independent'' and combined that with the ''Daily News'' to birth the ''Santa Barbara Daily News & Independent''. Years later, Storke bought ''The Morning Press'', Santa Barbara's third paper. He later combined the two to create '' The Santa Barbara News-Press''. After 23 years, it was sold for nearly $10 million to the publisher of ''The Philadelphia Bulletin''.

Later life and political career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

in politics, Storke was appointed to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

by Republican

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...

Frank F. Merriam on November 9, 1938, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

the day before. McAdoo had lost his bid for re-nomination, and he resigned his seat the day of the general election, won by

, who had beaten McAdoo in the primary. Storke had not been a candidate for the seat, and served until the beginning of Downey's term on January 3, 1939. Storke flew to Washington and was sworn in by Edwin H. Halsey, the Secretary of the Senate. However, Congress was not in session during the time he was in office, so Storke never authored any legislation or cast a Senate vote. He returned home and resumed working in the media, merging his newspaper the ''Santa Barbara News'' with the ''Morning Press'' to create the ''

Santa Barbara News-Press The ''Santa Barbara News-Press'' was a broadsheet newspaper based in Santa Barbara, California. It was founded in 1868 as the ''Post'' and merged with the rival ''News'' to form the ''News-Press'' in 1932. On July 21, 2023, it filed for bankrupt ...

''. He also founded AM radio station

KTMS KTMS (990 AM, "Fox Sports 990/97.9") is a commercial radio station in Santa Barbara, California. It is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and airs a sports radio format. The studios are on East Cota Street in Santa Barbara. By day, KTMS is power ...

. He was a member of the California Crime Commission from 1951–1952, and the Board of Regents of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

from 1955 until 1960. In 1958 Storke wrote ''California Editor'', a lengthy memoir rich in local Santa Barbara history. The

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and ...

attacked the Eisenhower administration and U.S. Chief Justice

Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of California from 1943 to 1953 and as the 14th Chief Justice of the United States from 1953 to 1969. The Warren Court presid ...

as being communists in 1961. Storke responded with a caustic series of editorials in the ''News-Press'' which won him popular acclaim as well as a number of prizes. These included the

in Journalism, for Editorial Writing in 1962, the

Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian minister (Christianity), minister, journalist, Editing, newspaper editor, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. After his ...

Award, and an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

. Storke died of a stroke in 1971 at age 94, having had 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Contributions

Storke used his political clout to help obtain the present UCSB campus, over 900 coastal acres (3.6 km²) and a former military installation, from the US Government under the college land grant program. Part of Storke's lasting legacy is Storke Tower, a 190-foot structure in the center of the

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...

campus, being the tallest tower in the county as well as the only five-octave chromatic bell system. Beneath Storke Tower is the Storke Communication Plaza, which houses the offices of the campus ''

Daily Nexus The ''Daily Nexus'' is a campus newspaper at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). ''Daily Nexus'' lineage can be traced to the Santa Barbara State College student newspaper, ''The Eagle'', of the 1930s. After the college becam ...

'' newspaper and the studios of community radio station

KCSB-FM KCSB-FM (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station located on the UC Santa Barbara campus. KCSB is designed to be educational for both programmers and listeners. UCSB students and other programmers are provided an opportunity to ...

Notes

References

* Baker, Gayle. ''Santa Barbara''. Harbor Town Histories, Santa Barbara. 2003. * Tompkins, Walker A. ''Santa Barbara History Makers''. McNally & Loftin, Santa Barbara. 1983. * Storke, Thomas M. ''California Editor''. Westernlore, Los Angeles. 1958.

External links

Guide to the Thomas More Storke Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...