Eugene C. Pulliam | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eugene Collins Pulliam (1889-05-03)May 3, 1889 Ulysses, Kansas, U.S. |
| Died | June 23, 1975(1975-06-23) (aged 86) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. |
| Resting place | Lebanon, Indiana, U.S. |
| Alma mater | DePauw University |
| Occupation(s) | Newspaper publisher, businessman |
| Board member of | DePauw University, Associated Press, New York Central Railroad |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3, includingEugene S. Pulliam |
| Relatives | Dan Quayle (grandson), Myrta Pulliam (granddaughter), Ben Quayle (great-grandson) |
Eugene Collins Pulliam (May 3, 1889 – June 23, 1975) was an American newspaper publisher and businessman who was the founder and president of Central Newspapers Inc., a mediaholding company. During his sixty-three years as a newspaper publisher, Pulliam acquired forty-six newspapers across the United States. Major holdings of Central Newspapers, which he founded in 1934, included theIndianapolis Star, theIndianapolis News, theArizona Republic, and thePhoenix Gazette, as well as newspapers in smaller cities inIndiana,Arizona, and other states. Pulliam's early career included work as a reporter for theKansas City Star and as editor and publisher of theAtchison (Kansas) Daily Champion. Prior to 1960 Pulliam also operated radio stations WAOV andWIRE in Indiana andKTAR in Arizona. TheKansas native, a graduate fromDePauw University in 1910, founded theDePauw Daily, an independent student newspaper, and in 1909 was one of ten DePauw students who cofoundedSigma Delta Chi, a journalismfraternity that was later renamed theSociety of Professional Journalists. In August 2000, theGannett Company acquired Central Newspapers for US$2.6 billion, with the Eugene C. Pulliam Trust as the principal beneficiary of the sale.
Well known as a political conservative, Pulliam was a delegate to theRepublican national convention in 1952 that named GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower as theRepublican Party's presidential nominee. Pulliam was also an outspoken advocate offreedom of the press. Pulliam wrote and published "Window on the Right," a syndicated domestic-affairs column during the 1960s; wroteThe Unchanging Responsibility of the American Newspaper in a Changing Society (1970);The People and the Press: Partners for Freedom (1965), coauthored with Frederic S. Marquardt; andSouth America, Land of the Future, Jewel of the Past (1951), coauthored with his wife,Nina Mason Pulliam. Pulliam was the father of newspaper publisherEugene Smith Pulliam; Martha Corinne (Pulliam) Quayle, the mother ofDan Quayle, the 44th Vice President of the United States; and Helen Suzanne (Pulliam) Murphy. He was a trustee of DePauw University, a three-term member theAssociated Press's board of directors, and a member ofNew York Central Railroad's board of directors, as well as a founder of thePhoenix Zoo.
Pulliam was born on May 3, 1889, in a soddugout house atUlysses inGrant County, Kansas, to Martha Ellen (Collins) and Reverend Irvin Brown Pulliam, who was aMethodistmissionary sent to establish church congregations in thefrontier towns of westernKansas. The Pulliam family moved frequently and Eugene grew up in a variety ofprairie towns. He got his first taste of the newspaper business as a six-year-old boy selling newspapers inChanute, Kansas.[1]
Pulliam enteredDePauw University inGreencastle, Indiana, in 1906. While a student at DePauw, Pulliam was a campus correspondent for theIndianapolis Star, a member of the Psi Phi chapter ofDelta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and founder of theDePauw Daily, an independent student newspaper. He was also a cofounder, in 1909, with nine other students at DePauw ofSigma Delta Chi, a journalism fraternity that was later renamed theSociety of Professional Journalists.[1][2] Pulliam graduated from DePauw in 1910.[3] Later in life he served for thirty-two years as a member of DePauw's board of trustees and also chaired a committee that had a monument erected outside of DePauw's East College to commemorate the founding of Sigma Delta Chi.[3]
Eugene C. Pulliam married Myrta Smith, a former college classmate, in 1912.[2][4] Their son,Eugene S. Pulliam, was born on September 7, 1914, and joined the family business in 1935 as director ofWIRE, an Indianapolis radio station his father owned at that time.[5] Myrta (Smith) Pulliam died in 1917.[1] Eugene Smith Pulliam died on January 20, 1999.[6]
Eugene C. Pulliam married Martha Ott (1891–1991) ofFranklin, Indiana, in 1919; they divorced in 1941. Eugene and Martha Pulliam were the parents of two daughters, Martha Corinne Pulliam, who later marriedJames Cline Quayle, and Helen Suzanne Pulliam, who later married William Murphy.[1] Martha (Ott) Pulliam, a graduate ofFranklin College, was publisher of theLebanon (Indiana)Reporter from the early 1940s to December 1990. She died in 1991. James and Martha C. (Pulliam) Quayle were the parents ofDan Quayle (Eugene C. Pulliam's grandson), who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993.[7][8]
Following his divorce from Martha (Ott) Pulliam in 1941 Eugene C. Pulliam marriedNina G. Mason (1906–1997). During their thirty-four-year marriage, which ended upon his death in 1975, Nina (Mason) Pulliam served as secretary-treasurer and a board member of Central Newspapers, Inc., theholding company that Eugene Pulliam founded in 1934.[4][9] Eugene and Nina Pulliam also traveled extensively, including a twenty-two-nation tour in 1947.[10] During their extended trips they filed reports of their experiences, which were published in the Pulliam newspapers.[11] They also coauthoredSouth America, Land of the Future, Jewel of the Past (1951).[12] Nina (Mason) Pulliam died on March 26, 1997.[13]
After graduating from DePauw University in 1910,[3] Pulliam moved toAtchison, Kansas, where he began working at theAtchison Daily Champion. A few months later, he received a job to become a reporter at theKansas City Star, at that time the largest newspaper in the lower Midwest, and moved toKansas City.[1] In 1912, at the age of twenty-three, Pulliam returned to Atchison to become the editor and publisher of theDaily Champion. He is believed to have been one of the youngest newspaper editors in the United States at that time.[3][2] With financial backing from his first wife's family, Pulliam purchased theDaily Champion, which was the first of forty-six newspapers he eventually owned.[2] In 1915, Pulliam sold theDaily Champion and bought theFranklin (Indiana)Star. In 1923, he sold theFranklin Star and purchased theLebanon (Indiana)Reporter.[1]
After moving toOklahoma in 1929, Pulliam bought six newspapers and established the Oklahoma Newspapers, Inc.[1] During theGreat Depression, Pulliam operated twenty-three newspapers and in 1930 became president of Vincennes Newspapers, the predecessor to Central Newspapers, Inc., aholding company he formed in 1934. During his sixty-three years as a newspaper publisher, Pulliam operated forty-six newspapers. He subsequently expanded his holdings through acquisitions of newspapers in the eastern United States (inMassachusetts,New Jersey, andPennsylvania), in the southeast (inNorth Carolina,Georgia, and Florida), and in theMidwest (inIndiana andKentucky). Central Newspapers holdings included newspaper outlets in several Indiana cities and inArizona.[1][11] As president of Central Newspapers, Inc., Pulliam's publishing holdings came to include theFranklin (Indiana)Evening Star; theLebanon Reporter; theIndianapolis Star, which he acquired in 1944; theMuncie Star; theArizona Republic and its one-time rival thePhoenix Gazette, both of which were purchased in 1946; theIndianapolis News, acquired in 1948; and theHuntington Herald-Press.[2][11]
Prior to 1960, Pulliam was head of radio stations WAOV andWIRE inIndiana[1] andKTAR inArizona. He also served three successive terms as a member of theAssociated Press’s board of directors, from 1961 to 1969,[4] as well as a vice president of the organization.[11] In addition, Pulliam was a major stockholder of theNew York Central Railroad, becoming a director of the railroad company in 1954.[11]
Pulliam was an active supporter of GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower's bid for U.S. president and served as a delegate to the1952 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, where General Eisenhower was named theRepublican Party's presidential nominee. However, Pulliam was less willing to endorseBarry Goldwater's candidacy against PresidentLyndon Johnson in the1964 presidential race. Well known as a political conservative, Pulliam also wrote and published a syndicateddomestic-affairs column called "Window on the Right" during the 1960s.[11] In addition, Pulliam was an outspoken advocate offreedom of the press.[2]
Pulliam died after suffering a heart attack at his retirement home inPhoenix, Arizona, on June 23, 1975, at the age of eighty-six.[11][3] His remains are interred at Oak Hill Cemetery inLebanon, Indiana.[1]
Over a career that spanned six decades, Pulliam either owned or operated forty-six newspapers in the United States.[11] At the time of his death, Pulliam was publisher of TheArizona Republic, thePhoenix Gazette, and owner of theIndianapolis Star, the Indianapolis News, theMuncie Star, the Muncie Press, and theVincennes Sun Commercial.[3]
Nina (Mason) Pulliam, his widow, became president of Central Newspapers, retaining the office until 1979. She also served from 1975 to 1978 as the publisher of theArizona Republic and thePhoenix Gazette. She stepped down as publisher of the two Arizona newspapers in 1978 and retired from Central Newspapers in 1979 at the age of seventy-three.[4][9] Eugene C. and Nina Mason Pulliam were also among the founders of thePhoenix Zoo.[14]
Pulliam's son, Eugene S. Pulliam, took over as publisher of theIndianapolis Star and theIndianapolis News, the Central Newspapers company's two major newspapers in Indianapolis. In 1975, theIndianapolis Star won aPulitzer Prize for its series on police corruption,[4] with Eugene C. Pulliam's granddaughter,Myrta Pulliam, as a contributor.[citation needed] In 1991 the Indianapolis Star won another Pulitzer Prize for its investigation of medical malpractice in Indiana.[4]
On August 1, 2000, theGannett acquired Central Newspapers, Inc., for $2.6 billion. The Eugene C. Pulliam Trust, which owned 78 percent of the company's stock, was the principal beneficiary of the transaction.[15] As a condition of his will, Pulliam had ordered that the trust could not sell the corporation unless it was "seriously threatened" by a "substantially complete loss" of value.[15] In a somewhat controversial move[clarification needed] the trustees interpreted this clause loosely and declared that the merger would be the only way to prevent the corporation from suffering a long-term loss of value.[citation needed]
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