Thomas M. Storke | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator fromCalifornia | |
| In office November 9, 1938 – January 3, 1939 | |
| Appointed by | Frank Merriam |
| Preceded by | William Gibbs McAdoo |
| Succeeded by | Sheridan Downey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas More Storke (1876-11-23)November 23, 1876 |
| Died | October 12, 1971(1971-10-12) (aged 94) Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Santa Barbara Cemetery,Montecito, California, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Charles A. Storke (father) Yda Hillis Addis (stepmother) |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Occupation |
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Thomas More Storke (November 23, 1876 – October 12, 1971) was an American journalist, politician, postmaster, and publisher. He won thePulitzer Prize in 1962.[1] Storke also served as an interimUnited States Senator, appointed to serve between the resignation ofWilliam Gibbs McAdoo in November 1938 and the January 1939 swearing-in ofSheridan Downey, who had been elected to succeed McAdoo.
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 politicianCharles A. Storke and Martha Storke. Through his mother he was descended from theOrtega 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 (equivalent to $80,000 in 2024) and bought theSanta Barbara Daily Independent, the least favored newspaper in town.[2] In 1909 he sold the outlet to get into the oil business and purchased theSanta Barbara Daily News in 1913. The spring prior, he was appointed as the Santa Barbara postmaster. Storke readopted theDaily Independent and combined that with theDaily News to birth theSanta Barbara Daily News & Independent. Years later, Storke boughtThe Morning Press, Santa Barbara's third paper. He later combined the two to createThe Santa Barbara News-Press. After 23 years, it was sold for nearly $10 million to the publisher ofThe Philadelphia Bulletin.[2]
ADemocrat in politics, Storke was appointed to theUnited States Senate byRepublicanCalifornia GovernorFrank F. Merriam on November 9, 1938, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation ofWilliam Gibbs McAdoo the day before. McAdoo had lost his bid for re-nomination, and he resigned his seat the day of the general election, won bySheridan Downey, 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 theSanta Barbara News with theMorning Press to create theSanta Barbara News-Press. He also founded AM radio stationKTMS. He was a member of the California Crime Commission from 1951–1952, and the Board of Regents of theUniversity of California from 1955 until 1960.
In 1958 Storke wroteCalifornia Editor, a lengthy memoir rich in local Santa Barbara history.
TheJohn Birch Society attacked the Eisenhower administration and U.S. Chief JusticeEarl Warren as being communists in 1961. Storke responded with a caustic series of editorials in theNews-Press which won him popular acclaim as well as a number of prizes. These included thePulitzer Prize in Journalism, for Editorial Writing in 1962, theElijah Parish Lovejoy Award, and an honoraryDoctor of Laws degree fromColby College.
Storke died of a stroke in 1971 at age 94, having had 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.[3]
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 isStorke Tower, a 190-foot structure in the center of theUCSB campus, being the tallest tower in the county as well as the only five-octave chromatic bell system.[3]
Beneath Storke Tower is the Storke Communication Plaza, which houses the offices of the campusDaily Nexus newspaper and the studios of community radio stationKCSB-FM.
| U.S. Senate | ||
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| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from California 1938–1939 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
