Arthur Brisbane
Arthur Brisbane | |
---|---|
Born | December 12, 1864 Buffalo, New York, U.S. |
Died | December 25, 1936 New York City, U.S. | (aged 72)
Resting place | Batavia Cemetery |
Occupation | Newspaper editor |
Spouse | Phoebe Cary |
Children | 6 |
Parent | Albert Brisbane |
Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best known American newspaper editors of the 20th century as well as a real estate investor.
Biography
Brisbane was born in Buffalo, New York, to Albert Brisbane (1809-1890), an American utopian socialist who is remembered as the chief popularizer of the theories of Charles Fourier in the United States. Albert was the author of several books, including Social Destiny of Man (1840), as well as the Fourierist periodical The Phalanx. He also founded the Fourierist Society in New York in 1839 and backed several other phalanx communes in the 1840s and 1850s.
Arthur was educated in the United States and Europe.
Career
In 1882, he began work as a newspaper reporter and editor in
In 1897, he accepted the editorship of the
Hearst biographer W. A. Swanberg described Brisbane as "a one-time socialist who had drifted pleasantly into the profit system... in some respects a vest-pocket Hearst -- a personal enigma, a workhorse, a madman for circulation, a liberal who had grown conservative, an investor."[1]
While an employee of Hearst—at one point boasting of making $260,000 in a year
Brisbane was accused of engaging in yellow journalism having published an editorial that called for the assassination of President McKinley. Although the article was pulled by Hearst after the first edition, many still blamed Hearst's journalists for provoking Leon Czolgosz to commit the fatal act.[7]
In 1918, he became editor of the
A 1926 Time magazine cover story described his influence like this:
The New York American, the Chicago Herald-Examiner, the San Francisco Examiner and many another newspaper owned by Publisher Hearst, to say nothing of some 200 non-Hearst dailies and 800 country weeklies which buy syndicated Brisbane, all publish what Mr. Brisbane has said. His column is headed, with simple finality, "Today," a column that vies with the weather and market reports for the size of its audience, probably beating both. It is said to be read by a third of the total U. S. population. Obviously this is an exaggeration, but half that many would be some 20 million readers, "Today" and every day.[8]
Several volumes of Brisbane's editorials were published, including "The Book of Today," "The Book of Today and the Future Day," and "The Brisbane advertising philosophy." At the time of his death, he was considered the "virtual executive director" of the Hearst news and media empire.
From 1924 until 1935, artist
Real estate
With Hearst, he formed Hearst-Brisbane Properties, investing heavily in New York real estate and developing projects such as the
Brisbane eventually began to explore the history of his property at Allaire and became aware in the 1920s of its great historic significance. His Allaire property was formerly James P. Allaire's "Howell Iron Works Company," a thriving iron-making industrial village of the early 19th century. As early as 1925, Brisbane sought to preserve this property, with its vast natural resources and 19th century era village buildings. Although not completed before his death, it was left to his wife, Phoebe Cary Brisbane and her immediate family to fulfill Arthur Brisbane's wishes of donating nearly 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) to the State of New Jersey by 1944, including James P. Allaire's 19th century industrial village. The deed of gift contained stipulations that it was to be used for historic and forest reservation purposes, and for nothing else. Moreover, the Brisbane family home served as the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center until its recent closure in 2005.
The original Brisbane gift of land, 1,200 acres (4.9 km2), forms the heart of Allaire State Park. Its historic village is dedicated to portraying the life and times of James P. Allaire's "Howell Iron Works Company" largely through the non-profit educational organization, Allaire Village Inc. Efforts were pushed forward at the Historic Village at Allaire in 2006 by Allaire historian Hance M. Sitkus to better interpret Brisbane's career, family, and generosity, focusing on Brisbane as an often-overlooked humanitarian and philanthropist.
Personal life
Brisbane was married to Phoebe Cary (1890–1967), the eldest daughter of polo-player Seward Cary and the former Emily Lisle Scatcherd. Phoebe's paternal great-grandfather, New York State Senator Trumbull Cary, was married to Brisbane's aunt, Margaret Elinor Brisbane.[12] Together, they were the parents of six children:
- Sarah Brisbane McCrary Mellen (1913–1977)
- Seward Brisbane (1914–1989)
- Hugo Brisbane (1917–1933)
- Emily Brisbane (1918–1959)
- Alice Brisbane Chandor Tooker (1922–1983), married Lt. Elbert Haring Chandor in 1944[13]
- Elinor Brisbane Kelley Philbin (1924–2009)
He died in Manhattan on Christmas Day, December 25, 1936 and was buried in the Batavia Cemetery at Batavia, New York.[14]
His grandson, Arthur S. Brisbane, was appointed Public Editor of The New York Times in June 2010.[15]
Impact
At his death, Hearst said, "I know that Arthur Brisbane was the greatest journalist of his day," and Damon Runyon said "Journalism has lost its all-time No. 1 genius."[16]
Selected published works
- Editorials from the Hearst Newspapers (1906)
- William Randolph Hearst (1906)
- Mary Baker G. Eddy (1908) [Reprinted with extended introduction: What Mrs. Eddy Said To Arthur Brisbane (1930)]
- Today and the future day (an analysis of two new books) with other articles (1925)
See also
- List of people on the cover of Time magazine (1920s) – 16 Aug. 1926
- "A Wine of Wizardry" – Poem by George Sterling which Brisbane made controversial.
References
- ^ W. A. Swanberg (1961). Citizen Hearst. New York: Galahad Books. pp. 390–391.
- ^ W. A. Swanberg (1961). Citizen Hearst. New York: Galahad Books. p. 427.
- ^ "Chicago Tribune - Historical Newspapers". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
- ^ Editor and Publisher. ASM Communications. 1920-01-01.
- ^ Editor & Publisher. ASM Communications. 1919-01-01.
- ^ Marketing Communications. 1921-01-01.
- ^ Nasaw 2000, pp. 156–158
- ^ Time cover story of Aug. 16, 1926
- ^ Back to Nature, the New Daily Feature for Newspapers that was Created on Popular Demand by Mel Cummin, Copyright, 1937, by Mel Cummin (a self-published prospectus for newspaper staffs), p.26
- ^ Back to Nature, the New Daily Feature for Newspapers that was Created on Popular Demand by Mel Cummin, Copyright, 1937, by Mel Cummin (a self-published prospectus for newspaper staffs), p.5
- ^ Kurshan, Virginia (October 29, 2002). "Ritz Tower" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
- ^ "ARTHUR BRISBANE WEDS MISS CARY; Editor Married to the Maid of Honor of a Ceremony He Attended on July 1". The New York Times. July 31, 1912. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
- ^ "Milestones, Apr. 24, 1944". Time. April 24, 1944. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ "The Batavian". Archived from the original on 2021-04-20. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
- ^ "Times Chooses a Public Editor, Giving Him a 3-Year Term." The New York Times June 22, 2010 p. B6.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the originalon February 9, 2008. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
Sources
- Nasaw, David (2000). The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst. Boston: ISBN 0-395-82759-0.
External links
- Brisbane Family Papers at Syracuse University Special Collections Research Center
- Works by Arthur Brisbane at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Arthur Brisbane at Internet Archive
- Works by Arthur Brisbane at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Death of Brisbane, Time, Jan. 04, 1937