Carl W. Ackerman

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Carl W. Ackerman
Born(1890-01-16)January 16, 1890
Richmond, Indiana, U.S.
DiedOctober 9, 1970(1970-10-09) (aged 80)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting placeHollywood Cemetery
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materEarlham College
OccupationJournalist
Known forPublic Ledger; School of Journalism at Columbia University
Spouse
Mabel VanderHoof
​
​
(m. 1914; died 1954)​
Children1

Carl William Ackerman (January 16, 1890 in

Bolshevik
tract.

In 1931, he was appointed as the director of the journalism department, succeeding John William Cunliffe, and became the first dean of the newly-established graduate School of Journalism program at Columbia University.[3] He was instrumental in developing the school through its first two decades, as he served in that position until 1954.

Career as a journalist

Ackerman graduated from

United Press. He first gained public attention with his book, Germany, The Next Republic? (1917), which discussed the possibility of a successful democracy in post-Kaiser Germany.[4] At the time, during World War I
, his position was considered quite radical.

Red "Bible," Public Ledger (Philadelphia) October 27, 1919, by Carl W. Ackerman

Ackerman became a journalist with the Philadelphia

anti-Semitic hoax that had been published in Europe and recounted a Jewish plan for world domination. By replacing all the references to Jews with references to Bolsheviks, he turned it into an anti-Bolshevik hoax.[5]

Marriage and family

Ackerman married Mabel VanderHoof in 1914. They had one son, Robert VanderHoof Ackerman, who was born in 1915 when Ackerman was living in Berlin as a correspondent for the United Press Associations during World War I.[6]

Academic career

In 1931 Ackerman was recruited to serve as the director and, later, as the first dean, of

Saint Louis and New York City. The philanthropist's money was also used to establish the Pulitzer Prize
awards in journalism, literature, drama and music.

Ackerman was a provocative figure; for instance, he accused the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt of fascism, and attempts to control journalism.[7] Known to be reclusive, he worked to establish the school as one of the foremost schools of journalism in the nation.

He served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as

Society for Science & the Public
, from 1936 to 1938.

In 1954, after the death of his wife, Ackerman notified the university of his intention to resign, and after Columbia had found a replacement, he did so. In his later years, he was known to visit the university only occasionally.

Death

Ackerman died on October 9, 1970, at his apartment in Manhattan. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.[8]

References

  1. ISBN 9780806350363. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  2. ISBN 9780313291333. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help
    )
  3. ^ "Columbia Journalism School | Columbia Journalism School".
  4. ^ Germany, The Next Republic? – via Project Gutenberg.
  5. ISBN 978-1317525875
    .
  6. ^ "Carl W. Ackerman Papers". infomotions.com. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  7. ^ "Carl W. Ackerman", Columbia Alumni Magazine, Spring 2005
  8. Newspapers.com.Open access icon

External links

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