Amon G. Carter
Encyclopedia
Amon G. Carter, Sr. was the creator and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
, and a nationally known civic booster for Fort Worth, Texas
. A legacy in his will was used to create Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum
.
, where he supported himself with a variety of odd jobs. At those jobs, he learned salesmanship, and became a travelling salesman as a young man. Bowie Residents have recalled that he was one of the original "chicken & bread boys" which sold what they called chicken sandwiches to passengers at the rail station during the depression. The sandwiches it was thought were really made of rabbits that the boys had hunted. Today Bowie has the Chicken & Bread Festival each October in their honor.
The Star lost money, and was in danger of going bankrupt when Carter had an audacious idea: raise additional money and purchase his newspaper's main competition, the Fort Worth Telegram. In November 1908, the Star purchased the Telegram for $100,000, and the two newspapers combined on January 1, 1909 into the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
From 1923 until after World War II
, the Star-Telegram had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the South, serving not just Fort Worth but also West Texas
, New Mexico
, and western Oklahoma
. The newspaper created WBAP, the oldest radio station in Fort Worth, in 1922; and followed it with Texas' first television station, WBAP-TV, in 1948. This near-monopoly on news in such a large service area gave Carter, the Star-Telegram publisher and two-thirds owner, the money and power to become a major political force in both Fort Worth and Texas.
and the Saturday Evening Post ran profiles of Carter, and he counted Will Rogers
and Walter Winchell
among his friends. The well-publicized hospitality of his Shady Oak Farm near Lake Worth was open to any major celebrity or businessman passing through Fort Worth.
Carter used his national stage to drum up business and government spending for his home region. From the Texas state legislature, he got a four-year college (now Texas Tech University
) for Lubbock
, where he was first chairman of the Board of Directors. He persuaded Southern Air Transport (now American Airlines
) to move its headquarters from Dallas
to Fort Worth. Several oil companies moved or kept their headquarters in Fort Worth after personal interventions by Carter.
Carter's disdain for Dallas, Fort Worth's much larger and much richer neighbor, was legendary in Texas. One of the best-known stories about Carter is that he would take a sack lunch whenever he traveled to Dallas so he wouldn't have to spend any money there. Another took place at a ceremony at the county line between Tarrant and Dallas counties to officially bury the hatchet
on the rivalry between the two cities. Carter and other leaders from both Fort Worth and Dallas were each presented with hatchets and shovels to bury them with. As the ceremony was wrapping up, a young reporter mentioned to Carter that the handle of his hatchet was still sticking out of the ground, to which Carter replied that he was well aware and that he might need his hatchet later.
After World War II, age and weariness led Carter to stop his barnstorming on behalf of Fort Worth. In 1953, he suffered the first of several heart attacks; the final one, two years later, was fatal. He was buried in Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Fort Worth. His grave is still often visited.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
, and a nationally known civic booster for Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
. A legacy in his will was used to create Fort Worth's Amon Carter Museum
Amon Carter Museum
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art is located in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established by Amon G. Carter to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. Carter’s will provided a museum in Fort Worth devoted to American art.When the museum opened...
.
Biography
Carter was born in Crafton, Texas. After his mother died in 1892, he moved away from his remaining family, to Bowie, TexasBowie, Texas
Bowie is a city in Montague County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,219 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Bowie has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:...
, where he supported himself with a variety of odd jobs. At those jobs, he learned salesmanship, and became a travelling salesman as a young man. Bowie Residents have recalled that he was one of the original "chicken & bread boys" which sold what they called chicken sandwiches to passengers at the rail station during the depression. The sandwiches it was thought were really made of rabbits that the boys had hunted. Today Bowie has the Chicken & Bread Festival each October in their honor.
Publisher
In May 1905, Carter accepted a job as an advertising space salesman in Fort Worth. A few months later, he agreed to help finance and run a new newspaper in town. The Fort Worth Star printed its first newspaper on February 1, 1906, with Carter as the advertising manager.The Star lost money, and was in danger of going bankrupt when Carter had an audacious idea: raise additional money and purchase his newspaper's main competition, the Fort Worth Telegram. In November 1908, the Star purchased the Telegram for $100,000, and the two newspapers combined on January 1, 1909 into the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
From 1923 until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Star-Telegram had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the South, serving not just Fort Worth but also West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and western Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The newspaper created WBAP, the oldest radio station in Fort Worth, in 1922; and followed it with Texas' first television station, WBAP-TV, in 1948. This near-monopoly on news in such a large service area gave Carter, the Star-Telegram publisher and two-thirds owner, the money and power to become a major political force in both Fort Worth and Texas.
Civic booster
Carter parlayed this money and power into celebrity as a national spokesman for Fort Worth and West Texas (Carter popularized the description of Fort Worth as "Where the West Begins", a phrase which still appears daily on the Star-Telegram's front page). During the 1920s and 1930s, Carter personified the image of the Texas cowboy in the national mind: an uninhibited story-teller, gambler, and drinker, generous with his money and quick to draw his six-shooters. Major magazines such as TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and the Saturday Evening Post ran profiles of Carter, and he counted Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
and Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
among his friends. The well-publicized hospitality of his Shady Oak Farm near Lake Worth was open to any major celebrity or businessman passing through Fort Worth.
Carter used his national stage to drum up business and government spending for his home region. From the Texas state legislature, he got a four-year college (now Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
) for Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
, where he was first chairman of the Board of Directors. He persuaded Southern Air Transport (now American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
) to move its headquarters from Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
to Fort Worth. Several oil companies moved or kept their headquarters in Fort Worth after personal interventions by Carter.
Carter's disdain for Dallas, Fort Worth's much larger and much richer neighbor, was legendary in Texas. One of the best-known stories about Carter is that he would take a sack lunch whenever he traveled to Dallas so he wouldn't have to spend any money there. Another took place at a ceremony at the county line between Tarrant and Dallas counties to officially bury the hatchet
Bury the Hatchet
Bury the hatchet is an American English colloquialism meaning "to make peace." The phrase is an allusion to the figurative or literal practice of putting away the tomahawk at the cessation of hostilities among or by Native Americans in the Eastern United States, specifically concerning the...
on the rivalry between the two cities. Carter and other leaders from both Fort Worth and Dallas were each presented with hatchets and shovels to bury them with. As the ceremony was wrapping up, a young reporter mentioned to Carter that the handle of his hatchet was still sticking out of the ground, to which Carter replied that he was well aware and that he might need his hatchet later.
After World War II, age and weariness led Carter to stop his barnstorming on behalf of Fort Worth. In 1953, he suffered the first of several heart attacks; the final one, two years later, was fatal. He was buried in Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Fort Worth. His grave is still often visited.
Honors
- Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
in Fort Worth named its football stadium Amon G. Carter StadiumAmon G. Carter StadiumAmon G. Carter Stadium is an open-air football stadium on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the home stadium of the TCU Horned Frogs football team. It was named after Amon G...
to recognize Carter's contributions to the college.
- The main entrance of the Texas Tech UniversityTexas Tech UniversityTexas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
campus in Lubbock, TexasLubbock, TexasLubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
is named Amon G. Carter Plaza. The plaza includes a sculpture of the university's seal, set against a backdrop of a seven-jet fountain and an equestrian statue, entitled Riding Into the SunsetRiding Into the SunsetRiding Into the Sunset is a public sculpture by Electra Waggoner Biggs, depicting Will Rogers on his horse, Soapsuds, and is located on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Three additional castings were commissioned...
.
- Fort Worth's former commercial Airport (whose remains may be seen just north of 183 before you enter DFW airport and the current location of the American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesAmerican Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
corporate headquarters), bore his name as Amon G. Carter Airfield. The airport was later changed to Greater Southwest International AirportGreater Southwest International AirportGreater Southwest International Airport was the commercial airport serving Fort Worth, Texas from 1953 until 1972. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport opened in 1974 on property adjacent to the north side of the airport.-Early history:...
before operations moved to DFW in 1974 and demolition in 1979. The main runway was later repaved as Amon Carter Boulevard.
- Amon Carter Peak in Big Bend National ParkBig Bend National ParkBig Bend National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Texas. Big Bend has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, which includes more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56...
is named in honor of Carter's contributions to the establishment of the park.
- The main auditorium at Texas Wesleyan UniversityTexas Wesleyan UniversityTexas Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university founded by the United Methodist Church in 1890. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas, with branch campuses in Burleson and downtown Fort Worth.-History:Texas Wesleyan...
School of Law is named after Amon Carter. It was a gift of the Amon G. Carter Foundation.
- The Southern Air Transport terminal at Fort Worth Meacham International AirportFort Worth Meacham International AirportFort Worth Meacham International Airport is an airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The airport is located at the intersection of Interstate 820 and U.S. Business Highway 287 in northwest Fort Worth, near the downtown business district...
, now Atlantic Aviation, was dedicated to Amon Carter in 1933.
- The school board changes the name of the Riverside High School to Amon Carter Riverside High SchoolAmon Carter Riverside High SchoolAmon Carter Riverside High School is a grade 9-12 high school located in Fort Worth, Texas . It is home to over approximately 1,050 students. 50% of the student population is Hispanic, 30% is White, 10% is African American, and 10% is Asian....
in honor of the Fort Worth civic leader.
External links
- Carter, Amon G., Sr. in The Handbook of Texas Online.
- Flemmons, Jerry. Amon: The Texan Who Played Cowboy for America. Lubbock, TX : Texas Tech, 1998, ISBN 0896724069