Western Military Academy
Encyclopedia
Western Military Academy was a private military preparatory school located in Alton,Il. Founded in 1879, Western Military Academy closed in 1971. The campus is located in the National Register of Historic Places District (ID.78001167). The school motto was "Mens Sana in Corpore Sano" ("A sound mind in a sound body").
graduate, opened a boarding school for boys in what was then Upper Alton, IL.
Wyman had previously been an esteemed educator in the St. Louis public schools. Upper Alton's Wyman Institute was Edward Wyman's final contribution to the field of education. A school circular stated that Wyman believed the west needed a "boarding school for the proper education of young men." In 1887 Wyman hired Albert M. Jackson to be a member of the staff. Jackson was an 1884 Princeton
graduate and had just completed two years of teaching Mathematics and Latin at Blair Academy
in New Jersey. Upon Wyman's death in 1888, ownership of the school passed to Col. Willis Brown and Albert M. Jackson was made the Principal. It was during this time that the school changed its name to Western Military Academy and introduced military training. After eight years at the helm Col. Brown chose to retire. In 1896 Albert M. Jackson and the academy's financial officer, George D. Eaton purchased Western Military Academy. The Jackson family would retain ownership of the school until it closed it's doors in 1971.
, a 1918 graduate, went on to become the Chairman of the Board for Columbia Broadcasting System. Paley would recall his time at Western Military Academy as a "turning point of my life."
The onset of the Great Depression had a profound effect on the enrollment of Western. The 1930s found the academy at half capacity on a regular basis. The school was able to maintain quality programs as a list of its graduates will attest. Among those graduating from the academy during the 1930s were some of World War II's most decorated pilots. Edward O'Hare
, a 1932 WMA alumni was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in naval air combat before dying in action in 1943. O'Hare International Airport
in Chicago, Il is named in his honor. One year after O'Hare graduated Paul Tibbets
became a 1933 alumni of Western. He was selected to lead what many believe was the most important mission in the history of military aviation. On August 6, 1945 he piloted his plane, the Enola Gay
, to drop the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima
, Japan. The end of the 1930s and the concern over the war in Europe would change Western Military Academy's enrollment concerns.
records, as highlighted in "History of Western Military Academy, Alton, Il 1879–1971" by Robert Scott,shows that of the 402 WMA graduates after 1909, 295 or 73% served in the military during the conflict. Four graduates died in the service and others were listed as "wounded" or "lightly gassed."
World War II records show that over 1,000 alumni served. That is an especially notable number for a school that had, at the time, only 2,000 graduates. Over forty were killed in action. Brig. General A.Owen Seaman, WMA 1897, was a member of the earliest known class to serve in World War II. A partial list of the decorations awarded to WMA graduates in the Second World War include, 1 Medal of Honor,4 Distinguished Service Crosses,2 Navy Crosses, 4 Legion of Merit medals, 23 Silver Stars and 15 Distinguished Flying Crosses. The school's records on the service of her graduates in the Korean and Vietnam Wars are incomplete. The stone front gate on the Western campus is named the Memorial Gate. It honors those alumni who died in the service of their country.
. Several members of that department would have a record of distinguished service in the World War II
, Korea and Vietnam. Academically Western boasted a staff with graduates from the most exclusive colleges and universities. Colonel R.L.Jackson, like his father, was a Princeton
graduate and had continued his education at Harvard. The 1940 school annual, The Recall, listed instructors who had attended Harvard, Colgate
, Yale
, Dartmouth, Northwestern
University, University of Grenoble
-France, Columbia University
, Washington University and Albion College
Conservatory. During the forty year span from 1940 to the beginning of 1970 Western's enrollment remained in the 300 to 325 range. The academic and military areas of cadet life were supplemented by extensive extra-curricular opportunities.
The prestige of the Academy helped attract several notable guests to be part of this program. National Baseball Hall of Fame baseball players Rogers Hornsby
, Hank Greenberg
and Dizzy Dean
talked baseball with the students. Boxer Jack Dempsey
gave a speech to the Corps. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey
and crooner Frank Sinatra
performed at Western as did comic Joe E. Brown. Amelia Earhart
and Medal of Honor
recipient General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
were among the other guests who spoke at WMA. Several Western Alumni would also return to the campus and share their experiences with the cadets.
on campus in the early 1900s. Other sports offered at times during the schools existence included interscholastic bowling, fencing and an equestrian team.
In the 1930s a WMA catalog labeled football "The King of Sports" at the academy. The school fielded four different teams offering boys of all sizes the chance to play. For most of the school's history well over half the Corps played on a football team. The St. Louis Globe Democrat reported that in 1895 WMA played Smith Academy in the 1st high school football game ever played in the St. Louis. In 1904 Western began a football competition with Alton High School. The annual Thanksgiving Day game, pitting the cadets against the public school team became "the biggest event on the Alton sports calendar" according to the Alton Evening Telegraph. Thousands would set aside their Thanksgiving afternoon to attend the game. The rivalry was discontinued in 1952.
was a major factor in Western's declining enrollment. In 1967–68 the school was at full student enrollment of 325 cadets. The final 1971 yearbook showed a cadet corps numbering just 154. In June of that year Western Military Academy held its 92nd and final commencement ceremony.
Early years
In 1879, Edward Wyman, an 1835 Amherst CollegeAmherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
graduate, opened a boarding school for boys in what was then Upper Alton, IL.
Wyman had previously been an esteemed educator in the St. Louis public schools. Upper Alton's Wyman Institute was Edward Wyman's final contribution to the field of education. A school circular stated that Wyman believed the west needed a "boarding school for the proper education of young men." In 1887 Wyman hired Albert M. Jackson to be a member of the staff. Jackson was an 1884 Princeton
Princeton
-Princeton, New Jersey:*Borough of Princeton, New Jersey*Princeton Township, New Jersey*Princeton, New Jersey -Other places in New Jersey:*Princeton Junction, New Jersey*Princeton Meadows, New Jersey...
graduate and had just completed two years of teaching Mathematics and Latin at Blair Academy
Blair Academy
Blair Academy is a private, coeducational, secondary boarding high school with an enrollment of about 448 students for grades nine through twelve. The school has 78 faculty members...
in New Jersey. Upon Wyman's death in 1888, ownership of the school passed to Col. Willis Brown and Albert M. Jackson was made the Principal. It was during this time that the school changed its name to Western Military Academy and introduced military training. After eight years at the helm Col. Brown chose to retire. In 1896 Albert M. Jackson and the academy's financial officer, George D. Eaton purchased Western Military Academy. The Jackson family would retain ownership of the school until it closed it's doors in 1971.
1900–1940
In 1900 the academy had an enrollment of 100 cadets. Early in the century Western was designated an Honor Military School by the Defense Department (earlier the War Department). By 1920 WMA had been listed in "Distinguished Colleges and Military Schools". That standing granted a school the right to one appointment, without examination, to both the regular army and to West Point. A major crisis was confronted in February 1903. Fire destroyed the school Administration building and the primary barracks. The academy was closed while the ownership planned to rebuild in time to open in the fall of 1903. The opening of Western Military Academy in September, as planned, saw a new Administration building and two barracks completed with an enrollment of 132 students. A third barracks was completed during the academic year. By 1924 two additional barracks had been added giving the campus the look it would have until it closed. Enrollment grew as the facilities were added and Western enjoyed a full complement of over 300 cadets from 1912 through the 1920s. The reputation of the academy spread as its graduates became successful. William PaleyWilliam Paley
William Paley was a British Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work Natural Theology, which made use of the watchmaker analogy .-Life:Paley was Born in Peterborough, England, and was...
, a 1918 graduate, went on to become the Chairman of the Board for Columbia Broadcasting System. Paley would recall his time at Western Military Academy as a "turning point of my life."
The onset of the Great Depression had a profound effect on the enrollment of Western. The 1930s found the academy at half capacity on a regular basis. The school was able to maintain quality programs as a list of its graduates will attest. Among those graduating from the academy during the 1930s were some of World War II's most decorated pilots. Edward O'Hare
Edward O'Hare
Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare was an Irish-American naval aviator of the United States Navy who on February 20, 1942 became the U.S. Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. Butch O’Hare’s final action took place on the night of November 26, 1943,...
, a 1932 WMA alumni was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in naval air combat before dying in action in 1943. O'Hare International Airport
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
in Chicago, Il is named in his honor. One year after O'Hare graduated Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...
became a 1933 alumni of Western. He was selected to lead what many believe was the most important mission in the history of military aviation. On August 6, 1945 he piloted his plane, the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
, to drop the first Atomic bomb on Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan. The end of the 1930s and the concern over the war in Europe would change Western Military Academy's enrollment concerns.
The world wars
Western Military Academy kept detailed service records of her graduates during the First and Second World Wars. The most definitive of the World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
records, as highlighted in "History of Western Military Academy, Alton, Il 1879–1971" by Robert Scott,shows that of the 402 WMA graduates after 1909, 295 or 73% served in the military during the conflict. Four graduates died in the service and others were listed as "wounded" or "lightly gassed."
World War II records show that over 1,000 alumni served. That is an especially notable number for a school that had, at the time, only 2,000 graduates. Over forty were killed in action. Brig. General A.Owen Seaman, WMA 1897, was a member of the earliest known class to serve in World War II. A partial list of the decorations awarded to WMA graduates in the Second World War include, 1 Medal of Honor,4 Distinguished Service Crosses,2 Navy Crosses, 4 Legion of Merit medals, 23 Silver Stars and 15 Distinguished Flying Crosses. The school's records on the service of her graduates in the Korean and Vietnam Wars are incomplete. The stone front gate on the Western campus is named the Memorial Gate. It honors those alumni who died in the service of their country.
1940–1970
By the 1940s the war in Europe and the improving economic situation in the United States would find Western again at capacity enrollment. Colonel R.L. Jackson (WMA'06) had succeeded his father as Superintendent in 1919. He had guided the school through the difficulties of the 1930s and would continue to hold the post into the 1950s. Western would have a waiting list of applicants from the 1940s through the 1960s. The academy could and did attract the best students. Part of the appeal of Western Military Academy was the quality of the academic and military staff. The Military Department was regularly led by graduates of the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
. Several members of that department would have a record of distinguished service in the 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...
, Korea and Vietnam. Academically Western boasted a staff with graduates from the most exclusive colleges and universities. Colonel R.L.Jackson, like his father, was a Princeton
Princeton
-Princeton, New Jersey:*Borough of Princeton, New Jersey*Princeton Township, New Jersey*Princeton, New Jersey -Other places in New Jersey:*Princeton Junction, New Jersey*Princeton Meadows, New Jersey...
graduate and had continued his education at Harvard. The 1940 school annual, The Recall, listed instructors who had attended Harvard, Colgate
Colgate
- Places :*Colgate, West Sussex, UK*Colgate, North Dakota, USA*Colgate, Wisconsin, USA*Colgate, Saskatchewan, India- People :*Pat Colgate, the artistic director of the Placer Theatre Ballet dance company...
, Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
, Dartmouth, Northwestern
Northwestern
Northwestern may refer to:* Northwestern University, a private American research university, with campuses in Chicago and Evanston, Illinois* The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program-Other colleges and universities:...
University, University of Grenoble
University of Grenoble
University of Grenoble or Grenoble University was a university in Grenoble, France until 1970, when it was split into several different institutions:...
-France, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Washington University and Albion College
Albion College
Albion College is a private liberal arts college located in Albion, Michigan. Related to the United Methodist Church, it was founded in 1835 and was the first private college in Michigan to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. It has a student population of about 1500.The school's sports teams are...
Conservatory. During the forty year span from 1940 to the beginning of 1970 Western's enrollment remained in the 300 to 325 range. The academic and military areas of cadet life were supplemented by extensive extra-curricular opportunities.
Cultural entertainment
In a WMA circular printed early in the 1900s the administration defined their thinking on the topic of entertainment. "Having found by long experience that amusements, indulged in to a reasonable extent, are helpful rather than otherwise, to both the deportment and progress of the cadets, the authorities of the Academy arrange each year a series of receptions, musical and literary entertainments and excursions, so distributed as to relieve somewhat the monotony of school life, and so conducted as to accustom the cadets to the usages of good society." It was a policy the school maintained until it closed.The prestige of the Academy helped attract several notable guests to be part of this program. National Baseball Hall of Fame baseball players Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby
Rogers Hornsby, Sr. , nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball . He played for the St. Louis Cardinals , New York Giants , Boston Braves , Chicago Cubs , and St. Louis Browns...
, Hank Greenberg
Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...
and Dizzy Dean
Dizzy Dean
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953....
talked baseball with the students. Boxer Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
gave a speech to the Corps. Bandleader Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
and crooner Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
performed at Western as did comic Joe E. Brown. Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Mary Earhart was a noted American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean...
and Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipient General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew "Skinny" Wainwright IV was a career American army officer and the commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to the Empire of Japan during World War II...
were among the other guests who spoke at WMA. Several Western Alumni would also return to the campus and share their experiences with the cadets.
Athletics
During Western Military Academy's ninety-two years athletics were an important part of the cadets environment. A wide variety of sports gave every student the opportunity to participate. Several levels of teams were offered in most sports which included football, cross-country, basketball, wrestling, soccer, swimming, a rifle team, baseball, track, golf and tennis. Western had a golf course designed by prolific golf designer Tom BendelowTom Bendelow
Tom Bendelow , nicknamed "The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf", was a prolific Scottish American golf course architect during the first half of the twentieth century. He is credited with having designed some 600 courses in a 35-year span....
on campus in the early 1900s. Other sports offered at times during the schools existence included interscholastic bowling, fencing and an equestrian team.
In the 1930s a WMA catalog labeled football "The King of Sports" at the academy. The school fielded four different teams offering boys of all sizes the chance to play. For most of the school's history well over half the Corps played on a football team. The St. Louis Globe Democrat reported that in 1895 WMA played Smith Academy in the 1st high school football game ever played in the St. Louis. In 1904 Western began a football competition with Alton High School. The annual Thanksgiving Day game, pitting the cadets against the public school team became "the biggest event on the Alton sports calendar" according to the Alton Evening Telegraph. Thousands would set aside their Thanksgiving afternoon to attend the game. The rivalry was discontinued in 1952.
School closing
By the late 1960s, rising costs and inflation meant the academy would face economic hardships as it moved into the 1970s. The anti-military sentiment caused by the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
was a major factor in Western's declining enrollment. In 1967–68 the school was at full student enrollment of 325 cadets. The final 1971 yearbook showed a cadet corps numbering just 154. In June of that year Western Military Academy held its 92nd and final commencement ceremony.
Notable alumni
- Louis von Weise, 1904. Owner of the St. Louis Browns Baseball Club.
- Thomas Hart Benton, 1906. Artist. Did not graduate.
- Eugenio Garza SadaEugenio Garza SadaEugenio Garza Sada was a Mexican businessman and philanthropist who founded the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in 1943.-Early life:Garza Sada was born to Isaac Garza and Consuelo Sada...
,1906. Mexican businessman and philanthropist. Founder of Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher EducationMonterrey Institute of Technology and Higher EducationThe Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education commonly shortened as Monterrey Institute of Technology or Monterrey Tech is one of the largest private, nonsectarian and coeducational multi-campus universities in...
. - Major General Carl R. GrayCarl R. GrayCarl Raymond Gray was an American railroad executive in the early 20th century. He was President of the Great Northern Railway from 1912 to 1914, President of the Western Maryland Railway from 1914 to 1919, and President of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1920 to 1937.-Biography:During his...
, 1907. Head of the Military Railroads in Africa and Europe during WWII. Head of the Veterans AdministrationUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsThe United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
. - John Stelle, 1908. Governor of Illinois,
- Major General William P. T. HillWilliam P. T. HillWilliam Pendleton Thompson Hill was a United States Marine Corps major general who served as Quartermaster General of the Marine Corps from 1944 to 1955.-Early life:...
, 1914. Quartermaster General U.S. Marine Corps. - Major General Harry CollinsHarry CollinsHarry Collins is a British professor at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. While at the University of Bath Professor Collins developed the Bath School approach to the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge...
, 1915.Commander of the 42nd Infantry Division (Rainbow Division), Liberated Dachau. - Richard MuckermanRichard MuckermanRichard Muckerman in St. Louis, Missouri and was a 1912 graduate from Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois. He was the owner of the St. Louis Browns of the American League from through . He sold the Browns to Bill DeWitt after the 1948 season. Muckerman died of a heart attack in...
, 1912. Owner of the St. Louis Browns Baseball Club. - William S. PaleyWilliam S. PaleyWilliam S. Paley was the chief executive who built Columbia Broadcasting System from a small radio network into one of the foremost radio and television network operations in the United States.-Early life:...
, 1918. Chairman of the Board Columbia Broadcasting System. - Lee TracyLee TracyWilliam Lee Tracy was an American actor.- Early life :Tracy was born in Atlanta, Georgia.After graduating from Western Military Academy in 1918 he studied electrical engineering at Union College, and then served as a 2nd lieutenant in World War I. In the early 1920s he decided to work as an actor...
, 1918. Actor. - Brig.General Harold Funsch, 1929. Founded Little League baseball in Europe. President of USAF Flight Surgeons.
- Edward O'HareEdward O'HareLieutenant Commander Edward Henry “Butch” O’Hare was an Irish-American naval aviator of the United States Navy who on February 20, 1942 became the U.S. Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. Butch O’Hare’s final action took place on the night of November 26, 1943,...
, 1932. Medal of Honor recipient. O'Hare International AirportO'Hare International AirportChicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
named in his honor. - Ray Ellinwood, 1933. World record breaking track athlete. University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
Hall of Fame. - Paul TibbetsPaul TibbetsPaul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb, code-named Little Boy, was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima...
, 1933. Commander of 1st Atomic Bomb mission. Pilot of the Enola GayEnola GayEnola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
. - Lt. General Rolland V. HeiserRolland V. HeiserLieutenant General Rolland V. Heiser, U.S. Army, retired, is a member of the New College of Florida Board of Trustees, and is the former president of the New College Foundation, a position he held for 22 years...
, 1943. Founder of the Korean Military Academy. President of the New College of FloridaNew College of FloridaNew College of Florida is a public liberal arts college located in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded originally as a private institution and is now an autonomous honors college of the State University System of Florida.-History:...
Foundation. - Jack QuinlanJack QuinlanJack Quinlan was an American sportscaster. He was best known for covering the Chicago Cubs first on WIND 1955-56, then on WGN radio from 1957 to 1964, his broadcast partner was Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau 1957 to April 1960, 1961 to 1964 and Cubs legend Charlie Grimm April 1960 to October...
, 1944. Sports broadcaster. Voice of the Cubs on WGN radio 1957–1964. - Sander VanocurSander VanocurSander "Sandy" Vanocur is an American journalist.- Career :Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Vanocur moved to Peoria, Illinois when he was twelve years old. After attending Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the Northwestern...
, 1946. American journalist. - F. Morgan "Buzz" Taylor, 1949. President of the United States Golf AssociationUnited States Golf AssociationThe United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
. - Michael WallisMichael WallisMichael Wallis is a journalist and popular historian of the Western United States. He has written seventeen books, including Route 66: The Mother Road, about the historic highway U.S. Route 66...
, 1963. Author, journalist and popular historian. - Robert Ellison, 1963. American photographer.