William Henry Irwin
Encyclopedia
William Henry Irwin (September 14, 1873 - February 24, 1948) was a U.S.
author
, writer
and journalist
. He is associated with the muckrakers.
. In his early childhood the Irwin family moved to Clayville, NJ, a farming and mining center south of Utica. In about 1878 his father moved to Leadville, Colorado
, establishing himself in the lumber business, and brought his family out. When his business failed Irwin's father moved the family to Twin Lakes, Colorado. A hotel business there failed too, and the family moved back to Leadville, to a bungalow at 125 West Twelfth Street. In 1889 they moved to Denver
, where he graduated from high school. He cured himself of a diagnosed bout of tuberculosis by "roughing it" for a year as a cowboy.
in September 1894. According to journalism historians Clifford Weigle and David Clark in their biographical sketch of Irwin,
Irwin was forced to withdraw for disciplinary reasons but was readmitted and graduated Wednesday, May 24, 1899.
, eventually becoming Sunday editor. For the San Francisco-based Bohemian Club
, he wrote the Grove Play The Hamadryads in 1904.
That same year he moved to New York City
to take a reporter's position at The New York Sun, then in its heyday under the editorship of Chester Lord and Selah M. Clark.
Irwin arrived in New York City the same day as a major disaster—the sinking of the General Slocum. A new reporter on The Sun, he was assigned to work the Bellevue morgue, where the more than 1,000 bodies of the victims of fire and drowning were taken.
of April 18, 1906 and subsequent days. Weigle and Clark describe his activities as follows:
Irwin was hired by S.S. McClure in 1906 as managing editor of McClure's Magazine
. He rose to the position of editor but disliked the work and then moved to Collier's
, edited by Norman Hapgood. He wrote investigative stories on the movement for Prohibition and a study of fake spiritual mediums.
Back on the Pacific coast in 1906-1907 to research a story on anti-Japanese racism Irwin returned to San Francisco and found it flourishing. For the San Francisco Call
several years later he wrote an article on the city's rebirth entitled "The City That Is". He concluded
Irwin's series on anti-Japanese discrimination appeared in Collier's in September–October 1907 and Pearson's in 1909.
In 1911 Irwin published one of the most famous critical analyses of American journalism ever written. The series titled "The American Newspaper" was researched from September 23, 1909 till late June 1910 and published in Colliers magazine from January to June, 1911.
. He sailed to Europe in August 1914 as one of the first American correspondents.
According to media historians Edwin and Michael Emery,
Irwin served on the executive committee of Herbert Hoover
's Commission for Relief in Belgium in 1914-1915 and was chief of the foreign department of George Creel
's Committee on Public Information
in 1918.
and its founder Adolf Zukor, The House That Shadows Built (1928), and his autobiography, The Making of a Reporter (1942). He also wrote two plays continued magazine writing.
He was married to the feminist author Inez Haynes Irwin
, who published under the name Inez Haynes Gilmore, author of The Californiacs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. He is associated with the muckrakers.
Early life
Irwin was born in Oneida, New YorkOneida, New York
Oneida is a city in Madison County located west of Oneida Castle and east of Canastota, New York, United States. The population was 10,987 at the 2000 census. The city, like both Oneida County and the nearby silver and china maker, takes its name from the Oneida tribe...
. In his early childhood the Irwin family moved to Clayville, NJ, a farming and mining center south of Utica. In about 1878 his father moved to Leadville, Colorado
Leadville, Colorado
Leadville is a Statutory City that is the county seat of, and the only municipality in, Lake County, Colorado, United States. Situated at an elevation of , Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States...
, establishing himself in the lumber business, and brought his family out. When his business failed Irwin's father moved the family to Twin Lakes, Colorado. A hotel business there failed too, and the family moved back to Leadville, to a bungalow at 125 West Twelfth Street. In 1889 they moved to Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, where he graduated from high school. He cured himself of a diagnosed bout of tuberculosis by "roughing it" for a year as a cowboy.
Life at Stanford University
With a loan from his high school teacher Irwin entered Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in September 1894. According to journalism historians Clifford Weigle and David Clark in their biographical sketch of Irwin,
- "During four riotous years at Stanford, Irwin 'specialized' in campus politics, undergraduate theatricals and writing, and beer drinking and inventive pranks. Expelled three weeks before he was to have received the B.A. degree in 1898, he got the degree a year later after final, solemn consideration by a somewhat reluctant faculty committee on student affairs."
Irwin was forced to withdraw for disciplinary reasons but was readmitted and graduated Wednesday, May 24, 1899.
Reporting
In 1901 Irwin got a job as a reporter on the San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, eventually becoming Sunday editor. For the San Francisco-based Bohemian Club
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco, California, United States.Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco...
, he wrote the Grove Play The Hamadryads in 1904.
That same year he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to take a reporter's position at The New York Sun, then in its heyday under the editorship of Chester Lord and Selah M. Clark.
Irwin arrived in New York City the same day as a major disaster—the sinking of the General Slocum. A new reporter on The Sun, he was assigned to work the Bellevue morgue, where the more than 1,000 bodies of the victims of fire and drowning were taken.
The City That Was
Irwin's biggest story and the feat that made him a professional writer was his absentee coverage for the Sun of the San Francisco earthquake1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
of April 18, 1906 and subsequent days. Weigle and Clark describe his activities as follows:
- "Because he knew the city so well, he was assigned to write -- mostly from memory, supplemented by scant telegraphic bulletins -- the story of the quake. Before the last-edition deadline on the first day, April 18, 1906, he wrote fourteen columns of copy. and he kept writing, eight columns or more a day, for the next seven days, as fire swept the ruined city. The booklet, for which Irwin is most widely known, resulted from six or seven columns of general description of pre-earthquake San Francisco that he wrote on the afternoon of the third day of the story."
Irwin was hired by S.S. McClure in 1906 as managing editor of McClure's Magazine
McClure's
McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...
. He rose to the position of editor but disliked the work and then moved to Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, edited by Norman Hapgood. He wrote investigative stories on the movement for Prohibition and a study of fake spiritual mediums.
Back on the Pacific coast in 1906-1907 to research a story on anti-Japanese racism Irwin returned to San Francisco and found it flourishing. For the San Francisco Call
San Francisco Call
The San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
several years later he wrote an article on the city's rebirth entitled "The City That Is". He concluded
-
- "It is a larger city, a more convenient city, and since it is also a more beautiful and more distinctive city I announce myself a complete convert. This city that was business is the old stuff."
Irwin's series on anti-Japanese discrimination appeared in Collier's in September–October 1907 and Pearson's in 1909.
"The American Newspaper"
Then came the series "The American Newspaper."In 1911 Irwin published one of the most famous critical analyses of American journalism ever written. The series titled "The American Newspaper" was researched from September 23, 1909 till late June 1910 and published in Colliers magazine from January to June, 1911.
World War I
Irwin continued to write articles, some in the muckraking style, until the outbreak of 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...
. He sailed to Europe in August 1914 as one of the first American correspondents.
According to media historians Edwin and Michael Emery,
- "[Irwin's] beats on the battles of Ypres and the first German use of poison gas were also printed in the TribuneNew York TribuneThe New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
. Irwin was one of several correspondents who represented American magazines in Europe; he first wrote for Collier's and then for the Saturday Evening Post. Irwin's article appeared on the front page of The New York Tribune on April 27, 1915.
Irwin served on the executive committee of Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
's Commission for Relief in Belgium in 1914-1915 and was chief of the foreign department of George Creel
George Creel
George Creel was an investigative journalist, a politician, and, most famously, the head of the United States Committee on Public Information, a propaganda organization created by President Woodrow Wilson during World War I. He said of himself that "an open mind is not part of my inheritance...
's Committee on Public Information
Committee on Public Information
The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI or the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States created to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American participation in World War I...
in 1918.
Later life
During and after the war Irwin wrote 17 more books, including a biography of Herbert Hoover, a history of Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and its founder Adolf Zukor, The House That Shadows Built (1928), and his autobiography, The Making of a Reporter (1942). He also wrote two plays continued magazine writing.
He was married to the feminist author Inez Haynes Irwin
Inez Haynes Irwin
Inez Haynes Irwin was an American feminist author, journalist, member of the National Women's Party, and president of the Authors Guild. Many of her works were published under her former name Inez Haynes Gillmore. She wrote over 40 books and was active in the suffragist movement in the early 1900s...
, who published under the name Inez Haynes Gilmore, author of The Californiacs.