William A. White papers.

Biographical sketch: Editor and publisher of the Emporia Gazette (Emporia, Kan.)

Abstract: The original collection consists of correspondence, speeches, clippings concerning William Allen White, and other miscellaneous materials largely relating to Kansas newspapers, politics, & his campaign for governor in 1924; correspondence with Jennie Small Owen about her & her work; and an index of items on microfilm from the William Allen White collection at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C) (Kansas Historical Society microfilm rolls MS 43-MS 51). Correspondents include Will Beck, Jennie Small Owen, and J. C. Ruppenthal. The collection also includes a variety of materials found at the William Allen White House in Emporia, Kan., after the Kansas State Historical Society acquired the property in 2001. These materials date from when William Allen White and his wife lived there, as well as afterward when other White and Walker members owned the property. They contain correspondence & telegrams, clippings & articles, brochures & booklets, notebooks & address books, invoices & receipts, and other items. Included are letters between & to family members, including William Allen & his wife Sallie; condolences concerning Sallie's death in 1950; a movie script & other materials for a teleplay about Mary White & her death, written in 1974; and information about the house remodeling in the 1950s & items purchased for the house from the 1920s & 1930s, among other topics. Other items in the collection include photographs, many unidentified, and photocopied letters from White to L. Harold Caldwell, Wichita, Kan., 1935-1940. The microfilm consists of a selection of the best of the William Allen White letters from holdings in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C.)

Summary: Microfilm reels: A selection of the best of the White papers as chosen by Walter Johnson from holdings in the Library of Congress.

Biog. Sketch (Full): As editor and publisher of his hometown newspaper in Emporia, Kansas, William Allen White gained great prominence during the early twentieth century. He commented on a wide range of topics from politics to every day life and became a respected political analyst. Numerous American publications carried his skillfully written editorials. His friendships with well-known politicians, including Theodore Roosevelt, helped to place Kansas in a national spotlight.

White was born to Allen and Mary Ann Hatten White in Emporia in 1868. The family soon moved to El Dorado, where Dr. White served as country merchant, doctor, and mayor. William Allen began his first job at the age of thirteen as a printer's devil for the El Dorado Democrat. When he was sixteen, his father died, and after graduating from high school, William and his mother moved back to Emporia.

After attending the College of Emporia and the University of Kansas, White worked on newspapers in El Dorado, Topeka, and Kansas City. He married Sallie Moss Lindsay in 1893, while working for the Kansas City Star. During this time White also began writing short stories with Kansas settings where he could make political commentaries outside his journalistic reporting. He decided to leave the city and sought a small town newspaper he could purchase. He considered several before buying the Emporia Gazette in 1895 for $3,000.

White became involved with the Republican Party, which was in the midst of a disagreement with the emerging Populist movement. Because of his rising fame, and his book of short stories, The Real Issue, released in 1896, White became acquainted with many influential people of the day including Elihu Root, Henry Cabot Lodge, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt.

In July 1899 William Allen, Sallie, and Mary Hatten White moved from their modest home at 602 Cottonwood Street to a more stately residence at 927 Exchange. At first the family rented, then finally purchased the house in May 1901 for $6,000. White's mother continued to live with William Allen and Sallie until her home at 923 Exchange was completed around 1904. William Lindsay White was born in 1900; Mary Katherine White was born in 1904. The family suffered tragedy in May 1921 when their daughter, Mary, died at the age of sixteen in a horseback riding accident.

White became a regular contributor to national publications such as McClure's, Harper's Weekly, and Saturday Evening Post. Newspapers from across the nation carried his editorials.

White's views occasionally were in opposition with that of his friends. In an effort to quell a coal miner's strike, Governor Henry J. Allen supported the new state law prohibiting picketing. When White protested on the basis of free speech and posted a strike placard, his friend, Governor Allen, had him arrested. In response, White wrote the editorial, "To An Anxious Friend," in July 1922, which received much national distribution and a Pulitzer Prize.

The growing Ku Klux Klan population in Kansas was of great concern to White. In July 1921 he began a series of anti-Klan editorials to fight the secret society's influence over state and local politicians. In the 1924 governor's race, the incumbent, Governor Jonathan M. Davis, and the Republican candidate, Ben Paulen, both refused to openly oppose the Klan. In September 1924, six weeks before the election, White decided to run as an independent candidate on an anti-Klan platform. After a spirited campaign, he came in third place but received much national and international attention for his fight.

White became acquainted with many famous writers, including Upton Sinclair, who called him "a mild and benevolent liberal." Many well-known figures visited the White family in their Emporia home.

White began writing his autobiography in the last years of his life. He had completed the chapter on Mary's death when he died on Kansas Day January 29, 1944. His son, William Lindsay, edited and published his unfinished autobiography in 1946, which received a Pulitzer Prize. Sally died in 1950.

William Lindsay served as editor of the Gazette until his death in 1973. The Emporia Gazette continues to be owned by the White Walker family.

William Allen and Sallie lived at the home at 927 Exchange in Emporia until their deaths. William Allen died in 1944; Sallie in 1950. Their son and daughter-in-law, William Lindsay and Kathrine Klinkenberg White, moved into the house around 1955, although they also maintained a residence in New York City. William Lindsay died in 1973 and Kathrine died in 1988. In 2001 Paul David and Barbara White Walker, their daughter, donated this site to the State of Kansas to be operated as a state historic site.

[Kansas State Historical Society. "William Allen White House, History." http://www.kshs.org/places/white/history.htm (accessed 17 November 2009).]

[Kansas State Historical Society. "William Allen White House." http://www.kshs.org/places/white/house.htm (accessed 17 November 2009).]

Contents: Box 1. Correspondence, 1909-1944 ; speeches and press releases ; records of Charles Curtis' votes on Congressional questions, 1912 ; clippings related to donation of W. A. White's papers to the Library of Congress ; order for the disposition of his private papers and mss. ; index to microfilm copies of the William Allen White papers ; letters and cards from notable people to William Allen White, 1921-1961 -- box 2. Documents from the William Allen White house, 2001 -- Letters : to L. H. Caldwell, Wichita, Kan., 1935-1940 -- microfilm (rolls MS 43-MS 51). William Allen White correspondence, 1899-1939 -- photographs.

Associated materials: Associated materials in the Photographs collection.

Associated materials: William Allen White papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.

Indexes: Index to items on microfilm from the William Allen White collection at the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C) (Kansas Historical Society microfilm rolls MS 43-MS 51), in box 1 of the papers.

Related materials: White, William Allen, 1868-1944. Letters to Dan Casement, 1927-1943 (Kansas Historical Society microfilm MS 139.04), available at the Kansas Historical Society (Topeka).

Use and reproduction: William Allen White correspondence, 1899-1939, on microfilm: Not available thru inter-library loan from the Kansas Historical Society.

Add'l physical form: William Allen White correspondence, 1899-1939, from the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, D.C.): Microfilm. [Chicago, Ill.? : University of Chicago?, 1947?]; Kansas Historical Society rolls MS 43-MS 51; available for research.

Holder of originals: William Allen White correspondence, 1899-1939, on microfilm: Originals in the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), Manuscript Division.

General Note: Constituent unit: White, William Allen, 1868-1944. William Allen White correspondence 1899-1939 (Kansas Historical Society microfilm rolls MS 43-MS 51). (OCoLC)55473358