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Emerson, William Austin Jr (34825456): Difference between revisions

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|surname=Emerson
|surname=Emerson
|first=William
|first=William
|middle=A.
|middle=Austin
|suffix=Jr
|suffix=Jr
|class_section=6A
|class_section=6A
|class_rank=Sgt
|class_rank=Sergeant
|birth_year=1923
|birth_year=1923
|death_year=2009
|death_year=2009
|nativity=US
|nativity=United States
|religion=P
|religion=Protestant
|enlistment_place=FT MCPHERSON ATLANTA GEORGIA
|enlistment_place=FT MCPHERSON ATLANTA GEORGIA
|state=GEORGIA
|state=GEORGIA
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|class_number=20
|class_number=20
|class_display=20
|class_display=20
|birth_date=28 February 1923
|death_date=25 August 2009
|birth_place=Charlotte, North Carolina
|death_place=Atlanta, Georgia
}}
}}


<div class="soldier-lead">
<div class="soldier-lead">
William Austin "Bill" Emerson Jr. (February 28, 1923 &ndash; August 25, 2009) was an American journalist who covered the Civil Rights Movement as Newsweek's first bureau chief assigned to cover the Southern United States and was later editor in chief of The Saturday Evening Post.
'''William Austin "Bill" Emerson Jr.''' (28 February 1923 &ndash; 25 August 2009) was an American journalist and Ritchie Boy who trained at [[Camp Ritchie]] in [[:Category:Class 20|Class 20]], covered the civil rights movement as ''Newsweek''{{'}}s first bureau chief for the South, and was later editor-in-chief of ''The Saturday Evening Post''.
</div>
</div>


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
William Austin "Bill" Emerson Jr. was born on 28 February 1923 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and moved with his family to Atlanta, where he attended Boys High School and North Fulton High School. He studied for two years at Davidson College.


Emerson enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, and trained, in part, at Camp Ritchie among the Ritchie Boys with [[:Category:Class 20|Class 20]], holding the rank of sergeant. During the war he served in the China Burma India Theater.


William Austin "Bill" Emerson Jr. (February 28, 1923 &ndash; August 25, 2009) was an American journalist who covered the Civil Rights Movement as Newsweek's first bureau chief assigned to cover the Southern United States and was later editor in chief of The Saturday Evening Post.
After his military service Emerson attended Harvard University and then joined ''Collier's'' magazine in New York City. In 1953, the year before the Supreme Court's decision in ''Brown v. Board of Education'', ''Newsweek'' named him its first bureau chief responsible for covering the South. He witnessed the "years of resistance and violence" that followed school desegregation, covering integration battles in cities such as New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee—including a mother trying to take her child to school through a crowd that spat and yelled at them—as well as Ku Klux Klan cross burnings in Florida and the Montgomery bus boycott that began in 1955 and brought Martin Luther King Jr. to the fore. Hoping to enlist William Faulkner for a cover story, he ignored a warning sign at the author's Mississippi home, was met first by dogs and then by Faulkner, who "calmly told someone to get his shotgun."


Emerson enlisted in the United States Army and trained, in part, at Camp Ritchie among the Ritchie Boys. In War time, he served in the China Burma India Theater of World War II.
In September 1963 the Curtis Publishing Company promoted Emerson from assistant managing editor to executive editor of ''The Saturday Evening Post''. A few months later he reworked the issue covering the assassination of John F. Kennedy to include recollections by Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and a Norman Rockwell cover portrait of Kennedy, all completed in time for publication. As part of the New Journalism of the 1960s he ran articles by nontraditional authors such as James Meredith, who wrote about being the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. Emerson became editor-in-chief in 1965 and remained until the magazine closed with its 8 February 1969 issue. After the closure was announced he thanked the staff and promised "to stay here and see that everyone finds a job," and at a March 1969 postmortem he insisted the ''Post'' "was a damn good vehicle for advertising," expressing what ''The New York Times'' called "understandable bitterness" in wishing "that all the one-eyed critics will lose their other eye."
 
In 1953, the year before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Emerson was named by Newsweek as its first bureau chief responsible for covering the South. In that role, Emerson witnessed the "years of resistance and violence" that ensued following the end of segregation in public schools and the start of the fight for civil rights for African Americans. In that role, Emerson covered school integration battles across the South, including in such cities as New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee, and provided his direct observations of a woman trying to take her child to school and encountering a crowd spitting and yelling at them. He wrote about Ku Klux Klan cross burnings in Florida and followed the Montgomery bus boycott that began in 1955 with the ascension of Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader in the movement. A few months later, he reworked the magazine's issue covering the John F. Kennedy assassination to include recollections by his predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower and by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., with a cover portrait of Kennedy by Norman Rockwell, all completed to publish the issue on time. As part of the New Journalism of the 1960s, Emerson had articles from such non-traditional authors as James Meredith, who wrote about his experiences as the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. In a meeting with employees after the magazine's closure had been announced, Emerson thanked the staff for their professional work and promised "to stay here and see that everyone finds a job". At a March 1969 postmortem on the magazine's closing, Emerson stated that The Post "was a damn good vehicle for advertising" with competitive renewal rates and readership reports and expressed what The New York Times called "understandable bitterness" in wishing "that all the one-eyed critics will lose their other eye".
 
Emerson later joined the faculty of the University of South Carolina, where he taught journalism.


Emerson later taught journalism at the University of South Carolina. He married Lucy Kiser, who died in 2005. Emerson died after a stroke at his home in Atlanta on 25 August 2009, at the age of 86.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
Line 115: Line 118:
== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Emerson_(journalist) Wikipedia: William Emerson (journalist)]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Emerson_(journalist) Wikipedia: William Emerson (journalist)]
* Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)

Latest revision as of 03:49, 25 September 2026

William Austin Emerson, Jr
Personal details
Born28 February 1923
Charlotte, North Carolina
Died25 August 2009
Atlanta, Georgia
NativityUnited States
ReligionProtestant
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Army
ASN34825456
RankSergeant
Camp RitchieClass 20 (19 June – 16 August 1944)
Section6A
EnlistedFt Mcpherson Atlanta, Georgia
Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.
Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.


William Austin "Bill" Emerson Jr. (28 February 1923 – 25 August 2009) was an American journalist and Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie in Class 20, covered the civil rights movement as NewsweekTemplate:'s first bureau chief for the South, and was later editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post.

Biography[edit | edit source]

William Austin "Bill" Emerson Jr. was born on 28 February 1923 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and moved with his family to Atlanta, where he attended Boys High School and North Fulton High School. He studied for two years at Davidson College.

Emerson enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort McPherson, Atlanta, and trained, in part, at Camp Ritchie among the Ritchie Boys with Class 20, holding the rank of sergeant. During the war he served in the China Burma India Theater.

After his military service Emerson attended Harvard University and then joined Collier's magazine in New York City. In 1953, the year before the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Newsweek named him its first bureau chief responsible for covering the South. He witnessed the "years of resistance and violence" that followed school desegregation, covering integration battles in cities such as New Orleans and Memphis, Tennessee—including a mother trying to take her child to school through a crowd that spat and yelled at them—as well as Ku Klux Klan cross burnings in Florida and the Montgomery bus boycott that began in 1955 and brought Martin Luther King Jr. to the fore. Hoping to enlist William Faulkner for a cover story, he ignored a warning sign at the author's Mississippi home, was met first by dogs and then by Faulkner, who "calmly told someone to get his shotgun."

In September 1963 the Curtis Publishing Company promoted Emerson from assistant managing editor to executive editor of The Saturday Evening Post. A few months later he reworked the issue covering the assassination of John F. Kennedy to include recollections by Dwight D. Eisenhower and Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and a Norman Rockwell cover portrait of Kennedy, all completed in time for publication. As part of the New Journalism of the 1960s he ran articles by nontraditional authors such as James Meredith, who wrote about being the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. Emerson became editor-in-chief in 1965 and remained until the magazine closed with its 8 February 1969 issue. After the closure was announced he thanked the staff and promised "to stay here and see that everyone finds a job," and at a March 1969 postmortem he insisted the Post "was a damn good vehicle for advertising," expressing what The New York Times called "understandable bitterness" in wishing "that all the one-eyed critics will lose their other eye."

Emerson later taught journalism at the University of South Carolina. He married Lucy Kiser, who died in 2005. Emerson died after a stroke at his home in Atlanta on 25 August 2009, at the age of 86.

Research notes[edit | edit source]

  • Also Class 20 JapOB
  • OB 489T

Gallery[edit | edit source]

After you are autoconfirmed, upload a photo and add [[File:Example.jpg|thumb|caption]] here, or set |photo=Example.jpg in the infobox.

Technical record[edit | edit source]

Field Imported value
Approx Age at Death 86
Nara ASN 34825456
Nara Name EMERSON WILLIAM A JR
Nara State 43
Nara County 121
Nara POE 4344
Nara DOE 170743
Nara Grade Alpha PVT
Nara Grade Code 8
Nara Branch Alpha NO
Nara Branch Code 2
Branch No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment 5
Term of enlistment Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date 0
Nara Source 0
Nara Nativity 46
Nativity.1 NORTH CAROLINA
Nara Year of Birth 23
Nara Race 1
Nara Race Description White citizen
Nara Education 6
Nara Civilian Occupation 787
Nara Marital Status 6
Nara Height (inches) 0
Nara Weight (lbs) 0
Class_ASN 34825456
Class_Name EMERSON, William
match_method asn_exact_name_exact
row_source both

Sources[edit | edit source]

  • Wikipedia: William Emerson (journalist)
  • Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
  • Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
  • NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
  • 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
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