Edward R. Murrow

Edward R. Murrow, KBE (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow), (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American journalist, whose radio news broadcasts during World War II were eagerly followed by millions of listeners. Mainstream historians consider him among journalism's greatest figures; Murrow hired a top-flight cadre of war correspondents and was noted for honesty and integrity in delivering the news. A pioneer of television news broadcasting, Murrow produced a series of TV news reports that countered the Cold War hysteria of the 1950s, and led to the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Early life

He was born near Polecat Creek near Greensboro in Guilford County, North Carolina, the youngest son of Quaker abolitionists. His home was a log cabin without electricity or plumbing, on a farm bringing in only a few hundred dollars a year from corn and hay.

Related Topics:
Guilford County, North Carolina - Quaker - Abolitionists

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When Murrow was five, his family moved to Washington, homesteading thirty miles from the Canadian border, in Blanchard, on Samish Bay. He attended high school in nearby Edison, becoming president of the student body in his senior year and excelled on the debating team and was on the Skagit County championship basketball team. By that time, the teenage Egbert was going by the nickname "Ed".

Related Topics:
Washington - Homesteading - Canadian - Blanchard - Samish Bay - Edison - Debating - Skagit County - Basketball

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In 1926, he enrolled in Washington State College in Pullman, Washington, eventually majoring in speech. He was active in college politics and in 1929, while attending the annual convention of the National Student Federation of America, his speech urging college students to become more interested in national and world affairs led to his election as president of the federation, which led him to move to New York.

Related Topics:
1926 - Washington State College - Pullman, Washington - 1929 - National Student Federation of America

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He worked as assistant director of the Institute of International Education from 1932 to 1935, during which time (1934) he married Janet Huntington Brewster.

Related Topics:
Institute of International Education - 1932 - 1935 - 1934 - Janet Huntington Brewster

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