Emporia to mark William Allen White Legacy Day with special events on Saturday
There was a time when William Allen White was one of the most recognized names from Kansas.
White was editor of the Emporia Gazette and known nationally for his distinctive writing style and commonsense journalism. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s highest honor.
The Emporia City Commission has designated the first Saturday in October as William Allen White Legacy Day.
White was born in Emporia and became a newspaper reporter at the El Dorado Republican. In 1891, he started working at the Kansas City Journal and not long after transferred to the Kansas City Star.
In 1895, he bought the Emporia Gazette and was its editor until his death on Kansas Day, Jan. 29, 1944.
Two articles in particular skyrocketed White to national fame: his editorial published on Aug. 15, 1896, called “What’s The Matter With Kansas”; and his tribute to Mary White, his 16-year-old daughter who died in riding accident.
White entertained prominent Americans at his Emporia home at 927 Exchange St. His friends included Edna Ferber, Carl Sandburg and Upton Sinclair. In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt slept in an upstairs bedroom. Herbert Hoover posed with White on the family’s front porch in 1935.
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William Allen White Legacy Day
The 1977 ABC Movie of the Week “Mary White” – inspired by her father’s moving column about her death – will be shown twice on Saturday, at 2 and 8 p.m., at the Emporia Granada Theatre, 807 Commercial St. Tickets are $5; children will be admitted free to the 2 p.m. showing. Scenes from the movie were filmed in Emporia, Olpe, Osage City and Florence.
Other events this weekend include a book-signing by Don Brown and Helen Frost, this year’s winners of the White Award. The book-signing is Friday at 5 p.m. on the porch of Red Rocks State Historic Site, the White family home at 927 Exchange St. The event is free and includes refreshments and tours of the first floor of the home.
For more information, go to www.kshs.org/events.
This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 6:48 AM with the headline "Emporia to mark William Allen White Legacy Day with special events on Saturday."