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White, William Allen

White, William Allen

White, William Allen, 1868-1944, American author, b. Emporia, Kans., studied (1886-90) at Kansas State Univ. As owner and editor of the Emporia Gazette from 1895 until his death, he represented grass roots political opinion throughout the nation. In 1896 his famous editorial, "What's the Matter with Kansas?," attacked the Populists and helped elect McKinley, the Republican candidate. A spokesman for small town life and a liberal Republican, White feared the results of excessive industrialization. His fiction reflects his social and political views. In 1923. he won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorials. His writings include short stories, the novel A Certain Rich Man (1909), a biography of Woodrow Wilson (1924), two biographies of Calvin Coolidge (1925, 1938), and two collections of his newspaper writings, The Editor and His People (1924) and Forty Years on Main Street (1937).

See his autobiography (1946; Pulitzer Prize) and selected letters (ed. by W. Johnson, 1947).

(born Feb. 10, 1868, Emporia, Kan., U.S.—died Jan. 29, 1944, Emporia) U.S. journalist. White purchased the Emporia Daily and Weekly Gazette in 1895. His editorial writing was a mixture of tolerance, optimism, liberal Republicanism, and provincialism. His widely circulated 1896 editorial “What's the Matter with Kansas?” was credited with helping elect William McKinley president. He also wrote fiction, biographies, and an autobiography. His son and successor, William Lindsay White (1900–73), wrote one of the best-selling books on World War II, They Were Expendable (1942).

Learn more about White, William Allen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

William Allen White House, also known as Red Rocks, was the home of Progressive journalist William Allen White from 1899 until his death in 1944.

The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

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