Edward R. Murrow - (1908-1965)
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I. Life and Background
Radio legend Edward R. Murrow was born as Egbert Roscoe Murrow on April 25, 1908. He was born into a family of Quaker farmers living in Guilford County, North Carolina, near Polecat Creek. He and his two brothers, Dewey and Lacey, grew up being regaled by their grandfathers' adventure stories from their service during the Civil War. These retellings instilled in Murrow a sense of description and power of voice that would become trademarks of his later in his career. Also impressed on him by his parents, Roscoe and Ethel, were the strict Quaker prohibitions of smoking, drinking, and gambling. Perhaps this strictness actually encouraged Murrow to take up some of these habits after leaving the watchful eyes of his parents. One colleague remembers when the working situation absolutely forbade smoking, I can't ever recall seeing Murrow without a cigarette.
Murrow left for college in 1926 and was eventually enrolled in Leland Stanford University, the University of Washington, and Washington State University. He graduated from State in 1930 with a major in speech. While he attended there, Murrow had been class president and the top cadet in the university's ROTC program. After graduation, he was elected president of the National Student Federation and also recruited such figures as Albert Einstein and German President Paul von Hindenburg for the fledgling radio show A University of the Air. He changed his name as well and from then on was known as Edward rather than Egbert.
While in New Orleans for a National Student Federation conference, Murrow met Janet Brewster and the two were married in 1934. The couple would have one child, a son named Charles Casey. Murrow was hired as assistant director of the Institute of International Education in 1932 and served until 1935, when he began his career with CBS. He was then transferred to the European Bureau in London in 1937. He began his landmark broadcasts of world events in 1938 when he made a special trip to Vienna and reported as the Nazis entered the Austrian capital.
During World War II, Murrow remained in London, where he became a beloved correspondent for those back in the States. He opened his broadcasts with the phrase that would become his trademark, "This is London". He took to broadcasting from the rooftops during bombings so that the real sounds and screams reaching his ears reached those Americans at home. The CBS studio itself was bombed at least once as well. Murrow returned to the United States in 1945 and was promoted to the position of Vice President of News, Education, and Discussion Programming. This position did not suit him, however, and Murrow resigned in 1947 to return to broadcasting.
In 1950, he began to host and produce a weekly radio news show entitled Hear It Now. The success of this project led to the transference onto the quickly growing medium of television. In 1951, Murrow took his broadcasts and turned them into the television series See It Now. This show boosted his popularity and success and won four Emmys for the Best News or Public Service program. Probably the most famous of these See It Now broadcasts was that featuring Senator Joseph McCarthy which helped turn the tide of the Red Scare of communism accusations. Murrow went on to be appointed the head of the United States Information Agency by John F. Kennedy in 1961 and he remained in that office until 1964.
Edward R. Murrow became a household name and is looked upon as the high standard for professionalism as well as quality in broadcasting. In his 25-year career, he made over 5,000 broadcasts and won four individual Emmys for Best News Commentator or Analyst as well as one for Most Outstanding Personality. He went on to produce several more shows and be awarded honorary degrees from five universities, including one in law from the University of North Carolina, before lung cancer took his life on April 27, 1965. He was 57 years old.
II. Literary Works Summarized
World War II Broadcasts
These rooftop reports helped create Murrow's reputation as a broadcaster as well as bring
millions of American listeners to the realization that they needed to enter the war on the Allied side.
Hear It Now
The weekly news broadcasts allowed Murrow to present famous speeches and history in
the making to Americans. The success of this series led to the creation of his most notable program, See It Now.
See It Now
The transformation over to television reached its peak on the night of March 9th, 1954, the night of the McCarthy broadcast. Murrow spoke one of his most famous quotes while
assisting to dispel the fear of communism being displayed by the nation. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we dig
deep in our history and doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and defend causes which for the
moment unpopular. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result. There is no way for a citizen of the Republic to abdicate his responsibility.
See It Now went on to win four Emmys for Best News or Public Service Program, a Look-TV Award, a Sylvania Television Award, and a Variety Showmanship Award and is the most remembered of Murrow's projects.
III. List of Works
1939-1945 Radio broadcasts from Europe during WWII
1940 So This Is London, a collection of above broadcasts was published
1939-1961 In Search of the Light: The Broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow
1950-1951 Hear It Now, a weekly news radio series
See It Now, a television program that earned Murrow praise and fame
1953-1959 Person to Person, a program where Murrow interviewed celebrities and public figures
1958-1960 Small World, a lighter side to television that Murrow moderated and produced
IV. Murrow on the Web
http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=05730000http://otr.com/murrow.html
http://www.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/literary/murrow.htm
http://www.mbcnet.org/ETV/M/htmlM/murrowedwar/murrowedwar.htm
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/arch/col/ms0576r.htm
This essay was submitted by a student of Rita Achenbach, a teacher at Fuquay-Varina High School in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.