Henry Doorly (November 9, 1879 – June 21, 1961) was the chairman of the World Publishing Company and publisher of the '' Omaha World-Herald'' in Nebraska, founded by his father-in-law,

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Gilbert Hitchcock Gilbert Monell Hitchcock (September 18, 1859February 3, 1934) was an American congressman and U.S. Senator from Nebraska, and the founder of the ''Omaha World-Herald'' newspaper. Life and career Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Hitchcock was the son of ...

. Doorly worked for the company for 58 years, and became a highly influential figure in the city. Shortly after his death, Omaha's zoo was renamed in his memory in 1963."History"
, Henry Doorly Zoo website. Retrieved 4/29/08.

Early years

Born in Barbados to Martin E. Doorly and Catherine Isabella Carrington, Doorly was educated at Harrison College in Bridgetown. From 1896 to 1898 he studied civil engineering in the West Indies. Doorly arrived in Omaha by 1900 as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

with the Union Pacific Railroad, he spent two years working as a draftsman with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha. On September 7, 1904, Doorly married Margaret Hitchcock in Omaha, becoming the son-in-law of ''World-Herald'' publisher and politician

''Omaha World-Herald''

Beginning as a reporter for the ''Omaha World-Herald'', Doorly failed miserably, retaining his job only because he was the publisher's daughter's fiancé. Doorly became successful after moving to advertisement sales, advancing to advertising manager and then business manager for the newspaper. Doorly took control of the newspaper in 1934 when his father-in-law, Gilbert M. Hitchcock, died. Reflecting the changing nature of the major American

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

and Doorly's personal disenchantment with the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

in the 1930s, he implemented the newspaper's editorial page shift toward a

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

policy stance. Under Doorly's guidance, the paper soon standardized advertisement policies and procedures. To enforce brevity and variety, Doorly had a daily "Item Count" conducted to count the number of stories in each news category, including local news, society, and international sections. The staff consequently produced as many as 450 separate news stories a day."An independent steps aside"
''Time''. Sep. 05, 1955. Retrieved 4/29/08.

''Omaha Bee-News''

In 1937, William Randolph Hearst sold Doorly the '' Bee-News'', his main competitor in Omaha.

Scrap drives

During World War II, Doorly used his position to lead a national campaign educating newspaper editors and publishers in promoting steel recycling to support the war.

Legacy

Doorly retired from the paper in 1950 and from World Publishing in 1955, leaving control of both newspapers to Walter E. Christiansen. He died in 1961 of an apparent heart attack. In 1963, his widow Margaret Hitchcock Doorly donated $750,000 (approximately $4.5 million in 2005 dollars) to the Omaha Zoological Society. It was organized in 1953 to improve the Riverview Park Zoo and to provide administrative help to the city."General Information: Zoo history"
, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo. Retrieved 5/3/08. With her donation, Doorly stipulated that the zoo be renamed in memory of her late husband. Doorly and his wife are buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Omaha.

References

External links

Douglas County History
- Henry Doorly

- Henry Doorly * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doorly, Henry 1879 births Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska American newspaper editors American male journalists Newspaper people from Omaha, Nebraska Barbadian emigrants to the United States 1961 deaths Nebraska Republicans People educated at Harrison College (Barbados)