Houston Harriman Harte was a newspaperman who co-founded

Harte-Hanks Harte Hanks is a global marketing services company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Harte Hanks services include analytics, strategy, marketing technology, creative services, digital marketing, customer care, direct mail, logistics, and ful ...

Communications. Harte was born January 12, 1893 in Knob Noster,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. After a year at the University of California, Harte returned to the University of Missouri, where he received his degree in journalism in 1915.

Journalism

Harte went to work as Business Manager for the ''Missouri Republican'' and was then its editor and publisher until 1920. Hanks' first newspaper acquisitions were the ''

Abilene Reporter-News ''Abilene Reporter-News'' is a daily newspaper based in Abilene, Texas, United States. The newspaper started publishing as the weekly ''Abilene Reporter'', helmed by Charles Edwin Gilbert on June 17, 1881, just three months after Abilene was fo ...

'' and the ''San Angelo Standard''. During the 1920’s and 30’s, he continued to acquire other newspapers, including the ''

Corpus Christi Times The ''Corpus Christi Caller-Times'' is the newspaper of record for Corpus Christi, Texas. History There has been a newspaper in Corpus Christi for almost as long as there has been a town. In 1883, the ''Caller'' was started in a frame building ...

''. Harte-Hanks Newspapers was created in 1948. At the time of his death, in 1972, the company owned a television station and 19 newspapers across six states.

Other Activities

While leading his first newspaper, Harte also served as a captain during World War I (1918-1919). Harte created the book ''In Our Image'' along with ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

, Guy Rowe, a collection of

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

stories published in 1949 by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. For that book, the two men won a

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organization ...

. Harte was instrumental in preserving historic

Fort Concho Fort Concho is a former United States Army installation and National Historic Landmark District located in San Angelo, Texas. It was established in November 1867 at the confluence of the North and South Concho Rivers, on the routes of the But ...

in San Angelo. He also donated substantially to

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the same year it too ...

, and served on the board of directors for

Texas Technological College Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

(now

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

). Harte was also a confidante of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. His association with Johnson led him to end his longstanding friendship with a leading Johnson critic, the

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

J. Evetts Haley ''J. The Jewish News of Northern California'', formerly known as ''Jweekly'', is a weekly print newspaper in Northern California, with its online edition updated daily. It is owned and operated by San Francisco Jewish Community Publications In ...

. Harte married Caroline Isabel McCutcheon in 1921. Their two sons,

Edward H. Harte Edward Holmead Harte (December 5, 1922 – May 18, 2011) was an American newspaper executive, journalist, philanthropist, and conservationist. The son of Houston Harte, co-founder of the Harte-Hanks newspaper conglomerate, he had a decades-long rela ...

and Houston H. Harte also became prominent newspaper publishers. Harte died March 1972 in

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...

References

1893 births 1972 deaths People from Missouri People from San Angelo, Texas American newspaper chain founders 20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Harte family (United States) Christian writers Texas Democrats Texas Tech University System regents Writers from Missouri Writers from Texas University of Missouri alumni 20th-century American businesspeople University of California, Berkeley alumni 20th-century American academics {{US-business-bio-1890s-stub