Roy Hampton Park (15 September 1910 – 25 October 1993) was an American media executive and entrepreneur. He is known for creating the Duncan Hines brand of packaged food products, and for his television/radio/newspaper conglomerate, Park Communications. He created the
Park Foundation
The Park Foundation is an American nonprofit foundation founded in 1966 by entrepreneur and media mogul Roy H. Park.
The foundation supports a variety of liberal and environmental causes, and has been a major supporter of the anti-fracking movem ...
, which has funded many programs in his name at
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
,
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, and
North Carolina State University.
Biography
Park was born in
Dobson, North Carolina
Dobson is a town in Dobson Township, Surry County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,396. It is the county seat of Surry County. Dobson is the home of the Shelton Vineyards, the largest winery in No ...
, the son of a tenant farmer. He began writing for two local
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
newspapers at the age of 12; although he suffered a severe bout with
rheumatic fever at 13, Park graduated from Dobson High School at the age of 15 and followed his brother to
North Carolina State University.
After crashing his brother's automobile, Park took his first job to pay off the damages; this job was at the local
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
bureau, where he worked his way up from office boy to reporter by the time of this graduation from college. He also wrote for the college's student newspaper, ''
Technician
A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles.
Specialisation
The term technician covers many different speciali ...
'', and extended his term of study at college so that he could serve as the paper's editor-in-chief. Upon graduation in 1931 with a degree in business administration, he was awarded the senior superlative of "Best Writer."
After graduation, Park accepted the position of public relations director for the North Carolina Cotton Growers Cooperative Association; there, he pioneered innovative ways of promoting
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
, including "Cotton Balls," with dancers and performers dressed in cotton formal wear. In 1936, he married Dorothy Goodwin Dent, one of the "Maids of Cotton," whom he met prior to these events.
At the Cotton Cooperative, Park founded and published three periodicals, the ''Carolina Cooperator,'' the ''Rural Electrification Guide'', and ''Cooperative Digest and Farm Power'', which attracted the attention of H. E. Babcock, the founder of the
Grange League Federation
Agway of DeWitt, New York, is an American agricultural business that offers feed for livestock and poultry, as well as seed, fertilizers, and herbicides.
History
Agway was formed on July 25, 1964, from a merger between the Grange League Federat ...
. Babcock offered Park a position at the agency, in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...
, which Park accepted in 1942.
Duncan Hines
In the late 1940s, the Grange approached Park to find a way to market their excess food products; Park approached well-known food critic
Duncan Hines
Duncan Hines (March 26, 1880 – March 15, 1959) was an American pioneer of restaurant ratings for travelers. He is best known today for the brand of food products that bears his name.
Early life
Hines was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the so ...
to lend his name to a brand of packaged food products. The resulting company, Hines-Park Foods, was a stunning success in the American food market, especially with its flagship product, Duncan Hines Cake Mix. Only five years after releasing its first products, Hines-Park was acquired by
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
in 1956 for 360,000 shares of Procter & Gamble stock and an undisclosed amount of cash. Park stayed with Procter & Gamble as a senior executive until 1962.
Park Communications
After selling Duncan Hines, Park began to look around for new business opportunities. In 1961, he used his shares of Procter & Gamble as collateral to acquire two radio stations in North Carolina and established Park Broadcasting, Inc. He left Procter & Gamble the following year and began rapidly purchasing other radio and TV stations. In 1972, he started purchasing newspapers; five years later, he owned 40 of them. Most of his acquisitions were in small to medium-sized markets, far away from big cities.
"Park saw gold in owning broadcast stations," said his longtime deputy Johnny Babcock.
"They are reasonably invulnerable to competition, not overburdened with depreciable assets, high profile in their community, and while regulated by the government, the franchise for the assigned frequency on the airwaves is protected by Uncle Sam." Park's TV stations operated at a 45% profit margin, with radio in the high 30s, "outdoor billboards in the low 30s, newspapers in the mid to high 20s. A big grocery retailer does well to turn a profit of 2-3 percent; industrial concerns score success if they exceed 10 percent operating profit. Broadcasting was a pretty fat cat."
By 1977, Park had become the first broadcaster to acquire seven television stations, seven AM radio, and seven FM radio stations—the legal limit at the time. In 1983, Congress relaxed limits on ownership, and Park resumed buying. Park changed the name of the company and went public in 1983, selling 10% of his shares and retaining 90% of the company. At the time of his death, Park Communications controlled 21 radio stations, seven television stations, and 144 publications; the company's market reach was estimated at one-quarter of all American households and employed over 3,000 people. As the conglomerate grew, he often said that he did not sell media properties, he bought them.
After his death, Park Communications was bought for $710 million by a pair of investors using a loan from the
Retirement Systems of Alabama
Retirement Systems of Alabama is the administrator of the pension fund for employees of the state of Alabama. It is headquartered in the state capital Montgomery, Alabama. David G. Bronner is the chief executive officer.
Under Bronner's leader ...
. It was resold in 1996 to
Media General
Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch ...
.
In 2017, Media General was sold to Nexstar Broadcasting Group. The combined company is now known as
Nexstar Media Group.
Other
Park lived in the
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...
area for the remainder of his life, having purchased a stone mansion on seven acres in
Cayuga Heights in the mid-1950s.
He maintained connections to his native state, sitting on the Board of Visitors for the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and on the Board of Trustees of
North Carolina State University. In 1989, the state of North Carolina presented him with its highest civilian honor, the
North Carolina Award The North Carolina Award is the highest civilian award bestowed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is awarded in the four fields of science, literature, the fine arts, and public service. Sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize of North Carol ...
.
In addition to his media holdings, Park owned a number of rental properties in Ithaca, timberland in North Carolina, and was a major shareholder in both
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
and the
Tompkins County Trust Company, owning 7% of the latter at his death. He also owned a billboard and outdoor advertising business that he eventually sold to his son.
Park was actively involved with
Ithaca College
Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...
, joining its board of trustees in 1973 and serving as chairman from 1981 to 1992. In 1989, the college's media school was renamed the Roy H. Park School of Communications. The college's School of Business is housed in the Dorothy D. and Roy H. Park Center, which opened in 2008.
At
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...
, he sat on the Advisory Council of the
Johnson Graduate School of Management and endowed the Lewis H. Durland Memorial Lecture Series, which brings a prominent business leader to campus every year. (Durland, the longtime university treasurer, was a friend of Park.)
Park died in 1993 from a heart attack in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
Philanthropy
In 1966, Park created the
Park Foundation
The Park Foundation is an American nonprofit foundation founded in 1966 by entrepreneur and media mogul Roy H. Park.
The foundation supports a variety of liberal and environmental causes, and has been a major supporter of the anti-fracking movem ...
as an outlet for his philanthropic interests. After his death, a substantial percentage of his wealth went to the foundation.
The foundation quickly ran into trouble, with Park's two children (one liberal, one conservative) disagreeing about which causes to support. In 2001, Dorothy Park divided the foundation in two. She, along with her daughter Adelaide Gomer and Gomer's daughter, continued to operate the Park Foundation, whereas Park Jr. and his children took over the spun-off
Triad Foundation
The Triad Foundation is an American nonprofit foundation formed in 2003 as a spin-off of the Park Foundation. The triad in the newer foundation's title refers to Park Jr. and his children Roy Park III and Elizabeth Park Fowler. The foundation's en ...
.
In 2010, with Dorothy Park suffering from advanced Alzheimer's, her two children sued each other after disagreeing over whose foundation should get the bulk of her estimated $220-million estate.
(Dorothy Park died in 2016, at 103.)
The Park Foundation supports a myriad of causes including higher education, media and public awareness, and environmental protection. Among their largest contributions include the
Park Scholarships
The Park Scholarships program is an undergraduate scholarship program in the United States. The mission of the program is "to bring exceptional students to North Carolina State University based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in sc ...
program at
North Carolina State University and the Park Scholar program at Ithaca College within the Park School of Communications. In addition, the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center at North Carolina State was named after the couple.
Awards and honors
*1970: NC State Alumni Association Meritorious Service Award
*1971: Abe Lincoln Award from the Southern Baptist's Radio and Television Commission
*1975: Watauga Medal, NC State's highest honor
*1978: NC State honors Park with an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree
*1982: North Carolina Broadcasting Hall of Fame
*1984: Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
*1989:
North Carolina Award The North Carolina Award is the highest civilian award bestowed by the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is awarded in the four fields of science, literature, the fine arts, and public service. Sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize of North Carol ...
*1989: Ithaca College in New York dedicates its communications building in his honor
*1990: University of North Carolina School of Journalism Hall of Fame
*1992: NC State University Centennial Award
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Roy H.
1910 births
1993 deaths
People from Dobson, North Carolina
Ithaca College
North Carolina State University alumni
Associated Press reporters
20th-century American non-fiction writers