Thomas More Storke (November 23, 1876 – October 12, 1971) was an American journalist, politician, postmaster, and publisher. He was awarded with the famous Pulitzer Prize for Journalism in 1962. Storke also served as an interim

United States 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 ...

, appointed to serve between the resignation of

William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...

in November 1938 and the January 1939 swearing-in of

Sheridan Downey Sheridan Downey (March 11, 1884 – October 25, 1961) was an American lawyer and a Democratic U.S. Senator from California from 1939 to 1950. Early life He was born in Laramie, the seat of Albany County in western Wyoming, the son of the ...

, who had been elected to succeed McAdoo.

Early life and journalism career

Born in Santa Barbara, Storke was an only child who grew up bilingual in Spanish and English and was born to eminent local citizen and politician Charles A. Storke and Martha Storke. Through his mother he was descended from the Ortega and Olivera families. As a child he attended public schools and moved on to Stanford University one year early with a degree in Economics. Storke graduated in 1898 at age 22. In 1900, Storke borrowed $2,000 and went on to buy the ''Santa Barbara Daily Independent'', the least favored newspaper in town. In 1909 he sold the outlet to get into the oil business and later purchased the ''Santa Barbara Daily News'' in 1913. The spring prior, he was appointed as the Santa Barbara postmaster. Storke readopted the ''Daily Independent'' and combined that with the ''Daily News'' to birth the ''Santa Barbara Daily News & Independent''. Years later, Storke bought ''The Morning Press'', Santa Barbara's third paper. He later combined the two making ''The News-Press''. After 23 years, it was sold for near 10 million dollars to the publisher of ''The Philadelphia Bulletin''.

Later life and political career

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in politics, on November 9, 1938, Storke was appointed as to the

United States Senate 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 pow ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

. Storke had not been a candidate in the 1938 election, and served until the January 3, 1939 swearing-in of

, who had been elected as McAdoo's successor. Storke flew to Washington and was sworn in by Edwin H. Halsey, the Secretary of the Senate. However, Congress was not in session during the time he was in office, so Storke never authored any legislation or cast a Senate vote. He returned home and resumed working in the media, merging his newspaper the ''Santa Barbara News'' with the ''Morning Press'' to create the Santa Barbara News-Press. He also founded AM radio station

KTMS KTMS (990 AM, "News Talk AM 990") is a commercial radio station in Santa Barbara, California. It is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and airs a talk radio format. KTMS is simulcast on FM translator station K250BS at 97.9 MHz, licensed to Solimar ...

. He was a member of the California Crime Commission from 1951–1952, and the Board of Regents of the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

from 1955 until 1960. In 1958 Storke wrote California Editor, a lengthy memoir rich in local Santa Barbara history. The

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...

attacked the Eisenhower administration and U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren as being communists in 1961. Storke responded with a caustic series of editorials in the ''News-Press'' which won him popular acclaim as well as a number of prizes. These included the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism, for Editorial Writing in 1962, the

Elijah Parish Lovejoy Elijah Parish Lovejoy (November 9, 1802 – November 7, 1837) was an American Presbyterianism, Presbyterian Minister (Christianity), minister, journalist, Editing, newspaper editor, and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Followin ...

Award, and an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ...

degree from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

. Storke's death was caused by a stroke in 1971 at age 94, having had 10 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.

Contributions

Storke used his political clout to help obtain the present UCSB campus, over 900 coastal acres (3.6 km²) and a former military installation, from the US Government under the college land grant program. Part of Storke's lasting legacy is Storke Tower, a 190-foot structure in the center of the

UCSB The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

campus, being the tallest tower in the county as well as the only five-octave chromatic bell system. Beneath Storke Tower is the Storke Communication Plaza, which houses the offices of the campus ''

Daily Nexus The ''Daily Nexus'' is a campus newspaper at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). ''Daily Nexus'' lineage can be traced to the Santa Barbara State College student newspaper, ''The Eagle'', of the 1930s. After the college becam ...

'' newspaper and the studios of community radio station

KCSB-FM KCSB-FM (91.9 FM) is a non-commercial, educational radio station located on the UC Santa Barbara campus. KCSB is designed to be educational for both programmers and listeners. UCSB students and other programmers are provided an opportunity to lear ...

Notes

References

* Baker, Gayle. ''Santa Barbara''. Harbor Town Histories, Santa Barbara. 2003. * Tompkins, Walker A. ''Santa Barbara History Makers''. McNally & Loftin, Santa Barbara. 1983. * Storke, Thomas M. ''California Editor''. Westernlore, Los Angeles. 1958.

External links

Guide to the Thomas More Storke Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...