Victor Fremont Lawson (September 9, 1850 – August 19, 1925) was an American newspaper publisher who headed the ''

Chicago Daily News The ''Chicago Daily News'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. History The ''Daily News'' was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Doughert ...

'' from 1876 to 1925.David Paul Nord. "Lawson, Victor Fremont". ''American National Biography Online''. Oxford University Press. February 2000. Retrieved on October 11, 2011. Lawson was president of the

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. new ...

from 1894 to 1900, and was on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit orga ...

from 1900 to 1925. Outside of the newspaper business, he was involved in various philanthropic causes in Chicago. In 1919 he was appointed to the

Chicago Commission on Race Relations The Chicago Commission on Race Relations was a non-partisan, interracial investigative committee, appointed by Illinois governor Frank Lowden. The commission was set up after the Chicago riots of July and August 1919 in "which thirty-eight lives ...

Biography

He was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

on September 9, 1850 to Iver Lawson (1822–72) and Melinda (Nordvig) Lawson (1827-1896). He had a brother, Iver Norman Lawson (1865-1937). He died of a heart attack in 1925 in Chicago. He was interred at Chicago's

Graceland Cemetery Graceland Cemetery is a large historic garden cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at the intersection of Clark Street and Ir ...

where his grave is marked with a sculpture of a medieval knight designed by

Lorado Taft Lorado Zadok Taft (April 29, 1860, in Elmwood, Illinois – October 30, 1936, in Chicago) was an American sculptor, writer and educator. His 1903 book, ''The History of American Sculpture,'' was the first survey of the subject and stood for deca ...

Publishing

Lawson's family grew rich from real estate dealings in Chicago, and held stakes in a Norwegian-language newspaper called the '' Skandinaven''. The ''Chicago Daily News'', founded by

Melville E. Stone Melville Elijah Stone (August 22, 1848 – February 15, 1929) was an American newspaper publisher, the founder of the ''Chicago Daily News'', and was the general manager of the reorganized Associated Press. Biography Stone's parents were R ...

, Percy Meggy and William Dougherty in 1875, was a tenant in the same building as the ''Skandinaven''. The ''Daily News'' was struggling, but Victor Lawson decided to invest in it in July 1876, becoming its manager. Within twenty years, its circulation grew to 200,000 people. Lawson mainly focused on the business aspects of the paper, while Stone and others worked as editors. Helping to fuel the paper's success was Lawson's ability to attract advertisers. Lawson provided clear circulation figures to businesses and promised consistent rates for advertisements. Chicago, Illinois The Crusader1

The ''Daily News'' employed

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missouri ...

, one of the first major newspaper columnists, and contained a mix of fiction, household advice, and reports on city happenings. David Paul Nord writes, "It was quintessentially an urban newspaper, committed to private business but also to activist government, to social welfare, and to the broad public life of the city. It was a progenitor of the kind of progressive reform politics that came to flower in many cities during the early twentieth century." In 1898, Lawson founded an early foreign news service, which became a key component of the ''Daily News''.

References

External links

Inventory of the Victor Lawson Papers, Ca. 1860-1931 (Newberry Library)Lawson Field (Wheaton College)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Victor 1850 births 1925 deaths Businesspeople from Chicago American newspaper publishers (people) Burials at Graceland Cemetery (Chicago)

Biography

Publishing

References

Further reading

External links