William Davis Taylor (April 2, 1908 – February 19, 2002) was an American newspaper executive who was publisher of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' from 1955 to 1977.

Biography

Taylor followed his paternal grandfather,

Charles H. Taylor Charles H. Taylor may refer to: * Charles Taylor (North Carolina politician) (born 1941), US congressman from North Carolina * Charles H. Taylor (Michigan politician) (1813–1889), American politician who served as the Michigan Secretary of State ...

, and father, William O. Taylor, as publisher of ''

''. He was the third of five members of the Taylor family who led the paper from 1873 to 1999. Taylor was the first publisher of the ''Globe'' to appoint an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

in 75 years, naming

Laurence L. Winship Laurence Leathe Winship (February 19, 1890 – March 3, 1975) was an American journalist who served as editor of ''The Boston Globe'' from 1955 until 1965. Biography Winship was born in 1890 in Somerville, Massachusetts. His father was an editor ...

to the role in 1955. During Taylor's time as publisher, the ''Globe'' made its first political endorsement, supporting Kevin White in the

1967 Boston mayoral election The Boston mayoral election of 1967 occurred on Tuesday, November 7, 1967, between Secretary of the Commonwealth Kevin White and Boston School Committee member Louise Day Hicks. White was elected to his first term, and inaugurated on Monday, J ...

. The ''Globe'' also became one of the first newspapers to call for the United States to withdraw from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and one of the first newspapers to call for the resignation of President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

. The ''Globe'' won 11

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

s during Taylor's tenure. It was also during Taylor's time as publisher that the ''Globe'' became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

for the first time in its history, under the name Affiliated Publications in 1973. Taylor was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, was educated at

Noble and Greenough School The Noble and Greenough School, commonly known as Nobles, is a coeducational, nonsectarian day and five-day boarding school for students in grades seven through twelve. It is near Boston on a campus that borders the Charles River in Dedham, Massa ...

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

, and was a 1931 graduate of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Taylor had two children with his first wife, who died in 1947, and four children with his second wife. Upon his retirement at the end of 1977, he was succeeded as publisher by his son William O. Taylor II. Taylor died at his home in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

, in 2002 at age 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, William Davis 1908 births 2002 deaths Mass media people from Brookline, Massachusetts Noble and Greenough School alumni Harvard University alumni The Boston Globe people American newspaper publishers (people) Taylor family Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award recipients