Morris DeHaven Tracy

Morris DeHaven Tracy was a prominent

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

of the 1920s and 1930s, who covered for the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

wire service A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...

many of the important stories of the day, such as the Scopes Evolution Trial, the election of Pope Pius XII, and the tour of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. He was born on August 6, 1890, in

Hydesville Hydesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Humboldt County, California, United States. Hydesville is located southeast of Fortuna, at an elevation of . The population was 1,237 at the 2010 census, up from 1,209 at the 2000 census. Geograph ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, to Joseph and Harriet (Morris) Tracy. He was the grandson of the historian and Congregational minister Rev. Joseph Tracy. From 1908, he worked for the local Humboldt County newspapers covering the numerous shipwrecks along the Northern California coast. His coverage of the wreck of the passenger liner ''Bear'' in 1916 earned him a place in the San Francisco bureau of the United Press, where he was responsible for one of the most important scoops of the time, the reelection of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

over

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...

. Through his connections with the Humboldt County clerk, Fred Kay, Tracy heard of errors in the initial reported tabulation, and became the first to confirm the election for Wilson. He became a bureau manager for the United Press in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C. In 1927, he co-authored with Dale Van Every the best-selling book ''

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

-- His Life''. In 1934, after the death of his first wife, he resigned from the

and attempted to write his journalistic memoirs, but by 1935 he joined the

Boston Traveller The ''Boston Evening Traveller'' (1845–1967) was a newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a daily newspaper, with weekly and semi-weekly editions under a variety of ''Traveller'' titles. It was absorbed by the ''Boston Herald'' i ...

as a columnist and special assignment reporter. Morris Tracy married Mildred Hunter in 1913; they had two children, Grace Eleanor and Mary Harriet. Mildred died in 1933, and he married Frances Gray in 1935. Tracy died of coronary thrombosis on May 11, 1940, while vacationing in Pinehurst,

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 ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Morris DeHaven 1890 births 1940 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American journalists