Wil Haygood (born September 19, 1954, in Columbus, Ohio) is an American journalist and author who is known for his 2008 article "A Butler Well Served by this Election" in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' about

Eugene Allen Eugene Allen (July 14, 1919 – March 31, 2010) was an American waiter and butler who worked for the US government at the White House for 34 years until he retired as the head butler in 1986. Allen's life was the inspiration for the 2013 film ' ...

, which served as the basis for the 2013 movie ''

The Butler ''The Butler'' (full title ''Lee Daniels' The Butler'') is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels and with a screenplay by Danny Strong. It is inspired by Wil Haygood's ''Washington Post'' article "A But ...

''. Since then, Haygood has written a book about Allen, ''The Butler: A Witness to History''. While being interviewed on the radio program ''Conversations with Allan Wolper'' on

WBGO WBGO (88.3 FM, "Jazz 88") is a public radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. Studios and offices are located on Park Place in downtown Newark, and its transmitter is located at 4 Times Square in Manhattan. The station primarily plays ja ...

88.3FM, Haygood revealed that he had tracked down another

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

butler. At the last minute, this butler, who had served three presidents, refused to be interviewed; the man's family apparently did not want his story out against the parallel story of the election of President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. Haygood is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and a professor at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

. Haygood's 2018 book ''Tigerland: 1968–1969: A City Divided, A Nation Torn Apart, And A Magical Season Of Healing'' was the runner-up for the 2019 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Nonfiction. In 2022, Haygood was chosen as the recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.Dayton Literary Peace Prize to Honor Wil Haygood with Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award
/ref>

Books

*''Two on the River'', 1986 *''King of Cats: The Life and Times of

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was t ...

'', 1993 *''The Haygoods of Columbus: A Family Memoir'', 1997 *''In Black and White: The Life of

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

'', 2003 *''Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regard ...

'', 2009 *''The Butler: A Witness to History'', 2013 *''Showdown:

Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...

and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America'', 2015 *''Tigerland: 1968–1969: A City Divided, A Nation Torn Apart, And A Magical Season Of Healing'', 2018. *''Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World'', 2021.

References

External links

* 1954 births Living people African-American journalists Writers from Columbus, Ohio Journalists from Ohio Miami University alumni The Washington Post journalists American male journalists American male biographers 20th-century American biographers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American biographers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people {{US-journalist-1950s-stub