Tom O'Connor (July 28, 1914 – July 24, 1952) was an American journalist and editor. He wrote for the ''Harvard Journal'', ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'', New York '' PM'', and the New York Daily Compass. He was among the first television anchors on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

. In 1952, he was called before the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

(HUAC). He died of a sudden

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

two months after testifying before HUAC.

Early life and education

O’Connor was born in

Nampa, Idaho Nampa () is the most populous city in Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 100,200 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is Idaho's List of cities in Idaho, third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise, Id ...

. He attended Wilson High in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

after moving there with his family.

Career

O'Connor attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

during 1932–36 and was the 1935 President of the '' Harvard Journal''. He graduated with a Bachelors of Science. Returning to California in 1935, he worked for '' The Los Angeles Post Record'' as a reporter and editor. He returned to Harvard to complete one semester of schooling in 1936 and then returned to the ''Los Angeles Post Record'' which then became a 24-hour newspaper called the News where he stayed until late spring 1940. He served as the president of the Los Angeles Newspaper Guild in the late 1930s. In 1940, he moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and joined the staff of the liberal-leaning newspaper PM where he worked as city editor among other positions. In 1941, he won the Hayward Brown Memorial Award for series on conditions in the coal mining industry. After

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

, he interviewed American-born Japanese residents of New York and wrote about their disgust at Japanese aggression. He left the paper to serve in the merchant marines for a little less than a year. He joined the New York Daily Compass in May 1948 as a reporter and went on to become the managing editor. In 1945, he joined

as one of their first television

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

s. On Thursday, May 22, 1952 O'Connor was called before the

after being named first by Charles W. Judson and then by Alice K. Bennett. O'Connor invoked the 5th amendment and didn't name any names.Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, Second Session
(1952) U.S. Government Printing Office. Two months later, on July 24 he died of a heart attack while watching the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

in his office at the Daily Compass.

Personal life

O'Connor married Ann Henry in October 1941. They had two children together, Shannon and Daniel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Thomas Burton 1914 births 1952 deaths People from Nampa, Idaho Harvard College alumni American male journalists 20th-century American newspaper editors Editors of California newspapers Editors of New York City newspapers American television news anchors CBS News people