Publicists in US Public Relations History: An Analysis of the Representations of Publicists, 1815–1918

Abstract

The role of publicists in public relations history is largely overlooked. Although today publicists are commonly associated with the entertainment industry, late nineteenth and early twentieth century publicists were a professional group that played an important role in developing modern public relations practice, particularly the craft of research-based, ethical, and strategic communication. These early publicists' reputations and skills at managing public opinion were highly sought after by universities, businesses, and in political circles. Because their work often involved international issues, their impact was present both domestically and outside of the United States. Understanding the role the publicist played in public relations development presents a new narrative of public relations history that shows that early public relations practice contained professional, strategic, and international communication practices.

Notes

1 S. C. Mitchell, “The Educational Needs of the South,” Outlook, February 13, 1904, 7.

2 Edward Bernays, Public Relations (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1952), 11–125.

3 Edward Bernays, Biography of an Idea: Memoirs of Public Relations Counsel Edward L. Bernays (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965), 287.

4 Edward Bernays, Crystallizing Public Opinion (New York: Liveright, 1923), 11–60; Edward Bernays, Propaganda (New York: Liveright, 1928), 37–58; Edward Bernays, “The Engineering of Consent,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 250 (March 1947): 113–20.

5 Bernays, Biography of an Idea, 287.

6 Peggy Hoy, Oliver Raaz, and Stefan Weimeir, “From Facts to Stories or from Stories to Facts?: Analyzing Public Relations History in Public Relations Textbooks,” Public Relations Review 33, no. 2 (2007): 191–200, 192–93; Richard S. Tedlow, “Preface: Up from Press Agentry,” in Keeping the Corporate Image: Public Relations and Business 1900–1959, ed. Richard S. Tedlow (Greenwich, CT: Jai Press, 1979), 25–58.

7 Edward Bernays, Public Relations, 11–125.

8 Scott Cutlip and Allen Center, Effective Public Relations (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1958), 16–46; James Grunig and Todd Hunt, Managing Public Relations (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1984), 22.

9 Grunig and Hunt, Managing Public Relations, 22.

10 Ibid.

11 Bernays, Biography of an Idea, 287.

12 Scott Cutlip, The Unseen Power (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1994); Scott Cutlip, Public Relations History from the 17th to the 20th Century: The Antecedents (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1995).

13 Larissa Grunig and James Grunig, “Public Relations in the United States: A Generation of Maturation,” in The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research and Practice, ed. K. Sriamesh and D. Verčič (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 2003), 337.

14 Cutlip and Center, Effective Public Relations, 22.

15 Marvin Olasky, “Retrospective: Bernays' Doctrine of Public Opinion,” Public Relations Review 10, no. 3 (1984): 3–12; Marvin Olasky, Corporate Public Relations: A New Historical Perspective (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1987), 7–31.

16 Karen Miller, “U.S. Public Relations History: Knowledge and Limitations,” Annuals of the International Communication Association 23, no. 1 (2000): 381–420; Cayce Myers, “Reconsidering the Corporate Narrative in US Public Relations History: A Critique of Alfred Chandler's Influence on PR Historiography,” Public Relations Review 40, no. 4 (2014): 676–683.

17 Karen Russell and Meg Opdycke Lamme, “Public Relations and Business Responses to the Civil Rights Movement,” Public Relations Review 39, no. 1 (2013): 63–73; Margot Opdycke Lamme, Public Relations and Religion in American History: Evangelism, Temperance, and Business (New York: Routledge, 2014), 1–37; Meg Opdycke Lamme, “The ‘Public Sentiment Building Society’: The Anti-Saloon League of America, 1895–1910,” Journalism History 29, no. 3 (2003): 123–132; Meg Opdycke Lamme, “Tapping into War: Leveraging World War I in the Drive for a Dry Nation,” American Journalism 21, no. 4 (2004): 63–91; Karla Gower, “US Corporate Public Relations in the Progressive Era,” Journal of Communication Management 12, no. 4 (2008): 305–318.

18 Burton St. John III, Margot Opdycke Lamme, Jacquie L'Etang, eds., Pathways to Public Relations: Histories of Practice and Profession (London: Routledge, 2014); Tom Watson, ed., Western European Perspectives on the Development of Public Relations (Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Pivot, 2015); Tom Watson, “Let's Get Dangerous: A Review of Current Public Relations Historical Scholarship,” Public Relations Review 40 (2014): 874–877; Jacquie L'Etang, Public Relations in Britain (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2004); Günter Bentele and Howard Nothaft, “Strategic Communication and the Public Sphere from a European Perspective,” International Journal of Strategic Communication 4, no. 2 (2010): 93–116; Günter Bentele and Peter Grazyna-Maria, “Public Relations in the German Democratic Republic and the New Federal German States,” in International Public Relations: A Comparative Analyses, ed. Hugh Bulbertson and Ni Chen (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1996), 349–350.

19 Karen Russell and Carl Bishop, “Understanding Ivy Lee's Declaration of Principles: US Newspaper and Magazine Coverage of Publicity and Press Agentry 1865–1904,” Public Relations Review 3, no. 2 (2009): 91–101; W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry Holladay, “Privileging an Activist vs. a Corporate View of Public Relations History in the US,” Public Relations Review 38, no. 3 (2012): 347–353; Kevin Stoker and Brad Rawlins, “The ‘Light’ of Publicity in the Progressive Era: From Searchlight to Flashlight,” Journalism History 30, no. 4 (2005): 177–188; Cayce Myers, “Reconsidering Propaganda in US PR History: An Analysis of Propaganda in the Popular Press, 1810–1918,” Public Relations Review 41, no. 4 (2015): 551–561.

20 Margot Lamme and Karen Russell, “Removing the Spin: Toward a New Theory of Public Relations Development,” Journalism and Communication Monographs 11, no. 4 (2010): 281–362.

21 “Publicist,” Oxford English Dictionary, http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/154063?redirectedFrom=publicist#eid.

22 K. Rosenkranz and G. S. Hall, “Hegel as Publicist,” Journal of Speculative Philosophy 6, no. 3 (1872): 258–79.

23 G. E. Swanson, “Agitation through the Press: A Study of the Personalities of Publicists,” Public Opinion Quarterly 20, no. 2 (1956): 441–456; G. E. Swanson, “Agitation in Face-to-Face Contacts: A Study of the Personalities of Orators,” Public Opinion Quarterly 2, no. 2 (1957): 288–294. Swanson was a sociology professor at the University of Michigan.

24 Swanson, “Agitation through the Press,” 455.

25 J. A. Thompson, “American Progressive Publicists and the First World War, 1914–1917,” Journal of American History 58, no. 2 (1971): 364–383. Thompson is an emeritus lecturer at St. Catherine's College at Cambridge University. His analysis of publicists is part of a larger research program examining American imperialism during World War I.

26 Frank Luther Mott, A History of American Magazines, vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1938); John Tebbel and Mary Ellen Zuckerman, The Magazine in America 1741–1990 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).

27 Bernays, Biography of an Idea, 287.

28 This study keyword searched the term “publicist*” in four digital press databases for primary sources: ProQuest American Newspapers for the New York Times, ProQuest American Newspapers for the Chicago Tribune, ProQuest American Newspapers for the Los Angeles Times, and American Periodical Series. For the ProQuest databases for the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times, every tenth article was used. For American Periodical Series, every twentieth article was used. This yielded a total of 401 articles, which contained 152 articles from the New York Times, 51 articles from the Chicago Tribune, 28 articles from the Los Angeles Times, and 169 articles from the American Periodical Series. An additional article was analyzed outside of this sample because of its relevance to this study; this additional article is titled “The Gentle Art of the Publicist,” written by David Hale and published in the Saturday Evening Post on December 23, 1904.

29 “Joseph Hodges Choate,” Outlook, May 23, 1917, 137.

30 Ibid.

31 David Hale, “The Gentle Art of the Publicist: He Has Raised Puffery to the Dignity of a Profession,” Saturday Evening Post, December 23, 1904, 4–5. This article is not part of the sample taken for this study. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an advertisement promoting this article in the New York Times is the first recorded account of publicists working with and in place of press agents.

32 Ibid.

33 Ibid.

34 Mitchell, “The Educational Needs of the South,” 7.

35 “A Cobden Court Marshal,” Albion (New York), January 28, 1864, 47; “Theory of the State,” Los Angeles Times, March 8, 1896, 31; “The annual assemblies and conventions,” Evangelist and Religious Review, March 27, 1902, 136.

36 “The Tilden Legend,” New York Times, October 26, 1885, 4; “What Does Henry George Mean?,” Methodist Review, September 1887, 763; “The Religious Press,” New York Evangelist, July 9, 1891, 2; Prof. James Albert Woodburn, “The Study of Politics in American Colleges,” American Journal of Politics, May 1894, 539; “Curzon Viceroy of India,” Chicago Daily Tribune, August 4, 1898, 6; “F. L. Olmsted Is Dead,” New York Times, August 29, 1903, 7; “Furbishing the Capitol,” Los Angeles Times, October 20, 1907, 16; “Act Forces Wage Law Probe,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 31, 1908, 8; “Bishop Galloway Dead,” New York Times, May 13, 1909, 7; “Gov. Wilson Finds Inconsistency Right,” New York Times, January 12, 1912, 14; “Ex Post Facto Integrity,” Los Angeles Times, August 26, 1912, 114; “Profanity Again Stirs Labor Forum,” New York Times, April 17, 1916, 20.

37 “Vital Statistics,” New York Times, December 12, 1909, SM11.

38 “A History for Ready Reference,” New York Times, September 21, 1901, BR7.

39 “New Publications,” New York Times, May 28, 1877, 3; “Statistical Methods,” New York Times, August 2, 1881, 4; “Vital Statistics,” New York Times, December 12, 1909, SM11.

40 “Cost of Defending the Parts,” Chicago Daily Tribune, September 21, 1890, 9; “Horr vs. Harvey,” New York Times, July 17, 1895, 4; Professor Isaac Franklin Russell, “Can International Disputes Be Judicially Determined?,” Journal of Social Science, December 1898, 187; A. V. Hiester, “The Cause of the Social Unrest of Our Day,” Reformed Church Review, April 1916, 269.

41 “The Count Joannes' Libel Suit,” New York Times, February 18, 1865, 8.

42 “Loud Talk,” Harper's Bazaar, January 30, 1869, 66; “Some Peculiarities of the Man,” Chicago Daily Tribune, October 28, 1893, 3.

43 “French Journalist Is Dead,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 26, 1901, 4; “Literature for a Livelihood,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 8, 1909, 10; “Writer Flays Wilhelm II,” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 1, 1910, A1; “Plot the Charge of Clemenceau,” Chicago Daily Tribune, September 21, 1913, A1; “Big Jobs for Bad Times,” Chicago Daily Tribune, August 6, 1916, A4; A Distinguished Publicist, “All Want Peace: Why Not Have It Now?,” New York Times, November 22, 1916, 12.

44 W. F. Warren, “Miscellaneous,” Zion's Herald, August 12, 1875, 250; “Reminiscences of a Journalism,” The Independent, December 30, 1880, 2; “Organs and ‘Official’ News,” New York Times, May 23, 1889, 4; Emilio Castelar, “Prince Von Bismark-II,” North American Review, September 1898, 351; “The Effete Tax Laws,” New York Times, January 20, 1899, 6; “They Knew of His Innocence,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 20, 1899, 3; “Reviews the Press,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 30, 1899, 10; “A Bald Newspaper Man,” Los Angeles Times, March 16, 1901, 16; “The Literature of America,” New York Times, June 20, 1903, BR7; “L. Clarke Davis, Editor Dies in Philadelphia,” New York Times, December 15, 1904, 9; “Notes of Interest and Various Comment on Foreign Affairs,” New York Times, March 19, 1905, X7; “Strike Ties up Traffic,” Chicago Daily Tribune, February 23, 1905, 2; “Joseph Steffens,” Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1912, 15; David Lawrence, “Our Foreign Policy and the War,” North American Review, April 1915, 545; “A Memorial Meeting,” Outlook, February 28, 1917, 346; “Edward Cary,” New York Times, May 24, 1917, 11; “Join Zionist Movement,” New York Times, November 19, 1917, 5.

45 “Accuses Finland in War on Jews,” New York Times, January 3, 1909, C3.

46 “Mr. Root's Public Services,” New York Times, June 2, 1916, E2.

47 “Zola May Go Free,” Chicago Daily Tribune, February 18, 1898, 5.

48 “Accuses Finland in War on Jews,” New York Times, January 3, 1909, C3; “Death of Henry S. Allen,” New York Times, February 2, 1904, 9.

49 Hale, “The Gentle Art of the Publicist,” 5.

50 Ibid.

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

53 Arthur Evans, “Phantom Arthur Haunts Ford's Race for Senate,” Chicago Daily Tribune, August 8, 1918, 7.

54 Francis de Pressense, “England and France,” Living Age, March 11, 1899, 3.

55 “Daniel Coit Gilman,” Chicago Daily Tribune, October 15, 1908, 8; “English Authors Taking a Part in Public Work,” Los Angeles Times, June 11, 1911, C16; Percy Hammond, “Happenings in and about the Playhouses,” Chicago Daily Tribune, August 28, 1912, 6.

56 “Daniel Coit Gilman,” 8.

57 Hammond, “Happenings in and about the Playhouses,” 6.

58 Talcott Williams, “Teaching Journalism in a Great City,” Independent, August 7, 1913, 313.

59 “The Victory of the Hague Tribunal,” The Independent, November 3, 1904, 1041.

60 “Stir Race Spirit in Japan,” New York Times, May 15, 1913, 2.

61 “Educators,” Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1913, 1113.

62 “For a New Standard,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 20, 1892, 11.

63 “A Protective League,” Los Angeles Times, August 23, 1889, 4.

64 A. E. Wilkinson, “The Legal Mind,” American Lawyer, October 1904, 441.

65 “Whitelaw Reid's American and English Studies,” The Independent, November 20, 1913, 323.

66 Michael Korzi, “Lapsed Memory?: The Roots of American Public Opinion Research,” Polity 33, no. 1 (2000): 49–75, 49–56; Hans Speier, “Historical Development of Public Opinion,” American Journal of Sociology 55, no. 4 (1950): 376–388.

67 “Lord Salisbury Dead,” Los Angeles Times, August 23, 1903, A4.

68 “Mr. Roosevelt and the ‘Bandits,’” New York Times, October 6, 1911, 12.

69 “Death of Henry S. Allen,” New York Times, February 2, 1904, 9.

70 W. J. Lampton, “Ways of the Hour,” Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, November 1910, 636.

71 “Train Service Suspended,” Los Angeles Times, February 23, 1905, 15.

72 “The Czar and His Subjects,” Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1902, 6.

73 “Bigelow Says He'll Testify,” Los Angeles Times, January 13, 1906, 14.

74 “The Obituary Record,” Chicago Daily Tribune, February 13, 1887, 6; “William M. Ivins's Funeral,” New York Times, July 27, 1915, 9; “Nationalization of the Railroads,” Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1917, 114; “The Law,” Chicago Daily Tribune, December 31, 1918, sec. A14.

75 “Carl Schurz,” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 9, 1877, 4; “Noted Speakers Promise Talks,” Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1914, 119; “German Attache Tells Strange Story,” Los Angeles Times, September 10, 1916, H19, “Logical Man for Congress,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1918, sec. H15.

76 “Women's Work and Women's Clubs,” Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1915, 12.

77 Ibid.

78 John Burgess, “The Propaganda,” Chicago Daily Tribune, September 5, 1915, A5.

79 John Balderston, “Berlin Uses Million to Influence Neutrals,” Los Angeles Times, January 2, 1916, 12.

80 “Creel Reveals Pen's Might in War on Kaiser,” Chicago Daily Tribune, February 3, 1918, 4.

81 “Napoleon in the Council of State,” Museum of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, July 1833, 117; “The Newspaper Press of France,” Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, May 1843, 42; Frederic Harrison, “The Meaning of the Prussian Triumph,” Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, April 1871, 13; “Ireland and the Irish,” Catholic World, September 1881, 836; Karl Blind, “Personal Recollections of Louis Blanc,” Century Illustrated Magazine, May 1887, 75; “Foreign Literary Notes,” Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, June 1896, 63; Th. Bentzon, “The Revue des Deux Modes,” McClure's Magazine, June 1897, 710; William Balie, “Achille Loria and Anarchism,” Liberty, October 1903, 3; “Enemies of the Republic,” Congregationalist and Christian World, April 9, 1904, 503; Emilie Ollivier, “The Two Presidencies: France and the United States,” The Youth's Companion, February 23, 1905, 88; Munroe Smith, “The Germany—,” North American Review, November 1915, 665.

82 “The Rebel States,” New York Times, November 25, 1861, 3.

83 “Forty-fifth Annual Report of the Directors of the American Peace Society,” Advocacy of Peace, June 1873, 41.

84 “Editorial Correspondence—The International Conference at Brussels,” Advocacy of Peace, December 1873, 92.

85 “Current Topics,” Albany Law Journal, May 8, 1875, 293.

86 “Japan Sizes Us Up,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 16, 1917, 6.

87 “Pacifists Arranging Conference at Berne,” New York Times, October 3, 1917, 3.

88 “Dr. Butler Prophesies, ‘The United States of Europe,’ New York Times, October 18, 1914, SM3.

89 “Article v. Nationality and Cosmopolitism,” American Eclectic, January 1842, 78.

90 “Men of England Not in Office,” New York Daily Times, July 17, 1854, 4.

91 “Reviewing Boston's School War,” Chicago Daily Tribune, October 2, 1888, 9; “These Make for Peace,” Chicago Daily Tribune, April 23, 1896, 5; “Rattling of Sabers,” Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1898, A5; “Mr. John Morley's Address on India,” Outlook, August 25, 1905, 923; “Armenian Appeal by Bryce in Full,” New York Times, October 10, 1915, 32; “Addressing the Rules,” New York Times, March 6, 1917, 10.

92 “Tell Wilson What to Do,” Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1915, 13.

93 “Middling the Situation,” New York Times, January 12, 1915, 8.

94 “Unrest is Everywhere,” Chicago Daily Tribune, June 3, 1917, 10.

95 David Edwards, “Specialization of Education to Mark America,” New York Times, December 20, 1914, SM10.

96 Ibid.