Elmer Holmes Davis was an American news reporter, author, the Director of the United States Office of War Information during World War II and a Peabody Award recipient.
16 Facts About Elmer Davis
2.
Elmer Davis's stay in England was cut short when his father fell ill and eventually died.
3.
Elmer Davis later left The New York Times and became a freelance writer.
4.
In 1928 Elmer Davis published his one and only novel Giant Killer, a retelling of the Biblical story of David.
5.
Edward R Murrow later commented that one reason he believed that Davis was likeable was his Hoosier accent, which reminded people of a friendly neighbor.
6.
Elmer Davis spent two and a half years reporting the news on radio and gaining the trust of the nation.
7.
Elmer Davis argued that Japanese propaganda proclaiming it a racial war could be combated by deeds that counteracted this.
8.
Elmer Davis has been termed one of the "unsung forefathers" of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all-Nisei combat unit in the war.
9.
Elmer Davis was instrumental in loosening censorship rules that forbade the publication of images of dead GIs on the battlefield.
10.
Elmer Davis believed that the American public "had a right to be truthfully informed" about the war within the dictates of military security.
11.
Elmer Davis asked President Roosevelt to lift the ban on publishing photographs of dead GIs on the battlefield on the grounds that the American people needed to appreciate the sacrifices made by their young men.
12.
Elmer Davis used the platform to criticize Senator Joseph McCarthy for his anti-communist investigations.
13.
Elmer Davis was one of the four journalists who portrayed themselves in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, and he was the host and narrator of the ABC television series, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, which won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
14.
Elmer Davis was a longstanding member of The Baker Street Irregulars, the literary society dedicated to keeping green the memory of Sherlock Holmes.
15.
Elmer Davis retired from broadcasting in 1953 after suffering a heart attack.
16.
Elmer Davis died in May 1958 of complications from a stroke.