William Davis Taylor

William Davis Taylor
Taylor in 1967
Born(1908-04-02)April 2, 1908
Boston, Massachusetts, US
DiedFebruary 19, 2002(2002-02-19) (aged 93)
Brookline, Massachusetts, US
Alma materHarvard University
Known forPublisher of The Boston Globe
Spouse(s)Mary Hammond (d. 1947)
Ann C. Macy
Children6, including William O. Taylor II
FatherWilliam O. Taylor
RelativesCharles H. Taylor (grandfather)
AwardsElijah Parish Lovejoy Award (1975)

William Davis Taylor (April 2, 1908 – February 19, 2002) was an American newspaper executive who was publisher of The Boston Globe from 1955 to 1977.[1]

Biography

Taylor followed his paternal grandfather, Charles H. Taylor, and father, William O. Taylor, as publisher of The Boston Globe.[2] He was the third of five members of the Taylor family who led the paper from 1873 to 1999.[3]

Taylor was the first publisher of the Globe to appoint an editor in 75 years, naming Laurence L. Winship to the role in 1955.[4][5]: 447  During Taylor's time as publisher, the Globe made its first political endorsement, supporting Kevin White in the 1967 Boston mayoral election.[2] The Globe also became one of the first newspapers to call for the United States to withdraw from the Vietnam War, and one of the first newspapers to call for the resignation of President Richard Nixon.[2] The Globe won 11 Pulitzer Prizes during Taylor's tenure.[2] It was also during Taylor's time as publisher that the Globe became a public company for the first time in its history, under the name Affiliated Publications in 1973.[6]

Taylor was born in Boston, was educated at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts,[7] and was a 1931 graduate of Harvard University.[2] Taylor had two children with his first wife, who died in 1947, and four children with his second wife.[8] Upon his retirement at the end of 1977, he was succeeded as publisher by his son William O. Taylor II.[2] Taylor died at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 2002 at age 93.[7]

References

  1. ^ "William Davis Taylor, 93; Third-Generation Head of the Boston Globe". Los Angeles Times. 2002-02-22. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Golden, Vincent L. "WILLIAM DAVIS TAYLOR" (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  3. ^ "Taylors of the Globe". The Boston Globe. October 8, 2009. p. B9. Retrieved March 6, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Driscoll Jr., Edgar J. (February 20, 2002). "Davis Taylor, publisher for a turbulent era". The Boston Globe. p. A10. Retrieved March 6, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Lyons, Lewis Martin (1971). Newspaper Story: One Hundred Years of the Boston Globe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  6. ^ "History of Globe Ownership". northeastern.edu. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Driscoll Jr., Edgar J. (February 20, 2002). "William Davis Taylor dies at 93; led the Globe in an era of growth". The Boston Globe. p. 1. Retrieved March 6, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Driscoll Jr., Edgar J. (February 20, 2002). "William Davis Taylor: 1908-2002". The Boston Globe. p. A11. Retrieved March 7, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
Preceded by Publisher of The Boston Globe
1955–1977 		Succeeded by