WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE - AUTOGRAPH 11/27/1943 - HFSID 140329

WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE. Signature: "W.A. White/Emporia Kansas Nov 27/'43", 9x4. Imprinted: "Signed Autograph Specimen" at upper margin. Illustration of White, b/w, 3x4, affixed at right margin. Signed just two months before his death on January 29, 1944. Noted journalist William Allen White (1868-1944) began his career as an editorial writer for the "Kansas City Star" in 1890. Five years later, he purchased "The Emporia Gazette" for $3,000. In 1896, White became a nationally known writer when his scathing editorial, "What's the Matter With Kansas", which he did not publish locally, was printed in newspapers in Chicago and New York. Republican national chairman Mark Hanna had the editorial, which centered around the McKinley-Bryan campaign, reprinted and distributed across the country, and White became a popular champion of the Republican cause. Another of his editorials, the poignant "Mary White", written after the death of his only daughter, became a classic, and White would also write novels, biographies and short stories as well as the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Autobiography of William Allen White, published posthumously in 1946. Considered one of the finest commentators on events of his day, the small town editor became an advisor to governors and Presidents, was a friend of politicians and statesmen and was proclaimed one of the truly great Americans of his age. White was the father of war correspondent and author William Lindsay White, whose books include A Journey for Margaret and They Were Expendable. Vertical fold, not at writing. Lightly soiled, shaded at fold. Stray ink mark at lower margin. Overall, fine condition.