July 2, 1864...Walter Williams born
Walter Williams, who gained international recognition as a journalist and teacher, was born in Boonville, July 2, 1864. At the age of 14 he became printer's devil for the Boonville Topic, and in 1886 he bought a share in the Boonville Advertiser. From 1889 to 1908 he edited the Columbia Herald. Williams also founded The Country Editor, the St. Louis Presbyterian, and the Jefferson City Daily State Tribune, and contributed articles to St. Louis and Kansas City newspapers. He wrote histories of both northeast and northwest Missouri and was co-author of Missouri, Mother of the West. His "journalist's creed" is internationally famous.
In 1908 when the University of Missouri school of journalism was founded, Williams became its first dean. His practical methods of combining laboratory and lecture classes appealed to newspaper men, and soon students from every state and many foreign countries gathered at the new school of journalism, the first of its kind. January 1, 1931, Williams became president of the University of Missouri. After his death, July 29, 1935, one of the buildings housing the present school of journalism was named in his honor upon completion in 1936.
One of the founders of the State Historical Society of Missouri, he was a member of the Society's first executive board and served on the finance committee from 1901 until his resignation, July 1, 1934. Williams never attended college, but honorary LL.D. degrees were conferred upon him by Missouri Valley College in 1906, by Kansas State Agriculture College in 1909, and by Washington University in 1926. He was a talented orator, and with his ready and kindly wit, he shone particularly as an after-dinner speaker.
During his lifetime Williams served as president of various organizations, among them the Missouri Press Association, the National Editorial Association, the Press Congress of the World, the American Association of Schools and Departments of Journalism, and the Pan-American Congress of Journalism. Williams made a number of world tours in the interest of his profession, and wherever he went his friendliness so attracted people that he gained the title, "ambassador of good will."
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