- James S. Free
James Stillman Free (November 5,1908- April 3,1996) was an American
journalist whose 50 years of Washington-based reporting included coverage of 10 presidential administrations, seven national political conventions, theCold War ,labor relations ,civil rights , and thespace program . [ "Journalist James Free Dies; Covered Capital for 50 Years" "Washington Post", April 5, 1996, ] [ "James S. Free, 87, Local Newsman" "Washington Times" April 5, 1996.]For 33 years he served as the Washington correspondent for the
Birmingham News . In a "Congressional Record" tribute, Sen.Howell Heflin ofAlabama said of Free, “his name and writings became synonymous with Alabama political coverage and analysis in the nation’s capital.” [ "Congressional Record", Vol. 142, No. 50, April 18, 1996. ] Because of his pivotal reporting during the civil rights struggle, Free had unusually open access to Attorney GeneralRobert Kennedy . [ National Press Club oral history of James S. Free, pgs. 16, 17 ]Free was chairman of the Standing Committee of Correspondents of the Congressional Press Galleries and was president of the Washington chapter of the
Society of Professional Journalists , as well as a member of its hall of fame.For many years Free served as the historian of the
Gridiron Club , an organization of Washington journalists. He wrote a book about the club’s history, entitled, “The First One Hundred Years: A Casual Chronicle of the Gridiron Club.”Before establishing the Birmingham News bureau in Washington, Free worked for the paper in
Birmingham , and for theRichmond Times-Dispatch , theWashington Star , theChicago Sun and theRaleigh News & Observer .His reporting received recognition from the Raymond Clapper Award Committee for coverage of national affairs and he received an outstanding alumnus award from the
University of Alabama .Free, a native of Gordo, who grew up in Tuscaloosa, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama and his master’s degree in journalism from
Columbia University .In 1932, Free briefly partnered with
L. Ron Hubbard , who later founded theChurch of Scientology . They co-directed an unsuccessful sailing expedition in the Caribbean on the Doris Hamlin, which was to have included the production of a film and the collection of flora and fauna. Detailed accounts of this adventure are available in Free’s personal biography and in an oral history taken by the National Press Club.Free served in the
Navy in the Caribbean and Pacific duringWorld War II and retired from theNaval Reserve as a captain in 1968.In 1950 he married journalist
Ann Cottrell Free and for a time they co-authored Whirligig, a daily syndicated column about Washington politics.His professional papers are in the manuscript division of the
Library of Congress and his professional oral history is in the collection of the National Press Club.Notes
External links
* [http://press.org/library/archives_oralhistory.cfm National Press Club Oral History Collection]
* [http://www.anncottrellfree.org/james.htm Web biography]
* [http://www.anncottrellfree.org/pdfs/James_Stillman_Free_biography%5B1%5D.pdf Personal Biography]
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/mss/eadxmlmss/eadpdfmss/2008/ms008052.pdf The Papers of James Free in the Library of Congress]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.