Finding aid for the Paul Bellamy Photographs

Biography of Paul Bellamy

Paul Bellamy (1884-1956), editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1884. He was educated in his early years primarily by his father, the noted author Edward Bellamy, who distinguished himself as a utopian socialist in the latter part of the nineteenth century by writing Looking Backward, Equality and various other works. Edward died when Paul was only fourteen years old.

In 1903, Paul Bellamy entered Harvard University and graduated with honors only three years later. From 1905 to 1907, Bellamy worked for the Springfield Union (Massachusetts). He left in 1907 to join the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where two years later he became the youngest city editor in Plain Dealer history. Shortly before World War I, he left the Plain Dealer to join the Credit Company of Chicago to publish the company's directory. After a brief stint in the field artillery officer's training school at Camp Zachary Taylor in Kentucky, where Bellamy edited the camp newspaper, Probably Error, Bellamy returned to the Plain Dealer in 1918. By 1920, he was managing editor of the paper. Eight years later he assumed full control of the editorial staff following the death of Erie C. Hopwood. In 1933, he was officially appointed editor of the paper.

During World War II, Paul Bellamy was named by Franklin D. Roosevelt to formulate policies for governing occupational draft deferment of employees of the federal government in 1942. Recognized as an authority in the newspaper field, Bellamy was invited with several other prominent editors on a journey to the war-torn world War II allied occupation zone, where he formulated ideas for a book about G. I.'s entitled A Trip Through Hell. He was also invited on the first Pan Am flight around the world, which provided Bellamy with material for another book called A Birdseye View of the World, which appeared as a series in several newspapers.

Bellamy served as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and of the Cleveland City Club; as director of the Plain Dealer Publishing Company and Forest City Publishing Company; as a trustee of Antioch College; and as a member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, the Union Club, the Mid-Day Club, and the Associated Press. He also received many other awards and honors throughout his career for his outstanding professional service and community leadership, including honorary degrees from Kent State University, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Oberlin College.

Paul Bellamy retired in 1954, becoming editor emeritus of the Plain Dealer. He died on April 12, 1856 of a heart attack at his home in Bratenahl, Ohio.

Scope and Content

The Paul Bellamy Photographs, 1908-1955 and undated, consist of photographs documenting the life, family, and career of Cleveland, Ohio, newspaper editor Paul Bellamy. Included are photographs of Paul Bellamy's birthplace, Paul Bellamy and the staff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ca. 1908-1911, and group photographs (ca. 1940-1955) picturing Bellamy and various other individuals, including Emma Augusta Sanderson Bellamy, Mrs. Paul Bellamy, Nat Howard, Louis Seltzer, Anthony Celebrezze, Robert P. Patterson, Herman L. Vail, Robert Bulkley, Gardner Cowles, Jr., Frank Hubbell, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford, Irving Berlin, Carl Friebolin, Thomas A. Burke, Thomas Herbert, I.F. Freiberger, Warren Craves, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Also included is an album (ca. 1946) relating to the inaugural round-the-world flight by Pan American Airways on which Bellamy was a passenger. The collection includes 73 photographs measuring 8 x 10 inches and smaller and one album containing 46 photographs measuring 9.75 x 11.5 inches. All of the photographs are black and white.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 3315 Paul Bellamy Papers; and PG 111 Paul Bellamy Photographs, Series II.

Several individual portraits have been removed to the WRHS Portrait File Collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 69 Paul Bellamy Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

These photographs were removed from MS 3315 Paul Bellamy Papers. Gift of Mrs. Paul Bellamy in 1967.

Detailed Description of The Collection