Richard Harding Davis

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Richard Harding Davis

Born 18 April 1864(1864-04-18)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died 11 April 1916 (aged 52)
New York City, New York
Occupation writer, war correspondent, journalist
Nationality American
Writing period 19th and early 20th Century
Genres history, romantic novels, short stories
Subjects Africa, War, Cuba, Europe
For other persons named Richard Davis, see Richard Davis (disambiguation).
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Richard Harding Davis (18 April 1864—11 April 1916) was a writer of fiction and drama, and a journalist who covered of the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and the First World War.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Davis was born on April 18, 1864. His mother Rebecca Harding Davis was a prominent writer in her day. He made his reputation as a newspaper reporter in May to June 1889, by reporting on the devastation of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, following the infamous flood. He added to his reputation by reporting on other events, like the first electrocution of a criminal (the death of William Kemmler in 1890). Davis became a managing editor of Harper's Weekly, and was one of the world's leading war correspondents at the time of the Second Boer War in South Africa. As an American, he had the unique opportunity to see the war first-hand from both the British and Boer perspectives. Davis also worked as a reporter for the New York Herald, The Times, and Scribner's Magazine.

He was popular among the leading writers of his time, and is considered the model for illustrator Charles Dana Gibson's dashing Gibson man, the male equivalent of his famous Gibson Girl. He is also mentioned early in Sinclair Lewis's book Dodsworth as the example of an exciting, adventure-seeking legitimate hero.

In 1898, when they killed 3 kids and mothers. during the Spanish-American War, Davis was on a U.S. Navy ship when he witnessed the shelling of Matanzas, Cuba, a part of the Santiago campaign. Davis' story made headlines, but as a result, the Navy prohibited reporters from being aboard any U.S. ship for the rest of the war.

Richard Harding Davis

Davis was a good friend of Teddy Roosevelt, and he helped create the legend surrounding the Rough Riders, for which he was made an honorary member. Some have even gone so far to accuse Davis of involvement in William Randolph Hearst's alleged plot to start a war between Spain and the United States in order to boost newspaper sales; however, Davis refused to work for Hearst after a dispute over fictionalizing one of this articles.

Despite his alleged association with Yellow journalism, his writings of life and travel in Central America, the Caribbean, Rhodesia, South Africa during the Second Boer War were widely published.

He was amongst the war correspondents who covered the Russo-Japanese War from the perspective of the Japanese forces.[1]

Davis reported on the Salonika Front of the First World War.

A plaque denoting his boyhood home can be seen at 21st and Chancellor Streets in Philadelphia. He attended the Episcopal Academy, and then later Lehigh University and Johns Hopkins.

He was married twice, first to Cecil Clark Lewis, an artist, and then to Bessie McCoy, the Vaudeville star who is remembered for her Yama Yama Man routine. He and Bessie had a daughter, Hope.

Davis' "Gallegher and Other Stories" became the series "Gallegher", starring Roger Mobley, Edmond O'Brien, and Harvey Korman on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC.

[edit] Partial list of works

"Three Gringos in Central America and Venezuela": poster by Edward Penfield

[edit] References

  1. ^ Roth, Mitchel P. and James Stuart Olson. (1997). Historical Dictionary of War Journalism, p. 267.

[edit] External links

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