O'Connor, William Douglas, 1832-1889

William Douglas O'Connor was an American novelist, essayist, editor, and journalist.

From the guide to the William Douglas O'Connor collection of papers, 1863-1888, (The New York Public Library. Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature.)

William Douglas O'Connor (1832-1889) was an American journalist, author, civil servant, and friend of poet Walt Whitman. He began his government career as a corresponding clerk with the United States Light-House Board and eventually rose to the position of Assistant General Superintendent of the Life-Saving Service. His Annual Reports to Congress were not the usual dry government documents; they were in fact such vivid, lively narratives that "the demand for the volumes became so great that large editions were necessary to meet it." A compilation entitled Heroes of the Storm was published in 1904. When Congress proposed transferring the Life-Saving Service from the Treasury to the Navy, O'Connor wrote eloquently opposing it.

[Partially adapted from Timothy Harrison's article, "William D. O'Connor - An American Legend," published in Lighthouse Digest, June 2009.

From the guide to the William Douglas O'Connor Letter, circa 1881-1884, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)