William R. Mathews (1893-1969) was an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and publisher. Born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1893, he attended elementary and high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, and graduated with an A.B. degree in Money and Banking from the University of Illinois in 1917. He served as a Second Lieutenant and Captain in the Fifth Regiment of the Second Division of the United States Marine Corps during World War I. He fought in the battles of Belleau Wood and Soissons, in France, and was wounded in the attack on Blanc Mont. Mr. Mathews earned numerous awards and citations, including the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, in 1918, for capturing 75 German soldiers. After the war he worked as an advertising solicitor for the San Francisco Chronicle. He married Betty Boyers, in 1919, and they had four children. From 1920-1924, he was the business manager of the Santa Barbara Morning Press. In 1924, he and business partner Ralph E. Ellinwood purchased the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Mathews served as the general manager from 1924-1930 and as editor and publisher from 1930-1967.
Mr. Mathews' extensive travels enabled him to focus his journalism on international politics and foreign affairs. He served as an accredited military correspondent and completed nine trips around the world. He witnessed and documented unique historical events, such as the signing of the Japanese Surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in 1945, the Bikini Bomb Test in 1946 and the John Foster Dulles trip to Japan and Korea, just prior to the outbreak of the Korean Conflict. Mr. Mathews was active in public service and his appointments include: special adviser to James B. Forrestal, Secretary of Defense (1948-1950), member of the Pulitzer Prize Committee, member of the Board of Regents of the University of Arizona, and Chairman of the Citizens' Public Utilities and Citizens' Water Advisory Committees for the City of Tucson. In 1940 he ran for public office as a democratic representative for Congress.
From the guide to the William R. Mathews papers, 1916-1971, (University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections)
