William A. Casselman, lifelong newspaperman, was born in Montague, Michigan in 1901. At the age of seven his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating high school Casselman worked for a variety of newspapers throughout Wisconsin and in Baltimore. In 1925 he moved to New York to pursue his career. In 1928, after three years of working for smaller papers, Casselman was hired by the New York Daily News as a copy editor. He remained at the Daily News for the next forty years, with the exception of a one-year stint at Liberty Magazine in 1930. In 1946 Casselman was promoted to news editor. In 1961 he accepted the position of night managing editor, and assumed the position of editor in 1963 after the retirement of Robert Shand. In 1966 Casselman was promoted to the position of executive editor, which he held until his retirement in 1968. After his retirement, Casselman continued to contribute to the Daily News as a consultant and was elected president of the James Bennett Foundation, a private foundation that provides financial assistance to the families of newspapermen and women. He became chairman of the Foundation in 1976 and held the position until 1984. Casselman died in 1989.
From the guide to the William A. Casselman papers, 1925-2000, 1963-1968, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)
