William Eleroy Curtis (November 5, 1850 – October 5, 1911) was an American journalist, author, diplomat, political activist, and exhibitor. He was a prominent proponent of Pan-Americanism. Curtis' partisan reporting earned him patronage appointments and advanced his ideological goals. His career reflected the influence of bias, cronyism, and imperialism on journalism during the Gilded Age. Curtis held a series of leadership roles in the State Department, as well as the supranational organizations which anticipated the Organization of American States.
Early life
Curtis was born on November 5, 1850, in Akron, Ohio, the second son of Eleroy Curtis, a Presbyterian minister, and Harriet Eliza Coe. Harriet was the daughter of Reverend Harvey Coe, the first elected trustee of Western Reserve College. After graduating from high school in Clinton, New York, Curtis attended Western Reserve College. While a freshman, he applied for a typesetter position at The Cleveland Leader, but was assigned reporting work instead. Curtis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1871. Curtis worked for the Erie Dispatch in 1871, followed by the Toledo Commercial in 1872.
Journalistic career
Chicago Inter-Ocean
In 1873, he joined the reporting staff of the Chicago Inter-Ocean. Embedded with George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry during the 1874 Black Hills Expedition, Curtis was widely credited as the first to report the discovery of gold in the Dakota Territory; this revelation precipitated the Black Hills Gold Rush. His adamant praise of Custer contributed to the officer's popular image as a tragic hero who furthered the "manifest destiny" of the United States.
Shortly after returning from the Black Hills, Curtis was dispatched to report on the aftermath of the Coushatta massacre in Louisiana. He subsequently gave extensive coverage to the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and members of the White League. As a consequence, the Klan placed a $5,000 bounty on his head (). His reports were used by Republicans seeking to tether Democrats to Neo-Confederate hate groups ahead of the 1874 midterm elections. Curtis then wrote about the Brooks–Baxter War from Arkansas.
In 1874, Curtis was taken prisoner by the James–Younger Gang, a prominent gang of highwaymen. While being held hostage, he was able to obtain their story, which was published in the Inter-Ocean. In the spring of 1875, he was named head of the Inter-Ocean bureau in Washington, D. C., and would remain at that post until August 1880. His first book, a novel titled Tibbalses Folks, was published in 1875.
Curtis returned to the Chicago office of Inter-Ocean in August 1880, where he became the editor-in-chief. Curtis was the Fourth President of the Chicago Press Club, performing that role in 1883.
In 1883, Curtis observed anthropologist Frank Hamilton Cushing's life among the Zuni people of New Mexico. When U.S. Army Captain Henry Ware Lawton and Major William F. Tucker claimed 800 acres overlapping a traditional Zuni farming village – omitted from the 1877 reservation borders – for cattle ranching, Cushing urged Curtis and Boston Herald reporter Sylvester Baxter to begin a press campaign on behalf of the Zuni land claim. This publicity culminated in a May 1883 executive order which expanded the reservation to include the contested village.
Curtis was a founding member of the Gridiron Club in 1885, a prestigious organization of Washington, D.C. journalists renowned for its annual dinner. He stayed with the Inter Ocean until 1886.
Chicago Record
In 1887, Curtis joined the Chicago Record, becoming manager at the Washington D. C. bureau. He served as a reporter-at-large and wrote a daily column. In 1888, the Chicago Record sent Curtis to cover the Russian nihilist movement.
After completing his work for the 1893 World's Fair, Curtis became an international contributor for the Record, filling the role until December 1906. Starting from 1903, Curtis' letters on foreign locales and contemporary issues received wider circulation in regional newspapers throughout the United States. Subordinates who attempted to modify Curtis' writings, such as fellow Chicago newsman Edward Price Bell, were often rebuffed by their editors; Bell attributed this to Curtis' status as a "celebrity journalist" who was unusually popular and politically influential.
Curtis served as President of the Gridiron Club in 1903. In 1905, Curtis was Vice President of the Society of American Authors.