Oregon State University (OSU)
Donald R. Murphy was born on June 25, 1895, in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States. He was the son of John Clark Murphy and Myrtle (Jones) Murphy. Both sets of grandparents had farmed in Madison County, and his parents had known the Wallaces in Winterset. Murphy's mother was a close friend of Kate Pierce, the wife of James M. Pierce, so young Donald could claim knowledge of both Wallaces’ Farmer and the Pierces’ Iowa Homestead.
Still in uniform in 1919, Donald Murphy sought a position in farm journalism in Des Moines. The Wallaces had an opening for a subeditor, hiring Murphy for what became his lifelong career. When Henry A. Wallace became U.S. secretary of agriculture in 1933 and went on leave as an editor, Donald Murphy soon replaced him, with the title of acting editor. He was named editor in late 1946. As a result of a merger with the Pierce family’s farm paper in 1929, the title became Wallaces’ Farmer and Iowa Homestead.
The Great Depression drastically shrank advertising revenue, so the merged paper changed from weekly to biweekly publication, and the Wallace family lost ownership to Dante M. Pierce. The nationwide trend was toward the consolidation or elimination of competing farm papers in each state or region. Donald Murphy, as an effective editor of Iowa’s sole remaining farm paper, was placed in an influential position. While avoiding open partisanship, Murphy’s editorials supported Wallace’s New Deal farm policies.
In 1955 Donald Murphy retired as editor, and his title changed to director of editorial research.
In addition to his book on readership surveys, Donald Murphy published articles in Advertising Age, Journalism Quarterly, New Republic, New York Times Magazine, Palimpsest, and Printers Ink. He never completed a contemplated "history of farm publications in the twentieth century."
Donald Murphy was a leading member of the Agriculture Committee on National Policy of the National Planning Association, Washington, D.C., from the committee’s formation in 1942. He served as its chairman (1945-1955), succeeding Theodore Schultz, formerly of Iowa State College, and followed by Lauren Soth of the Des Moines Register.
Donald Murphy was a president of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) in 1951-1953, remaining on the ICLU board of directors until his health failed.
Quotes from others about the person
Upon Murphy's death, Wallaces’ Farmer praised Murphy as "an innovator who continually searched for better ways to do things."
Donald Murphy was married and had two sons.
