Henry Joseph Haskell was an American journalist and civic leader. He served as an editor of the Kansas City Star from 1928 to 1952.
Background
Henry Joseph Haskell was born on March 8, 1874 in Huntington, Ohio, United States. He was the son of Henry Charles Haskell and Margaret Bell Haskell. Members of both families were teachers and ministers, and Haskell's parents went to Bulgaria as missionaries for the Congregational Church in 1862. His father founded the first higher educational institution in the Balkans, which later became the American University at Sofia.
When Haskell was thirteen, he accompanied his parents on their return to Bulgaria; he later said that the three years he spent there aroused his interest in international affairs.
Education
Haskell returned to the United States in 1890 and entered Oberlin Academy in Oberlin, Ohio.
After his graduation he attended Oberlin College, receiving the Bachelor of Arts in 1896. In his senior year Haskell was editor of the Oberlin Review, the campus weekly newspaper, and wrote several short stories, two of which were sold to Munsey's Magazine.
Career
Unable to find a newspaper job in Ohio, Haskell went to Kansas City, Missouri, where he was hired as a reporter for the Kansas City World in July 1896. Two years later he joined the staff of the Kansas City Star as assistant telegraph editor. In 1900 Alexander Butts, the Star's chief editorial writer, asked that Haskell be transferred to editorial writing.
In 1906 Haskell was appointed city editor of the Star, and two years later he went to Washington, as the paper's correspondent. He returned to Kansas City in 1910, after the death of Butts, and was named director of the editorial page. He was made editor of the Star in 1928.
Haskell early attracted the attention of William Rockhill Nelson, founder and owner of the Star, and was selected by Nelson to be one of his successors. In 1926, when the Star was sold to its employees, Haskell was elected to the board of directors, a position he held until his death. Under Haskell the Star's editorial page achieved a wide reputation for its comments on national and international events.
During his years as editor he frequently went to Europe to interview government leaders and to gather background information for his editorials.
From 1928 until his death, Haskell wrote a column, "Random Thoughts, " that appeared each Sunday on the editorial page.
He wrote two books, The New Deal in Old Rome (1939) and This Was Cicero (1942).
Haskell showed his interest in civic and cultural affairs as a member of the executive committee of the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra, a trustee of the Kansas City Art Institute, and a member of the board of governors of the Kansas City Liberty Memorial Association. He served for a number of years as a trustee of Oberlin College.
Haskell was very tolerant for human foibles, and had a great sense of humor.
Connections
In 1901 Haskell married Isabel Cummings; they had one son.
Haskell's first wife died in 1923. In 1928 he married Katharine Wright, a sister of Orville and Wilbur Wright, but she died the following year. He married Agnes Lee Hadley, the widow of former Missouri governor Herbert Hadley, in 1931.