James Melvin Lee

Background

James Melvin Lee was born at Port Crane, New York, the son of James Newell Lee, a Methodist minister, and Emma (White) Lee.

Education

Graduating from Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, Pennsylvania, in 1896, he entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, where he received the degree of A. B. in 1900.

Career

At college Lee was largely self-supporting, and this fact led directly to the beginning of his writing career. Among his first articles for publication were several for newspapers on the means by which other students were earning their expenses--a series so successful that he later used the material in a book How to be Self-Supporting at College, published in 1903. After his graduation from Wesleyan, he joined the news staff of the Springfield Union (Springfield, Massachussets).

In 1901 he became a teacher of English in Western Reserve Seminary, West Farmington, Ohio. The next year found him back in a newspaper office as circulation manager of the Oneonta Star (N. Y. ). Beginning in 1905, magazine work engaged his attention. In succession he was circulation manager of Outing, editor of Bohemian Magazine, literary editor of the Circle, associate editor of Leslie's Weekly, and from 1909 to 1911, editor of Judge. He was appointed a lecturer at New York University in 1910, and director of the department of journalism at that university in 1911. He held the latter position for the rest of his life.

During his association with New York University he was active in writing both books and articles, principally on topics dealing with journalism. He became an eager collector of early periodicals and of first editions in the field of American literature, especially works of Cooper and Poe. This pursuit made him a familiar figure at the bookshops near his office, in Washington Square, New York. With all this, however, he was no literary recluse. He liked people, and time and again was honored with offices in varied organizations. He spoke publicly as a champion of American journalism on many occasions. He called John Milton the "first copy reader, " tracing the dates of his connection with Mercurius Politicus by the sudden improvement in its English and the later "reappearance of its former sloppy style. " When the American press was stirred, in July 1926, by the cold-blooded murder of Don Mellett, youthful editor of the Canton (Ohio) News, who had attacked the vice ring of his city, Lee took the lead in establishing a fund to defray the expenses of a series of lectures on journalism in memory of the martyred editor. He also established a scholarship fund in memory of William Bradford, publisher of the first newspaper in New York. These were only two of nearly a score of such funds which he sponsored.

One of his books, History of American Journalism (1917), has been widely used as a college reference book. Other books of his are: Wordless Journalism in America (1915), a book of cartoons; Newspaper Ethics (1915); Instruction in Journalism in Institutions of Higher Education (1918); America's Oldest Daily Newspaper (1918); Opportunities in the Newspaper Business (1919); Business Writing (1920), of which he was editor; and Business Ethics (1925). From 1922 until his death he was literary editor of Editor & Publisher, New York, conducting a weekly department in which he reviewed books and articles dealing with journalism. He edited for a time Administration, a business magazine, and the Three-Em Dash, the organ of the Newspaper Club of New York, in which he was one of the most active members. He also contributed a number of articles to the Dictionary of American Biography.

Achievements

• Lee was a pioneer in the teaching of journalism. He wrote the first text book on the history of American journalism, published in 1917.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Opportunities in the Newspaper Business

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • History Of American Journalism

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Business Writing, Vol. 2 (Classic Reprint)

    (Excerpt from Business Writing, Vol. 2 As a business man ...)

  • Language for Men of Affairs (2 Vol. ) , Vol. 1 - Talking Business, Vol. 2 - Business Writing
  • James Luby, Journalist
  • Business Ethics. A Manual of Modern Morals

Views

Quotations: When others condemned newspapers for printing crime news and scandal, he pointed to the benefits of such publicity, adding: "It is the taste of the fish, not the fisherman, which denotes the kind of bait to be used" (New York Times, Dec. 1, 1925). Another saying credited to him is: "The newspaper and the cake of ice left on the back porch in the rays of the sun deteriorate at the same ratio, and when deterioration is complete you can't get much for either" (Editor & Publisher, November 23, 1929).

Connections

In 1908 Lee married Helen Olga Wellner. They had one daughter.

Father:

James Newell Lee

Methodist minister

Mother:

Emma (White) Lee

Spouse:

Helen Olga Wellner