Pulitzer Prize Recipient Twice. William Allen White was an American journalist, author, and politician. Born into a conservative family in Emporia, Kansas, his family soon relocated to El Dorado. As a teenager, he was a press apprentice before attending the College of Emporia and the University of Kansas. White started his journalism career in El Dorado and later a reporter in Lawrence, and in 1892 he went to work for the "Kansas City Star" as an editorial writer. On April 27, 1893, he married Sallie Lindsey. In 1895, he purchased the "Emporia Gazette," where he stayed for the rest of his career, earning him the nickname "The Sage of Emporia." In 1912 at the Republican National Convention, he met novelist Edna Ferber, who received the Pulitzer Prize in 1925 and would become his life-time colleague. In 1923, he received a Pulitzer Prize in the category of editorial writing for his statement for free speech, "To an Anxious Friend." He received his second Pulitzer Prize in the category of Books, Drama, and Music in 1947, posthumously, for "The Autobiography of William White," a narrative of his good life. Not only did he receive two Pulitzer Prizes in his lifetime, but in two different categories. He was merely a local figure around Emporia until 1896, when he wrote an editorial, "What's the Matter with Kansas" in which he strongly opposed the Populists' position of being more liberal and anti-establishment. Within a short time, his publication made its way to Chicago and New York City. With limited media coverage in this era, Mark "Boss" Hanna, chairman of the Republican Party, had the editorial writing reproduced and distributed throughout the country. Following the election of United States President William McKinley in 1896, White became a national player making contacts throughout the country and became a nationally known syndicated commentator for many years. He was a friend and political advisor to President Theodore Roosevelt and the Republican party called on him to assist in drafting Republican national platforms. He attended the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919. In 1921 his sixteen-year-old daughter, Mary, died from injuries from a horseback riding accident. His eulogy of his daughter, Mary, which was written in 1921 and was published nationally and in 1977, inspired the Emmy-Award-winning made-for-television movie, "Mary White." In 1924, he was an Independent candidate for governor of Kansas to oppose the two other candidates, which the Ku Klux Klan had endorsed. In the 1920s the Ku Klux Klan was considered a terrorist group, imposing fear upon citizens of Kansas, including the Catholic mayor of Kansas City. The Kansas Ku Klux Klan was credited with 54 lynchings from 1865 to 1927. During the sometimes-bitter campaign, he was called "un-American and cowardly" for his anti-Ku Klux Klan viewpoints, but for his efforts, Kansas was the first state to outlaw the Ku Klux Klan in 1925. He finished third with Republican Benjamin Paulin becoming governor. In 1936, he worked for the presidential nomination of former Kansas Governor Alf Landon, who had a landside defeat against the Democratic candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt. At the dawn of the United States entering World War II, he was appointed chairman of the Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies. White was honored by the State of Kansas as being only one of four Kansans to have a statue in the rotunda of the state capitol; the other three are Dwight Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart, and Kansas' first native born governor, Arthur Capper. The University of Kansas named their school of journalism after him and the William Allen White award is given annually to outstanding national children's books. His son, William Lindsay White, followed his father as an author, being a World War II correspondent in Europe and writing best-selling books and Hollywood screenplays. After his 1944 death, his son compiled and concluded the Pulitzer Prize worthy autobiography and published it. His son succeeded as the editor and publisher of the "Emporia Gazette." Though White may not have embraced all of the changes that he witnessed during his lifetime, he adapted himself to them. In July of 1948 the United States Postal Service released a 3-cent postage stamp with White's image. In 1971 his home was added to the National Register of Historic Places, became the William Allen White House State Historic Site, and in 2001 was donated to the Kansas Historical Society by the family.