HarrietTubman

The Birth of Freedom

       December 2^nd, 1805

A Slave Family 

Looking back, I have much to say. I didn’t have a perfect childhood, but it was one that taught me many things. I learned through the process of my life that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, physically and mentally. Valuable lessons came along after my birth year, in 1819 or 1820. We slaves never knew our exact birth dates because our masters never bothered to retain them. My parents, Harriet Greene (or “Old Rit” as they called her) and Benjamin Ross, gave birth to me under the name of Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland. People used to call me “Minta” or “Minty”, for short. Later on, they called me “Harriet” after my mother. We lived in what we called “the big house”. That was our Master’s house. My parents were strong, but the stinging pain of the beatings and the burden of having to raise 9 children was far too much than they could bear. That was why I was put in the care of my grandmother Modesty, a retired slave, who cared for me throughout my early childhood. I had eight siblings, 4 brothers and 4 sisters: Linah, Mariah Ritty, Soph, Robert, Ben, Rachel, Henry, and Moses. I didn’t understand the severe consequences of being a slave until I was forced to become one, like my parents and older siblings.

                        The Beginning of the End

November 15^th, 1826

A drawing of a slave getting scorned by a white owner

I remember on my sixth birthday, around 1825 I was put to work for a white slave master named Edward Brodas and his wife, near Bucktown, Dorchester County, Maryland. The unfairness was constant. The burning of the hot sun scorched our skin, while we were singing and praying for a better day. We were forced to sing songs while we worked, because if we stopped, our Master would yell “Make a noise! Make a noise!” and his whip would hiss like a snake as it cracked. We received food once a month, and new clothes only once a year. Sunday, the Lord’s Day, was the only day that we were free from the wrath of the whipping. When I was around seven, a lady named Ms. Cook stopped by the big house in a wagon. She wanted to hire one of our Master’s slaves. Since she didn’t have a lot of money, she could only afford one of the little girls, at around 100 dollars. The next thing I knew, I was in the wagon, making the trip to another degree of hell, in other words the next chapter in my miserable life. Her house was smaller than “the big house”. The lady was a weaver and put me to work helping her. This was not one of my strong points. Using the spinning wheel was hard. The house was full of lint and fuzz, and I was constantly sneezing and dropping the yarn. After leaving Master Brodas’ house the beatings were even worse, but the pain of being withdrawn from my family was even harder to take. As the couple realized that I was never going to improve at weaving, they put to me to work checking the muskrat traps. I got very sick, and my mother requested that I come home, and since Master Brodas was very fond of my mother, he granted her request. As soon I was well again, Master Brodas sent me back to Ms. Cook, but after a while Ms. Cook thought I was so stubborn and stupid that she sent me back once again. Still seven years old, in 1826 I was taken to Ms. Susan’s house, whose baby would never stop crying. Of course, it was always a slave’s job to take care of it. But lucky for me, her sister Emily was kind enough to help me. Once, after stealing some sugar, I ran away from Ms. Susan’s house. From then on, I knew my time as a slave was limited. I wasn’t put on this Earth to take orders. This was the beginning of the end of my life of slavery. It suddenly dawned on me that life was much too valuable to keep wasting in bondage. 

A Sign From God

April 24th 1831

A book about Harriet Tubman

When I was eleven, in 1831 I was no longer considered a child, and my designated name was Harriet by my parents. I wore a yellow bandana to symbolize my maturity. Some very interesting things happened that year, while I was working on the plantation. I heard a story about a slave named Tice Davis, who escaped. His master explained this by saying that he must have gone on something called “The Underground Railroad.” I often hoped that freedom would knock on my door, but the idea of being free seemed unreal. One day, during the harvest, Master invited other slave owners to participate, who brought their slaves. After a while a slave named Nat Turner started running, when his Master saw him, he ran towards him with a threatening look. The slave ran into a store, and I ran in after him. The Master took a doorstop and threw it at him, but missed. It hit my head, and knocked me unconscious. Nat Turner did not escape. I had a big gash in my head and everybody thought I wasn’t gonna make it.  Everybody who saw me thought I was worthless. The injury caused me to have severe blackouts and epilepsies. I could be talking and just pass out unconscious. When I woke up after a while, I would start talking again just where I left off. At the time, I always thought that my blackouts were a message from God. Master Brodas got very sick, and shortly died, in 1849. I thought about running away but those sudden blackouts made me realize that I couldn’t. If I were found asleep I would just be brought back. Besides, the dent in my head made me easily recognizable.

June 6^th, 1844 

The Stories of my Father and Husband

John Tubman

After Master Brodas died, there was great confusion among the slaves. Would we be freed? We prayed, but unfortunately, an overseer assured us that we wouldn’t be. Master had originally left his plantation to his heir, but being too young, his heir was replaced by his guardian, a certain Dr. Anthony Thompson. I was worried, thinking about how he would treat me once he learned that I had defied an overseer. I also wondered if my behavior would influence other slaves. Already, they’d begun to treat me differently. Even my mother stopped calling me “Minty” and called me “Harriet”. When I was sick, Dr. Thompson tried to sell me, but in vain: nobody would buy me. When I was well and able to work again, my father and I were hired by a builder named John Stewart. My first jobs there included doing what I hated the most: housework. A few months later, I asked Mr. Stewart if I, too, could work with the men in the woods. He agreed, and Mr. Stewart was very pleased with my work. The best part was being able to work with my father every day, instead of staying in a stuffy house and cleaning by myself. Under the surveillance of the white masters, we collected wood and lumber for the house. I cherished every moment with my father, who taught me many things, such as how to move through the woods without making a sound. In 1844, when I was about 25 years old, I got married to a free black man, John Tubman. Such marriages weren’t uncommon on the Eastern shore of Maryland, because half of the black population was already free. I was not part of that group. Worse, because the status of the mother dictated that of the children, should I have offspring, they would be slaves, too. John never truly understood how badly I wanted to be free. Whenever I brought up the subject of moving up North, he would say things like: “When it’s dark, how will you know which way is North?” and “When you get there, what will you eat?” He threatened to tell my Master if I ever tried to escape. At first, I didn't believe him, but when I saw his face, I soon realized that he was telling the truth. Shortly after my marriage to John, I hired a lawyer to investigate my legal history, to whom i paid 5 dollars. I discovered that my mother had been freed on a technicality upon the death of her former owner. However, my lawyer advised me that the court probably would not listen to my case. I then decided to forget the case. But knowing that I should have been born free -- not a slave – led me to contemplate freedom and resent my current situation. It seemed to me as though I would never get free. I thought I would remain my entire life as a slave. But little did I know that soon, I would get the opportunity of a lifetime to escape.

My First Escape

September 23^rd, 1849.

Slaves escaping from slavery

It started out as an ordinary day. I was given a paper by a white abolitionist. The paper had two names and gave me directions to find the first house on my path to freedom. At the first house, I was put in a wagon and covered with sacks in order to travel to the house without being discovered. Then, I hitched a ride with an abolitionist couple that was passing by the area. They took me to Philadelphia. There, I got a job. I saved my pay to help free slaves. It was there that I met William Still. He was one of the Underground Railroad’s “station masters.” He told me the details of the Underground Railroad. It wasn’t an actual railroad; it was an undercover path that served to bring slaves up north and free them, for the north did not believe in slavery. I could hardly believe that a mere border was the difference between freedom and slavery for African-Americans. Why, hundreds of slaves could be freed with the Underground Railroad! And I was one of them. I was free! I was finally free! I could do whatever I pleased! Then, I remembered my family. I wanted them to experience this wonderful freedom, too! That was when I knew that I had to go back and free them. I would risk my life doing so if I had to. With the help of the Underground Railroad, I felt almost certain that I could lead my loved ones—and maybe even other slaves—to freedom.

THE ROAD TO FREEDOM PART 1

August 19^th, 1856

A Map of the underground railroad

In 1849, after my first escape I was finally in the north and free from slavery. However my freedom wasn't enough, I had to help the others. William told me all about the Underground Railroad. In 1850 I went back to the South to free my sister and her family, and made several trips back to help my brother James, who was already planning an escape. We crossed a river to the home of Thomas Garret, who was one of the most appreciated Underground “Stationmasters.” Later in the year; I was officially made an Underground Railroad conductor. I knew all of the routes to free territory, and I had to take an oath of silence to prove my loyalty to the UGRR. Around this time, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act was passed. The law stated that it was illegal to assist a runaway slave, and demanded that if a runaway slave was spotted, that he or she should be turned in to the authorities. Safety did not exist. Canada was our only escape. After I settled in, in Canada I decided to go back, and get John. Once I arrived on the farm down south, to my great surprise John had already remarried, and did not want to leave, so I went back up north. Throughout the year, I saved many more slaves and brought them to freedom.

THE ROAD TO FREEDOM PART 2

December 10^th, 1860

A wanted sign for runaway slaves

Between 1852 and 1857 I made 11 trips and saved 300 slaves. I was wanted all throughout Maryland for my $12000 reward. No matter how hard the rangers tried, they couldn’t find me because of my slyness and quickness. In that time people called me Moses. I was a sign of hope. I remember a while ago, a man who was a runaway panicked and wanted to turn back. I knew the man would be probably tortured and tell the white owners about the UGRR if I let him go back. I was much shorter than him, but I knew I couldn’t let him go. Knowing the consequences I pointed a gun to his head and said “Dead folks tell no tales”. After that, he soon changed his mind and went with me to freedom. From that moment on I realized that if you want freedom you have to chase it yourself. In 1860 I made my last trip. In my 10 years of being a conductor I made 19 trips and never lost a single runaway slave. Throughout the entire journey, I received more than I lost. The will to fight back was the greatest gift God has ever given me.

Auburn, New York

December 29^th, 1861

A picture of Harriet Tubman's home in Auburn New York

Somewhere in the mid-1850s I met Seward and his wife Frances in Auburn, New York. Mrs. Seward provided a home for my favorite niece, Margaret after I helped her escape from Maryland. In 1857 the Sewards provided me a home, where I relocated my parents from St. Catherine’s, Minnesota. This home was later sold to me for a small sum. It became my base of operations when I was not on the road aiding fugitives from slavery or speaking in support of the cause. During the spring of 1857, was the time that I set off on my most daring rescue: to get my father, Benn Ross. I bought a train ticket and traveled in broad daylight, which was very dangerous because of the dent on my head. When I reached Caroline County, I bought a horse and some parts to make a buggy. I then took my parents to a man named Thomas Garret who arranged our passage to Canada. In 1860 in Troy, New York, I set my mind to free a fugitive who had been captured and was being held at the office of the United States Commissioner. The slave, a man named Charles Nalle, did escape with my help. He later bought his freedom from his master. My career as a “conductor” was ending by December 1860. I made my last trip to Maryland bringing seven people to Canada.  In the ten years I worked as a "conductor" on the Railroad, I felt like a savior. For my safety, my friends took me to Canada. It was the start of something new. 

The Civil War

February 18^th, 1870

Runaway slaves

After returning from Canada, in 1861, I took part in the Civil War as a spy for the Union Army. Any woman who wanted to volunteer as a nurse or cook was accepted, regardless of their race. I enlisted in Hilton Head, South Carolina, as a nurse. It was very risky, with South Carolina being part of the Confederacy, but I took the job anyway. I treated all of the sick soldiers with water lily and geranium roots, but thanks to God’s grace I never caught any of their deadly diseases. During the summer of 1863, I worked with Colonel James Montgomery as a scout. I put together a group of spies who informed Montgomery about any slaves who wanted to join the Union. I helped put together the Combahee River Raid. Through this, we harassed many white slaves owners and forced them to free African-American slave. After all of our hard work, we were able to gather five hundred slaves. In 1869, I returned to Auburn, New York. I married Nelson Davis, a former slave who’d worked for a man by the name of George Charles.  I met Nelson in South Carolina during the war. Even though he was ten years my junior, I found that he was a much better husband than John could ever be. We remained married for 19 years, until his death in 1888. I was then left alone, committing myself to God, who’d looked down upon me with such favor over the past few years. I decided that I had right to two things: liberty, or death.

 The End of my Journey

 March 10^th, 1913

Harriet Tubman during her final days

At the beginning of the 20^th century, I became really involved with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Auburn. I donated some real estate I owned to this church to make it into a home for "aged and indigent colored people." The home did not open for five years, and I was appalled that they ordered residents to pay a $100 fee. I refused to pay, and I said, “They make a rule that nobody should come in without they have a hundred dollars. Now I wanted to make a rule that nobody should come in unless they didn't have no money at all." I was completely frustrated. I feel that you shouldn’t need to pay for a home where you are respected as who you are, but I was the guest of honor when we opened the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged, in 1908. As I aged, my mind started to fail me more and more, and at some point in the early 20^th century I underwent brain surgery. I trusted the doctor and hoped it would come out alright. I couldn’t sleep because of all that buzzing and pounding in my head. The doctor sawed open my skull and raised it up, and now it feels more comfortable. I had no fancy pain medicine so I had to bite down on a bullet to stop thinking about the pain. In 1911 my body was so frail, that I was admitted into my own elderly home. A New York newspaper described me as “ill and penniless”. In 1913 I got pneumonia, and just before I passed I said to those around me “I go to prepare a place for you”.

Alexander Cartwright

December 25, 1828: I remember waking up with the joy of Christmas filling my body. I also remember the sounds of bacon sizzling on the cast iron skillet. The smells were intoxicating, the grease of the bacon, the sweetness of the pancakes. I arose from my slumber and saw snow cover the streets of New York City. I went straight to the living room. Our dinner table was full of food. The bacon, pancakes, eggs and the sausage engulfed the table. This was a very special occasion for me because I had never seen so much food on my table. It was a feast fit for a king. I wolfed down my plate and sprinted toward my tree. The lights glistened in the living room. Presents were everywhere. I used ounce of will in my body to not open presents because my parents were such slow eaters and I needed to wait for them. After the wait that seemed like hours, I finally opened my first present. I was hoping it was a fire truck; I’ve always wanted to become a firefighter, it’s been my dream. I opened the present and found what else, but a fire truck. I hugged my mother and father very tightly and moved on to my next present. It was a journal, this journal to be exact. I hugged my parents once again. I went into my room and played all day. It was one of the best days of my life.      

May 12 1836: Today was my first day of work and I was really looking forward to it. I walked in and was inundated with astonishment. Suddenly, there was a silence. Every man was wearing fine silk suits and ties and held leather briefcases. Their hairs were flattened down like it was covered in mud and their faces had this monotone yet serious expression. They held canes guiled with fine gold. Their shoes were polished to the fullest extent. I wore my shirt, trousers and suspenders. Every man was looking like I was some sort of outcast. I kept walking and the eyes of every man and woman were beating down on me like the hot sun in the summer. I eventually got into the office and met my boss, Mr. O’Donnell. He was a robust man with a cigar in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.  “Sit down” he said in his deep and monotone voice. “Welcome to Coit and Cochrane, let me show you around.” He got up, put down his cigar and chugged down his Scotch. I stepped out of his office. It was eerily quiet. All I could hear was he scribbling of pencils and crumpling of paper. After the tour, he placed me at my desk and placed a stack of paper on my desk: “get to work.” He said in an exclamatory voice. I needed to organize them and put them in their respective bins. I spent all day organizing these papers. It was exhausting. I am hoping it get easier. 

October 12^th 1838: I remember the day I walked into my boss’s office and I quit.  I couldn't take it anymore. I simply went into Mr. O’Donnell’s office and said I wanted to quit. He simply said in his deep and menacing voice: “ If that’s how you feel go ahead. It was nice meeting you” I shook his hand and walked out. It has been two years since I first stepped foot in that retched place. It was an awful place. Every morning when I walked in I immediately felt the looks of the rich bankers pound against me. My boss, Mr. O’Donnell, had a very deep and almost demonic laugh that frightened me. The bank would be silence, and it would be broken by the laugh of Mr. O’Donnell. His laugh echoed across all across the place. The odor of his Cuban cigars would fill the room with the unpleasant stench of the smoke of his cigar. It was like a gas chamber when I walked into his office. The employees were almost just as bad. They would pick on me because I was the youngest in the entire office. They would yell out every single word that came out of their mouth. They were very rude and would mock me. Now after 2 years of job searching, I’ve found a new job. I am working as a clerk again, but at Union Bank of New York. Today, working at the bank was amazing. Every person looked at me with a welcoming smile.  I walked into the boss’s office. I read his name of his desk. It read “ Mr. O’Brian.” Though his name did sound like my old boss, he was nothing like him. He held a glass of water, had a very clam and controlled voice. He seemed like a nice man and he was. He said in his clam voice “come into my office if you need anything”. The employees were just as nice. They would help me so much. I made friends the very first day. I think I am going to like this place. 

    

Early 1840’s: After being a clerk at Coit & Cochrane and the Union bank of New York, I entered the Knickerbocker Engine Company No. 12. I decided to do so because I wasn’t satisfied with my previous jobs. I have always wanted to be a firefighter, however no opportunity came so I became a clerk. I joined the Company in the early this year. It’s been a couple of weeks ago. I remember the atmosphere of my first day quite well. They introduced me to the “the House”(which is the building). It makes sense because we sleep, eat, train, work and after all live there. When I entered inside the building, at the left there is a door leading to the stable. In the stable there are the horses on one side and the huge water bottles the horses would carry on the carriages. On the left there was the pole that we would use.  Going back to the entrance there is a staircase in the center leading to the dorms and the captain’s office. The dorms were bunks on both sides and our equipment at the ready next to them. In the middle of the room is the pole.  I am really enjoying my job at the fire house.

September 23^rd 1845:  After a while in the firehouse I got to know many friends. I met  Duncan Curry, Daniel “Doc” Adams and Henry Tiebout Anthony. We knew each other very well. I introduced them to William Wheaton who was an attorney in New York and liked my idea of creating a baseball club. I asked them if they wanted to join and they agreed, they were going to meet with us in a pub today.   This was probably the most important day of my life. Doc and I were going to meet the others to decide the fate of our jobs.  We meet in the small pub near my building were I used to work.  We crossed the street and saw Duncan walking with Will. We waved at each other and they crossed the street to meet us. I checked my watch and saw that Alfred and Henry were late. I turned and asked Doc where they could be. We decided to wait for them at the pub. After a couple of drinks they arrived. We asked why they were late and replied saying it was a long story. We sat in a round table at the back of the pub near the bar. Doc and Duncan sat next to me. We talked for a couple of minutes about how we would organize ourselves. I said I would start writing the rules in the next couple of weeks. Then I placed down this piece of paper on the table. I explained the salaries we would have and the place where we would practice. To convince the others I said that professional athletes won huge salaries. Suddenly, Henry said that since New York is growing so fast he couldn’t find a place to practice. We all worried, but Will had an idea. He said we could find many places in Hoboken. Alfred and Duncan immediately disagreed. I agreed with them we couldn’t pay 30 cents for a round trip to ride the ferry every day. And we couldn’t leave Manhattan to live in New Jersey!  We would need more money. W couldn’t pay fifteen cents every day! Will defended his point saying that Hoboken was the best place they could stay. Suddenly, our table was silent. The noise of the died down, we couldn’t hear anything or say anything.  Duncan and I looked at each other; we knew that we had no choice. We came to a decision; we would play in Hoboken.  

Picture of the New York Knickerbockers

Lithography of the Elysian Fields in Hoboken

 October 23^rd 1845 : Following  the creation of the club with Duncan and the others,  I started writing the rules today. I wouldn’t invent a brand new sport; I took the basic rules from a British sport called Town Ball and added a few things.  I used see people play when I was young from time to time and used that to my advantage. In the beginning I started writing the rules with Duncan. We started with the 1^st rule:  « Members must strictly observe the time agreed upon for exercise, and be punctual in their attendance» We both agreed on this one because we didn’t want our matches to be delayed because one player was late. After writing 4 rules, Duncan told me that we should only play on week-ends, I asked why and he told me that during the week everybody is working ; I agreed that was our 5th rule  « No stump match shall be played on a regular day of exercise ». After a while, we noticed we already wrote 14 rules. But we still didn’t know what to write about how many strikes there should be to switch teams. Then, after thinking for a while we came to the 15th rule « Three hands out, all out ». In the end of the afternoon we had finished. Ducan and I both signed on the bottom of the last page and left. I hope I just made history today.

(Cover of the "Rules and Regulations of the Knickerbocker Baseball Club'')

February 9^th, 1846: I cannot believe what happened today! I am furious! People are saying that I am not the inventor of the rules of modern baseball and that Abner Doubleday invented baseball altogether! Even though I am the only one who actually published the rules of modern baseball. The Knickerbocker club believes me! There is no evidence that P Doubleday actually did write the rules because he has not published any. This is nothing but a myth that people believe in! I do not know how much time this so called “controversy” will take and when it will stop but I shall not stop fighting until I get renamed as the official father of Baseball and the one who has written the rules of modern baseball.  I do not want to dwell on this; I do not want to talk about it to anybody but the men in the Knickerbocker Club. I am wondering what wife will think. That I am a fake? A fraud? Will she think like the others or will she be on my side of the argument? I cannot keep this going. It is never too late to put a stop to this before the “news” becomes an even worse of a deal. Here is MY evidenvce:

Abner Doubleday

June 19^th, 1846: Our first match ever against the New York Nine. This is the first recorded Baseball match. A very big day for Duncan, William and myself. The game was being played by the rules I have established. I could not be more proud than to this day and I was respected a lot by the crowd that day. Duncan, being the president of the team was very tense during the match against the New York Nine. An emblem was created in honor of this match. Unfortunately, we were very badly defeated and it brought our whole team down. Duncan and William were not even speaking that night because they were so sad we had lost the first ever baseball match that we were hosting. The men in the other team were all smarter than our players and they all played cricket; thus this being to their advantage. I am talking to Duncan about this match and it seems that we will not be respected as much because the Knickerbocker Club created their own team. We are all trying to make our way out of this. I umpired this match and made calls for both teams. I was still gladly honored that day.

Plaque of  their first game

                                            The Sun Sunday February 5th 1916

August 15^th, 1849:I was very excited that day because the news said that there was a lot of gold in California! I sailed to California and it didn’t please me much, I thought I would become rich! I stayed for barely two months and on, I then sailed for Honolulu, Hawaii. I arrived there today! I saw what was paradise for me. I had just realized that my dream was not getting rich, it was this: a perfect place for retirement. It had fantastic climate, marvelous beaches and perfect environment. I suddenly meet one of my friends from back in New York, Aaron Howe whom just happened to own a ship Candler’s business and needed help with his store. I decided to enter in his employment as a bookkeeper. I know I will never go back to New York or California ever again. I am really enjoying myself and then I just discovered something: I have to tell my wife! I immediately start to write to her and I tell her about what had happened, I apologize to her and then I start to tell her what a great place this is and I can work thus out to have a great retirement with my wife, Eliza and my three children: Dewitt, Mary and Kate.

Poster about the Gold Rush

Poster about the Gold Rush

A man searching for gold in a river

Alexander Joy Cartwright

William Randolph Hearst

FIRST ENTRY- WEALTHY KID-AUGUST, 1875

Born as an only child, I had a caring mother and a loving father but I also could have been considered as a spoiled child for some. From the very beginning of my life, I had a great future laying ahead of me and an education in New York, something considered as a privilege for us children at the time.

I must say I enjoyed it, I knew then what I was to become, a man just like my father, black hat, black jacket and tie, polished shoes and that serious look on my face that would make people around me understand who I am and what I do. But what did my father do? I had no clue at that time, I just knew it was very important, lots of paperwork was required, and I heard he owned things. My father was often alone working, he rarely talked to my mother about his job, which I understood later was a business built on mining areas he exploited and owned in California. I always respected my father a lot because I knew he was an important man.  On the other side there was my mother who had always been there for me. We would go to museums and parks. We would even travel to Europe sometimes. I never had a lot of friends in my childhood because i didn't go to school, my mother was taking care of my education and so I didn’t have any comrades, I quickly learned how to live by myself and get what I want easily. My life had always been easy in terms of money but it got even easier when my father passed away, I inherited a generous amount of money and a group of dailies my father used to own in 1887. In 1920 one in four papers belonged to the Hearst family. I never worked for the money.  I worked for the honor and the name, to continue what my family had done so far. It was my duty as George Hearst’s son.

SECOND ENTRY-A TRIP TO EUROPE, OCTOBER 1875

San Simeon, California was my hometown and we owned a castle there, but my father worked in New York, which made us travel a lot from one place to another during vacation. I liked traveling a lot and so did my mother, a great part of my mothers worries she used to confess to me, was my cultural education. She wanted me to know every thing there was to know about art, the greatest painters and artists of every culture and nationality, she would say , when you grow older, decorating your family home will ask you to have good taste, its is my job to initiate you to the fine arts so you will know how to choose wisely. Because of my mother and my father’s wealth, I got the opportunity at age ten to experience the world as very few children did at that time. I toured Europe along with my mother who made sure that we saw the greatest, the finest, the most expensive works of art ever created. I got to see the greatest museums all over Europe. in France, Spain and Italy and returned to New York with a few acquisitions. When we returned I remember it was winter, which meant for the wealthy families, a lot of social event during which my mother made me talk about my experience in Europe. I told with pride the places we got to see and the few art pieces we bought. At that moment I already felt like an adult.

THIRD ENTRY- EDUCATION AND ORIENTATION, DECEMBER 1875

My education could have been one of the best of my time. I started very young to show my interests and my mother took care of my cultural learning. I got captivated by journalism very soon, and got the idea of becoming a journal publisher. Only in 1885, I was at Harvard University and I got expelled for my behavior. After that experience I started studying economic and finance and finally bought my first journal- The Examiner -in 1887 and set to making it a popular one. The business was working perfectly well, so I decided to buy a second journal in 1895, The New York Journal.

I was enjoying my life like never before, but I quickly realized that this wasn’t enough for me, I needed more say in the political world, and the Journal with the Yellow Kid which was a caracter in a political cartoon, couldn’t express everything I had to say. That is why I sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1904. I didn’t get elected so I continued my career as journal publisher and continued investing in newspapers. By 1937 I owned 11 Sunday papers and 20 dailies in 13 different cities including Chicago, Boston, California, Los Angeles and of course New York. This what I did best, and whatever else I tried do would no11t work out for me. I was destined to be journal publisher.  

FIRST ENTRY:THE ORIGINS OF THE SAN FRANSISCO EXAMINER

I started my journalistic career in 1887 after I was even expelled from Harvard for sending engraved silver chamber pots to my teacher.  I was only 23 when my father gave me the San Francisco Examiner. The San Francisco Examimer used to be a U.S. daily newspaper owned by my dear father, George Hearst. It was distributed in San Francisco, California, and the adjoining Peninsula. On March 7, 1887, I became the proud owner of The Examiner. From the very beginning, I was determined to make the San Francisco Examiner very popular. I gave my journal a grand motto, "Monarch of the Dailies". I acquired the best equipment and the most talented writers of the time, including Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, and Jack London. Ambrose Bierce was an american editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. He wrote reviews, essays, poems, short stories, and sketches and submitted them to newspapers such as the San francisco Examiner and the California Advertiser. Mark Twain was an american author and an humorist. He was involved in a movement that opposed any form of colonialism and imperialism.He includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture. Jack London was an american author, journalist, and social activist. After I gave my journal a grand motto, I went on to publish stories about municipal and financial corruption, often attacking companies in which my own family held an interest. Within a few years, my papers dominated the San Francisco market. Shortly after, I had purchased another newspaper, the New York Journal which would become the second in a long list of newspaper holdings that I acquired in the next decade of my life. At my peak, I owned over two dozen newspapers nationwide; in fact, nearly one in four Americans got their news from my own  journals.

( Picture 1: William R. Hearst and his first wife Millicent Willson/ Picture 2: News cover about Titanic)
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SECOND ENTRY: NEW YORK JOURNAL

In 1895 I purchased the New York Journal, and used  the similar approach adopted by Joseph Pulitzer who was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher. Pulitzer responded by producing a colour supplement (a magazine that is printed in color and circulated with a newspaper). The colour supplement included the Yellow Kid, a new cartoon character drawn by Richard F. Outcault. The Yellow Kid was the name of a lead comic stripe character  that ran from 1895 to 1898 in Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World and later in my New York Journal. This cartoon became so popular that I, owner of the New York Journal, offered him a considerable amount of money to join his other newspapers. I also reduced the price of the journal to one cent and included colour magazine sections. As a result of the importance of Outcault's Yellow Kid character in these events, this circulation war between the two newspapers became known as yellow journalism. The Yellow Journalism was a type of journalism that presented little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. The techniques included exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering,or sensationalism. In 1896 Outcault was hired away at a much higher salary to the New York Journal American where he drew the Yellow Kid in a new full-page color strip. Outcault produced three subsequent series of Yellow Kid strips at the Journal American, each lasted no more than four months.

(The Yellow Kid on a journal cover )
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THIRD ENTRY: WAR WITH SPAIN CONCLUSION

I was a supporter of Adolf Hitler from 1934 until 1938. I used to believed that Hitler was going to bring a century of peace to Europe. However, in a private interview I told Hitler that in order to be a great leader, he must stop the persecution of the German Jews. I convinced myself that Hitler was going to listen to me, but my support for Hitler changed following Kristallnacht in 1938. Kristallnacht was a pogrom or series of coordinated attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9 - 10 November 1938. German authorities looked on without intervening. The attacks left most of the streets covered with broken glass from the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues.

I sought to help the Nazis in their psychological warfare against the Soviet Union with my press articles asserting that millions were dying of famine in the Ukraine, a famine supposedly deliberately provoked by the communists. The articles went into graphic and violent detail.The Soviet Union used propaganda to persuade other people to be be on their side and fight against the Nazis. My articles succeeded in causing public opinion in the capitalist countries to turn sharply against the Soviet Union. This was the origin of the first giant annoncement alleging millions were dying in the Soviet Union.

( Picture: News cover “Nazis surrender” Schenectady Gazette)
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FIRST  ENTRY: JOURNALISTIC LIFE :1883-1951

When I was 24, I owned my first journal the Examiner. I made it a popular journal, and more people began reading it. After, I purchased a lot of other newspapers like the New York Journal. I bought it in 1885, making a bitter war between my journal and the other New York journals, because every editor wanted to have the most journals possible. By the 1930s, I owned the largest publishing association in the United States, including 28 newspapers and 9 magazines. I was also in competition with Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of the New York World and other magazines. I reduced the price of the New York Journal to one cent, I increased the paper’s size, and I added some colour magazine sections, to find more readers and customers for my newspapers. I also persuaded one of Joseph Pulitzer’s cartoonist, Frederick Opper, to join my team by giving him a higher salary.Thanks to my personal interest in my job, my newspapers and journals were of a competitive quality and always a little more popular than the other editors’. In 1909, I founded the International News Service to help the journalists with newspaper information for all subjects and themes. It had information to put in the newspapers, and the journalists could take it and insert it in theirs.

(Picture:  drawing of Hearst on the cover of the TIME magazine, n. 7)

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SECOND ENTRY: POLITICAL LIFE: 1883-1951

During my life, I used a lot of my media power to investigate in the United States politics, particularly in New York State, and New York City. At the beginning of my career, I did not have a lot of luck in the elections I ran in. Unfortunately, I was not elected president. In 1903 and, once again, in 1905, I won the election to the House of Representatives as a New York Democrat. In 1905 and 1909, I failed in my two bids to become the mayor of New York City. I was also defeated by the Republican candidate Charles Evans Hughes when I tried to be the governor of New York State in 1906. I supported the Spanish-American War, but I opposed the United States' entry into World War One, because I thought they had no business in this war. So, at the beginning of the First World War, I moved back to California alone and on my own while my wife, Millicent Willson and my children stayed in New York City.  I was also against President Wilson’s creation of the League of Nations and American membership.

(Picture: Hearst and Bryan for the democratic nomination of 1908)

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THIRD ENTRY: HIS WEALTHY LIFE: 1883-1951

During my life, I lived very well thanks to my father’s wealth, my newspapers company, and some ranches my father owned. I lived in New York during most of my adulthood. But, for vacations and a small part of my life,  I lived in a castle in San Simeon, California, my origin land, that I had made it  myself. My father, before I was born, had bought 40,000 acres of ranch land. Later, I wanted more than just a field and I did not want anymore to sleep in tents. So, I asked to the famous San Francisco architect Julia Morgan in 1919: “We are tired of camping out in the open at the ranch [...] I would like to build a little something”. This castle was where I put my multiple collections of paintings, sculptures, lamps, pieces of furniture, and mosaics that came from all around the world and from different centuries. I loved all of them but my favorite collection was the mosaics collection. My guests and I enjoyed visiting the menagerie to view the many exotic animals like bears, lions, tigers, leopards, chimpanzees, swans, an elephant and plenty of others I had bought over there.

(wooden sculpture, spain from the 17th century from Hearst’s collection)


(aerial picture of Hearst's Castle, California)

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POINTS OF VIEW OF OTHER PEOPLE



Joseph Pulizer


William Randolph Hearst was, at the time, a great journal publisher, from my point of vue. He was always a bit better at everything compared to me. Even Though he was my rival, I envied him and was a little jealous. During my entire career, Hearst took away many of the men that I had recruited. He also made a larger format for his newspapers and inserted colors and pictures.
His family especialy his parents maybe less his wife and kids, supported him in his ambitions which made of him the great man of which we know today.



(picture of Josep Pulitzer)

Millicent Veronica Wilson (1882-1974)

My mariage with Randolph Hearst didnt turn out so well. We had a few happy years together with our children but when my husband built this castle in California it was like he had a parrallele life over there. I quickly discovered his affaire with the young and fair actress Marion Davis. In San Simeon he lived openly with her without showing any respect for me, his wife. I was indignated and moved to New York with the kids leaving him in his palace surounded by his mistresses. I couldn't stand him then, for showing so little respect our relation ship didnt get better with the years even tough we were still legally married.