Samuel Crowther (journalist)

Samuel Crowther
Samuel Crowther
	Crowther in 1924
Born	Samuel Crowther junior; June 14, 1880; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Died	October 27, 1947 (aged 67); Boston, Massachusetts, US
Occupation	Writer; journalist; biographer;
Nationality	American
Genre	non-fiction, biography, Business, Economics
Spouse	Mary Jane Owens
Children	two sons and one daughter

Samuel Crowther (1880–1947) was a prominent American journalist and writer who is best known for his collaborative writings with Henry Ford and other industrialists.

Life

Crowther was born on June 14, 1880, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his father also being Samuel Crowther. He was educated at the Friends Select School in Philadelphia and graduated B.S. (1901) and LL.B. (1904) at the University of Pennsylvania.

In college, he won his varsity letters in football and rowing and was a member of the university's crew that distinguished itself in the Henley Regatta. In 1905, his "American Rowing," the first history of the sport in the country, was published.^[1] He dedicated his writing career to publishing biographies of famous industrialists and collaborating with some of them to produce works that conveyed their ideas to the public. The most prominent and enduring collaboration was with Henry Ford, the car manufacturer.

He married Mary Jane Owens on November 21, 1914, and they had two sons and a daughter. He died in Boston, Massachusetts on October 27, 1947.^[2]

Career

1913 – Journalist with The Boston Post
1918–1919 – Represented The New York Tribune and System Magazine in England and Germany.
1932 – Associated with the United States Steel Corporation in an advisory capacity.
During his journalistic career he interviewed many of America's industrial leaders.^[1]
Contributions to Country Gentleman, World's Work, Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, etc.^[3]

Professional memberships

Fellow of the Royal Economic Society
Member of American Economic Association
Member of American Statistical Society^[3]

Publications

Rowing and Track Athletics (Rowing by S Crowther; Track Athletics by Arthur Ruhl) [With plates], New York: Macmillan Co., 1905. A volume of the American Sportsman's Library.
Common Sense and Labour. London & Garden City, N.Y.: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, 1920.
Why Men strike. London & Garden City, N.Y.: George G. Harrap and Co.,[1920.]
The Book of Business. Edited by Samuel Crowther. New York: P.F. Collier & son company, 1920.
The First Million the Hardest. An autobiography By Arthur B. Farquhar (1838–1925), in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Co.: 1922.
John H Patterson: Pioneer in Industrial Welfare [With plates, including portraits]. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1923.
The Romance and Rise of the American Tropics. [Illustrated]. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1929.
$970,000,000 minus. A second primer. The results of a year of simple arithmetic, etc [On the foreign trade of the USA]. New York: Chemical Foundation, 1936.^[4]

Collaborative Publications

Tennis for Women. (Illustrated from photographs), Molla Bjurstedt and Samuel Crowther, London: Curtis Brown, 1916.
My Life and Work. By Henry Ford, in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. London: William Heinemann & Co., printed in U.S.A., 1922.
Today and Tomorrow. By Henry Ford, in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. London: William Heinemann & Co., printed in U.S.A., 1926.
Moving Forward. By Henry Ford in collaboration with Samuel Crowther, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Co.,1930.
My Friend Mr Edison By Henry Ford, with Samuel Crowther [With plates]. London: Ernest Benn, 1930.
Men and Rubber: The story of business. By Harvey Samuel Firestone, in collaboration with Samuel Crowther. London: William Heinemann & Co., printed in U.S.A., 1926.
Why Quit Our Own. By George Nelson Peek with Samuel Crowther [On the desirability of a balanced domestic economy in the United States]. New York: D. Van Nostrand Co., 1936.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b His obituary in the New York Times, October 28, 1947.
^ "Find a Grave" website: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59852854* Retrieved January 31, 2012
^ ^a ^b Who's Who Among American Authors, Edited by Alberta Laurence, Los Angeles: Golden Syndicate Publishing Company, Vol. IV, 1929–30, p. 253.
^ ^a ^b Cf. British Library catalogue.