Rupert Talmage Craig
Athens, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Son of Henry Clay and Dana (Moss) Craig, was born on November 17, 1889, in Shiloh, Kentucky. He began setting type in a print shop at the age of 10 and at the age of 16 became the youngest licensed printer in Kentucky. He worked as a printer for several major U. S. newspapers before coming to work for the "Athens Review" in 1907. He purchased the "Kemp News," a small town newspaper, and became its publisher at the age of 18. Craig married Kentuckian Clara E. Rhodes in 1911 and in 1912 they moved to Chandler, Texas, where he owned the "Chandler Times" newspaper. He purchased the "Athens Review" in 1916. The "Athens Review" became a successful daily newspaper. Craig's distinctive editorials on politics and local events earned him the respect of area citizens and prominent state and national politicians. He served as regent at Texas Woman's University, and was a member of the Texas Economic Commission, the Texas Centennial Commission, and the Texas State Democratic Executive Committee. The Southern Journalism Congress named him "Country Editor of the South" in 1938. Craig sold the "Athens Review" in 1941 after 25 years as publisher. He died in Athens on February 15, 1968; a U. S. Senator attended his funeral. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A prodigy printer who set type at ten and held a Kentucky printer's license at sixteen, Rupert Talmage Craig came to the Athens Review in 1907 and by eighteen was already a small-town newspaper publisher. He bought the Athens Review in 1916 and built it into a respected daily, his editorials earning him standing with state and national politicians and the title 'Country Editor of the South' in 1938.
Why it matters
His career captures the outsized civic influence of the small-town editor in early twentieth-century America, when a local press shaped opinion far beyond its circulation.
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Related people
- · Rupert Talmage Craig
- · Clara E. Rhodes Craig
Themes & tags
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