Edward R. Murrow, a big star from the small town of Polecat Creek, North Carolina, came to life on April 25, 1908, in Guilford County. And the world didn’t know what gifts he would bring. Once seeking a pre-law degree, his public-speaking teacher Ida Lou Anderson saw something more and inspired Murrow to pursue a career in broadcasting. We are forever grateful for her insight. Some of his most impactful reporting came from his live, on-location reports from World War II, such as during Germany’s air raids “the Blitz” in London, and he broadcast the first eyewitness account of the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany.

Murrow graduated in 1930 from Washington State College and later moved to Washington, D.C.
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
As the Second World War unfolded, he was commissioned to Europe to report on the events taking place.
Murrow talks with Bill Downs, a fellow broadcast journalist and an original member of the team of war correspondents known as the "Murrow Boys."
The Life and Work of Edward R. Murrow: An Archives Exhibit, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Also pictured is Ron Cochran, another well-known television journalist and anchor.
During one of Murrow's "Person to Person" television programs in 1956, he interviewed Jackie Gleason.
CBS Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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In this scene from "Challenge of Ideas," a 1961 film, and in the previous photos, you'll find that cigarettes were Murrow's constant companion.
Screenshot taken from a movie in the Public Domain
From 1961 until 1964, Murrow was in charge of the U.S. Information Agency during John F. Kennedy’s administration.
not provided, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
He met with President Lyndon B. Johnson in the Oval Office on Dec. 19, 1963.
Many, including us, consider Murrow the best commentator and most impactful journalist to grace the airwaves.
Copyright 1953, Pan American Coffee Bureau, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sadly, Murrow left us too soon at the age of 57 when he died on April 27, 1965, of lung cancer. We will never again hear him say on live TV, “Good night and good luck.”

But fortunately, we can still watch videos of this big star from the small town of Polecat Creek, North Carolina. For more information, visit the North Carolina history project’s website. Or see this important man’s portrait hanging in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

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