William Allen White as a nationally known newspaper editor for much of his life. White purchased The Emporia Gazette in 1895 and continued as its editor until his death on January 31, 1944. Influential on the American political stage in the first half of the 20th century, White was an early supporter of the Progressive Party spearheaded by Robert M. LaFollette, Sr.. White married Sallie Lindsay on April 27, 1893, and had their first child, son William Lindsay, in 1900. Four years later in 1904, daughter Mary, was born. Mary died at an early age in a horse-riding accident in 1921, and White wrote a moving eulogy to his daughter in The Emporia Gazette. His son William, a Harvard graduate, succeeded White as editor of The Emporia Gazette after his death in 1944.
His editorial, "To an Anxious Friend" (July 27, 1922), received a Pulitzer Prize in 1923.
