Free, James

Biographical Note

• 1908, Nov. 5: Born, Gordo, Ala.
• 1929: B.A., University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala. Attended Theodora Duncan School of Theater, New York, N.Y. Starred in vaudeville productions, "What Women Want" and "Cradle of the Deep"
• 1930: B.L., Columbia University, New York, N.Y. Reporter, Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
• 1931: Circulation supervisor, New York Times, Brooklyn, N.Y.
• 1931 - 1932 : Associate editor, Tennis magazine
• circa 1931: Insurance salesman, Yazoo and Mississippi Railroad Co.
• 1932: Worked for L. Ron Hubbard aboard schooner in Carribbean
• 1932 - 1933 : Editor, Tuscaloosa Weekly Warrior, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
• 1933: Visited Central America Edited English-language newspaper in Tegucigalpa, Honduras Assisted in campaign for reelection, Richmond Pearson Hobson, Jr., circuit court clerk of Tuscaloosa, Ala.
• 1934: Conducted Works Progress Administration project, Suburban Subsistence Living Conducted Tennessee Valley Authority research project, Gorgas, Ala.
• 1935 - 1937 : Reporter, Birmingham News, Birmingham, Ala.
• 1937 - 1939 : Reporter, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Va.
• 1939 - 1941 : Reporter, Evening Star, Washington, D.C.
• 1941 - 1946 : Reporter, Chicago Sun (later Sun-Times), Washington, D.C., with a two-year absence from 1943-1944
• 1942 - 1945 : Private, United States Army Air Force; officer, United States Navy
• 1946 - 1947 : Reporter, Raleigh News and Observer and Winston-Salem Journal and Sentinel, Washington, D.C.
• 1947 - 1979 : Reporter, Birmingham News, Washington, D.C.
• 1949 - 1968 : Public information officer, United States Navy Reserve
• 1950: Married Ann Cottrell
• 1954: Special citation for exceptional Washington reporting, Raymond Clapper Award Committee
• 1960: Chairman, Standing Committee of Correspondents of the Congressional Press Galleries
• 1963: Nominated for Pulitzer Prize in journalism
• 1969: Elected to Gridiron Club (historian, 1979-1991)
• 1979: Relinquished full duties as Washington correspondent of the Birmingham News and entered semi-retirement
• 1985: Published The First 100 Years!: A Casual Chronicle of the Gridiron Club. Washington, D.C.: The Club
• 1989: Elected to Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame
• 1996, Apr. 3: Died, Washington, D.C.

From the guide to the James Free Papers, 1929-1996, (bulk 1951-1979), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)