Blair named to Hall of Fame

One of the perks of my job is experiencing serendipitous events that have a lasting impact either on my life or the lives of others.

One such event happened several years ago — I was covering a Martin Luther King Day event in Weatherford, and one of the speakers was William Blair, Jr.

Blair served in World War II and played baseball in the old Negro League for the Indianapolis Clowns.

In 1949 Blair started the Southwest Sports News, which specialized in publishing scores from African American college sporting events. In 1957 he added entertainment news and re-named the publication The Highlight News.

In the early 1960s he added news of social, political, and economic interest, and then news from local churches.

The name again changed, and remains the Elite News in Dallas.

Blair made a lasting impact on his city and is the namesake of the William “Bill” Blair, Jr. Park in Dallas. He is in the African American Museum Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

He was the moving force behind first Martin Luther King, Jr. parade in Dallas in 1985.

In 1999, he instituted an annual Religious Hall of Fame award to honor local clergymen.

Blair passed away in 2014.

Editor’s Note: The University of Texas at Arlington houses the William Blair Collection, and the biographical details above were gleaned from that source.

While I never knew Bill Blair, he had an impact on my life. Hearing him speak at that MLK Day event in Weatherford, he said something that hit me like a ton of bricks, and still does to this day.

In talking about why he started a newspaper, he said “because we didn’t have anyone to tell our story.”

That sentence haunts me as a publisher.

My guess is you have heard of Amon Carter, but you probably haven’t heard of William Blair.

He knew, in the 1940s, that if anyone was going to cover the achievements of black people, he was going to have to do it.

Lack of inclusion of people from any category, be it race, creed, or religion, is an indictment of the media.

That phrase, “we didn’t have anyone to tell our story,” resonates in my mind, and strengthens my resolve as a newspaper publisher to be inclusive, and to strive to make sure as many diverse classes of people are included in the news we publish.

Fast-forward to last year, it dawned on me that people in my own industry probably didn’t know who Bill Blair was. I felt he was a worthy candidate, so last year I nominated him to be in the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame.

I’m happy to report that he was accepted, and at the Hall of Fame Luncheon at the Texas Press Association convention last week, his daughter, Debra Blair Abron, came to accept the award on the family’s behalf.

A fellow publisher and I decided to skip the after-lunch session, and had a delightful conversation with a delightful woman, who had many stories about her father and his impact on Dallas.

There was one added bonus to the day.

A fellow publisher found, amid the contents of a storage locker, a baseball that had been signed by members of the old Negro Leagues. Debra was presented with the baseball in addition to the Hall of Fame award.

If you would like to find out more about Bill Blair, visit elitenewsdallas.com, search for the William Blair collection at the UTA Library, or thehistorymakers.org/biography/william-blair-jr

Randy Keck is owner and publisher of The Community News.