When you think of the pioneers of the public relations profession who comes to mind? The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations hosted a free webinar on Thursday, May 4, 2017, titled “Hidden Figures in PR: Putting a Long-Overdue Spotlight on African-American PR Pioneers." Our textbooks taught us the pioneers of our profession—Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays—but this webinar shined a light on those the textbooks missed. Students, educators and practitioners will discover the “Hidden Figures in PR.”

1. Hidden Figures in PR:
Putting a Long-Overdue Spotlight on
African American PR Practitioners
@PlankCenterPR
#PlankWebinar

2. Meet the Panelists
Denise Hill, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Strategic
Communications
Elon University
Alicia Thompson, APR
Managing Director
Porter Novelli
Jada Culver
PRSSA President
The University of
Alabama

7. • 15 year-old high school boy in Texas
• Geography class textbook
• Map of the United States
• Section on ‘Patterns of Immigration’

9. Immigrate/immigrant
• to come to a country to
live there
• to enter and usually
become established;
especially : to come
into a country of which
one is not a native for
permanent residence
(Merriam Webster)

13. • Published 1994
• 776 pages
• Focuses on PR agencies
and their founders
• 17 pioneers (no
minorities)
• 15 men
• 2 women

14. • Published 1995
• 284 pages
• How PR played a role in
important milestones/events
i.e. the Revolutionary War, the
westward expansion, various
presidential campaigns
• Includes Clara Barton and the
founding of the American Red
Cross, but excludes the
women suffrage movement.
– Mentions abolitionist William
Lloyd Garrison

15. • Pendleton Dudley (1876)
• Ivy Lee (1877)
• Carl Byoir (1886)
• Arthur Page (1883)
• John Hill (1890)
• Edward Bernays (1891)
• William H. Baldwin (1891)
• Harry Bruno (1893)
• Earl Newsom (1897)
• Ben Sonnenberg (1901)

16. The Unseen Power: Public Relations, a
History
• In the prologue, Cutlip noted that critics may
lament the book’s absence of black public
relations counselors and the dearth of
women. This omission, he asserted, “is a fact
of history, not a choice of mine.”

17. The Unseen Power: Public Relations, a
History
“…a fact of history, not a
choice of mine.”

18. Ida B. Wells-Barnett

19. • Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• Born 1862
• Journalist, editor, suffragist, activist
• Anti-lynching campaign
– Public relations elements
– Research
• Key messages
– Publicity
– Speaking engagements
• Took message overseas
• Died 1931

20. Henry Lee Moon

21. • Henry Lee Moon
• Born 1901
• Director of Public Relations, NAACP
– 1948-1974 (26 years)
• BA and MA in journalism, Howard University and
Ohio State, respectively
• Previously journalist and press agent for Tuskegee
Institute
• Died 1985

22. • 1954 Brown v. Board of Education
• 1963 March on Washington
• 1964 Civil Right Act
• 1965 Voting Rights Act
• 1968 Fair Housing Act

23. Joseph V. Baker

24. • Joseph V. Baker
• Born 1908
• African American journalist and public relations specialist
• Temple University – BA in journalism
• Reporter - Philadelphia Tribune and first Black columnist for the
Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Director of the Division of Negro Research and Planning with the
Pennsylvania State Department of Labor and Industry.
• Chaired and founded a public relations firm, Joseph V. Baker
Associates. Clients included Association of American Railroads,
Procter and Gamble Corporation, and Chrysler Corporation.
• Retired from Joseph V. Baker Associates early 1980s.
• Died 1993.

25. Moss Kendrix

26. • Moss Kendrix
• Born 1917
• Early 1940s- Worked in Treasury Department in
the War Finance Office promoting war bonds
• In 1944, Moss Kendrix became the director of
public relations for the Republic of Liberia's
Centennial Celebration.
• 1944 founded the Moss Kendrix Organization
– Coca-Cola
• Died 1989

28. Inez Kaiser

29. • Inez Kaiser
• Born 1918
• Inez Kaiser & Associates in 1957
• First African-American, female-owned public
relations firm in the country.
• First African-American woman to head an agency
with national clients
• First African-American woman to join PRSA
• Died 2016

30. Ofield Dukes

31. • Ofield Dukes, APR, Fellow-PRSA
• Born 1932
• Degree in journalism
• WCHB—director; The Michigan Chronicle
• Government public affairs roles– President Lyndon
Johnson and Vice President Hubert Humphrey
• 1969—Ofield Dukes & Associates
– Motown Records, Sony Music Entertainment, RJR Nabisco,
Congressional Black Congress
• Died 2011

32. The Unseen Power: Public Relations, a
History
“…a fact of history, not a
choice of mine.”

35. The Unseen Power: Public Relations, a
History
“…a fact of history, not a
choice of mine.”

42. Questions

43. Thank you.
Similar webinars are on-demand at plankcenter.ua.edu.
@PlankCenterPR #PlankWebinar