On Saturday, June 4, 2022 family and friends of St. Louis media Hall of Fame honorees gathered at the Last Hotel in downtown St. Louis to celebrate and honor their achievements.
Watch the full ceremony here
William Freivogel
For 34 years, Bill worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in various capacities, including assistant Washington bureau chief and deputy editorial editor, where he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2002. He is the director of the School of Journalism at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and publisher of the Gateway Journalism Review, continuing the 50-year legacy of the St. Louis Journalism Review.
Harry Levins
Harry Levins’ career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch began in 1969 as a copy editor. He held other positions including city editor and night wire editor before becoming the paper’s writing coach and chief copy editor in the early 1980s. His snappy, monthly “Write and Wrong” pamphlets became the “Elements of Levins’ Style” guide for the staff. Since retiring in 2005, Harry has written more than 2000 book reviews for the newspaper.
Rev. Cleophus Robinson – accepting the award is Rev. Shadrach Robinson
In the mid-1960s Reverand Cleophus Robinson hosted one of the first, if not THE first, local Black television shows on KPLR-TV. Rev. Robinson, a world-famous gospel singer and pastor of the former Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church in St. Louis, was featured on the gospel music program that ran for 28 years and was syndicated in 20 other TV markets. He was also on KATZ-AM radio for 38 years.
Amy Shaw
Upon Amy Shaw’s appointment as president and CEO of the Nine PBS in 2020, she became the first woman to lead the station in the organization’s 67-year history. In her previous role as senior vice president and chief content officer, Amy played a major role in Nine PBS’ increased recognition for its programming and its focus on community engagement. Since taking over the reins, she continues her dedication to the community and emphasis on early childhood education. Amy joined the network in 2003.
Jack Rice – accepting the award is Florence Rice
Jack Rice’s newspaper career began in 1940 as a sportswriter for the St. Louis Star-Times before he moved on to St. Louis Globe-Democrat. He joined the Post-Dispatch in 1954 where he was a sportswriter for the paper for five years before becoming a feature writer/columnist until his retirement in 1980. The P-D’s late editorial page editor, Bill Woo, called him “one of the finest writers the paper ever had” whose work was filled with keen observations.
Carol Daniel
Carol Daniel has been with the “The Voice of St. Louis” KMOX-AM for more than 25 years in the positions of anchor, reporter and talk show host. She has also sought ways to bring the St. Louis community together in times of turmoil, such as the Ferguson unrest and the political divisions of 2016. Carol is also a motivational speaker, and using her influence, she has campaigned for equal opportunities for women and Black Americans and many local civic causes.
Herbert B. Swope – accepting the award is Barbara Singer
Herbert B. Swope, the St. Louis-born editor and journalist, started his journalism career at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before becoming a crime reporter and war correspondent for the New York World in 1909. During his tenure there, he became recognized as an authority on Germany and won three Pulitzer Prizes, one of which was for the series of articles titled “Inside the German Empire.” He is also credited with establishing the first op-ed page in 1921 and coining the phrase “Cold War.”
Jim Rothschild
Jim Rothschild’s leadership in St. Louis television spanned nearly 30 years. Early in his career, he directed KTVI-TV’s news magazine, EXTRA, which won the George Foster Peabody Award, Broadcasting’s most prestigious honor. Jim moved on to several operations and management positions at KMOV-TV where he was one of the trailblazing creators of the “24-Hour News” format as well as the creative force behind the station’s many Emmy award-winning promotions. In 2010, he moved on to WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Charles “Bud” Hodges – accepting the award are Don Heimitz and Jeff Hodgson
Charles “Bud” Hodgson was one-third of the advertising agency that bears his name—Batz-Hodgson-Neuwoehner (BHN)—which was founded in 1950. During his tenure, BHN became one of the largest independently-owned agencies in St. Louis. and was responsible for many notable ad campaigns for Six Flags, Maull’s Barbecue Sauce and Mayrose meats. Bud also served as a board member for the Advertising Club of St. Louis.
Bill Durham
Bill Durham worked at three major ad agencies before he founded his own, racking up a total of 50 years in the advertising business. He founded Vinyard & Lee & Partners in 1971. His work included the development of advertising for some of the area’s top companies including Wetterau Foods, Anheuser-Busch, and Purina Dog Chow. He sold his agency to TBWA in 1987 and later started an ad consulting firm, which he ran until his retirement in 2012. He also served as chairman of the Missouri Council of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.
Harry Martin
Harry Martin, a Salem, Ill. native, worked for the Post-Dispatch from 1893 to 1903, creating the Weatherbird in 1901. In addition to being a successful Vaudeville cartoonist, he created a dozen bird-oriented comic strips for New York newspapers. Today, the Weatherbird is the oldest continuously published cartoon. Martin was also a golf writer, an expert on the game, and a founding member of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA).
Dennis Riggs
Dennis Riggs is currently the president of HEC-TV, the leading producer of arts and education programming in St. Louis, a position he has held since 2002. Under his leadership, programming has expanded to include government and nonprofit news impacting St. Louisans. In 2021, Dennis was part of the production team that won an Emmy for best historical documentary for “House of Thunder.” Prior to his position in public television, Dennis had a successful career in news reporting and anchoring at KTVI-TV and KMOV-TV.
R.E. “Ray” Krings – accepting the award are Frosty Hodes and Mary Alice Bruemmer
R.E. “Ray” Krings was Anheuser-Busch’s long-time advertising manager for Budweiser beer from the late 1940s through the late 1960s. Under his leadership the brewer launched several innovative outdoor advertising and print campaigns including, “Where There’s Life, There’s Bud” and the “Pick a Pair of 6-Paks” promotion, and then led Budweiser into their early days of television advertising. Krings was also involved with Budweiser sports marketing and branding strategies.
Elmer Simms Campbell
Elmer Simms Campbell was a St. Louis born commercial artist and the first African American cartoonist published in major national magazines. In 1933, he became a staff cartoonist for Esquire Magazine and in 1934 he designed their longstanding mascot Esky. Campbell also developed the comic “Cutie,” a nationally-syndicated cartoon that ran for 25 years in 145 publications His work was also published in Cosmopolitan, Ebony, The New Yorker, Playboy, Redbook other publications, and he was a member of the Eisner Award Hall of Fame.
William E. Woods
The first person heard on St. Louis radio in 1920, William E. Woods, along with friend and fellow radio enthusiast Lester A. Benson, built the first transmitter and broadcasted the announcement of the presidential election results from his home. The broadcast was then beamed out over a 2000-mile radius. The technology was so new that an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the device as a “wireless telegraph sending apparatus.” He later built transmitters for several other stations.
Charlie Ross
Charlie Ross’ journalism career began in 1908, when he was named a professor at the new University of Missouri School of Journalism. He moved on to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1918 as the chief Washington correspondent rising to the position of editorial page editor. While there, he won the 1932 Correspondence Pulitzer Prize for his article on the economy. In 1945, high school classmate President Harry S. Truman asked him to become his press secretary, a position he held until his death in 1950.
CORE – J. C. Dillon, Marc Kempter,
Eric Tilford, Keith Tilford
Founded in 1995 by J.C. Dillon, Marc Kempter, and brothers Eric and Keith Tilford, CORE was a nationally recognized creative force that shook up the St. Louis advertising scene through the early 2000s. After three years of gaining national attention, CORE became a member of Ogilvy & Mather’s “Syndicate” collection of boutique agencies and had a roster of national clients including Nike, Virgin Mobile USA, Miller Brewing Company, and Monsanto. Locally, their work for St. Louis Post-Dispatch won numerous creative awards. CORE officially dissolved in 2010, and its founders have moved on to other agency leadership roles.
Click the link to download a copy of the Hall of Fame program: FINAL 2022 STLMHOF Program 6.4.2022
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