Wilbert Tatum facts for kids

Wilbert Arnold "Bill" Tatum (born January 23, 1933 – died February 26, 2009) was an important American newspaper leader. He worked as an editor, publisher, and CEO for the New York Amsterdam News. This was a weekly newspaper for the African-American community in New York City.

Bill Tatum's Early Life

Wilbert Tatum was born in Durham, North Carolina, in 1933. He was one of 13 children. He went to schools in Durham that were separated by race. During the summer, he worked in tobacco fields.

Education and Military Service

Bill Tatum studied sociology at Lincoln University (Pennsylvania). This was the first historically black university in the United States to give out degrees.

During the Korean War, he served in the United States Marine Corps. He worked as a drill instructor in Japan from 1951 to 1954. After his military service, he went to Yale University. He later earned a master's degree from Occidental College. There, he focused on urban studies, which is about city life.

Tatum worked for the New York City government for 13 years. He served under Mayors John Lindsay and Abraham Beame. As a director, he once spent a cold night in a Queens housing project. This was to show how difficult it was for people living there without heat. He also suggested ideas like a program to help poor people buy clothes.

Leading the Amsterdam News

In the 1970s, Bill Tatum joined a group that bought the Amsterdam News newspaper. Other important investors included H. Carl McCall and Percy Sutton. By the mid-1980s, Tatum had invested a lot of his own money into the paper. He took full control of the newspaper in 1983. By 1996, he became the only owner.

Bill Tatum worked at the Amsterdam News for 25 years. Many people thought of him when they heard the paper's name. Even though fewer copies were sold over time, the newspaper remained very important.

During the 1984 presidential election, Tatum chose not to support any specific candidate.

When Ed Koch was Mayor of New York City, Tatum wrote a weekly article series. It was called "Why Koch Should Resign." These articles ran on the front page from 1986 to 1989. Tatum said Mayor Koch's government was not effective. He also felt it did not help minority residents enough. After Koch lost an election in 1989, Tatum wrote his last article on the topic. It simply said Koch had lost and his last day of work would be December 31.

Some people in the city's Jewish community said Tatum helped the paper cover Jewish topics more fairly. In 1984, a Jewish leader said Tatum understood problems for both Jewish and Black people. Mayor Koch had once called the paper "anti-Semitic." But he later had a public debate with Tatum about Jewish-Black relations.

Over the years, many original investors left the paper. One investor, John L. Edmonds, stayed and had disagreements with Tatum. Edmonds sued Tatum, saying Tatum had misused the paper's money. In 1996, a jury found that Tatum owed Edmonds over $1 million.

In 1997, Tatum stepped down from his main roles. He named his daughter, Elinor Tatum, as the new publisher and editor-in-chief. She was 26 years old at the time. Bill Tatum remained the chairman of the board until he passed away.

Tatum once wrote about Al Gore choosing Joe Lieberman as his running mate in the 2000 presidential election. He believed it was done to raise money from Jewish supporters.

His daughter once asked him why he didn't run for public office. He replied that he could help people most by leading the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper.

Bill Tatum's Family Life

Bill Tatum married Susan Kohn, who was a Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia. Their daughter, Elinor, was given a choice. She could follow her father's Baptist faith or her mother's Jewish faith. Elinor chose to prepare for her bat mitzvah.

Later Years and Community Work

By 1984, Bill Tatum lived in a large home in Manhattan's East Village. He had bought it cheaply and improved it over time. He also made money by buying and fixing up old buildings. He often hired people who had been in trouble or were political refugees to help with the work.

In 1984, Tatum started a group of Jewish and African-American leaders. They met to talk about how the two communities could get along better. That same year, he was honored for helping runaway children in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Bill Tatum's Passing

Bill Tatum passed away on February 26, 2009, at age 76. He died from multiple organ failure while traveling in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He had diabetes and used a wheelchair. He was survived by his wife, Susan, his daughter, a brother, and three sisters.