{{Short description|American newspaper publisher (1890–1982)}} {{Infobox person | name = Lawrence W. Hager Sr. | image = Lawrence W. Hager - 1909 - Centre College.jpg | caption = Hager in 1909 | birth_date = {{birth date|1890|5|28}} | birth_place = Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|12|25|1890|5|28}} | death_place = Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S. | education = Centre College | political_party = Democratic | spouse = Martha Augusta Brown (m. 1921) | children = 2 | parents = Samuel Wilber Hager<br />Elizabeth Woods (White) Hager | relatives = Edgar Hager (cousin)<br />Addison White (cousin)<br />Hugh Lawson White (cousin)<br />John White (great-uncle)<br />John D. White (uncle)<br />Laura Rogers White (aunt) }}
'''Lawrence White Hager Sr.''' (May 28, 1890 – December 25, 1982)<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Lawrence W. Hager papers |url=https://exploreuk.uky.edu/fa/findingaid/?id=xt7jws8hf793 |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=exploreuk.uky.edu}}</ref> was an American newspaper publisher, broadcasting executive. He served as director of the Southern Newspapers Association (1947–1950), Owensboro Publishing Company, and the Kentucky Broadcasting Company, president, owner, and operator of WOMI radio station, president of the Kentucky Press Association, and owner of the ''Messenger-Inquirer''. Hager died in 1982.
Hager founded several clubs in Owensboro. He founded the Owensboro Rotary Club in 1915, the city's first civic club for men. He also founded the Goodfellows club in 1916, which provided gifts and clothing for disadvantaged children.
== Biography == Lawrence White Hager was born on May 28, 1890, in Louisville, Kentucky, to Samuel Wilber Hager and Elizabeth "Bessie" Woods White.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=1967 Lawrence Hager 1909 |url=https://alumni.centre.edu/s/285/bp20/interior.aspx?sid=285&gid=1&pgid=656 |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=alumni.centre.edu |language=en}}</ref> His father served as Kentucky State Treasurer and auditor between 1900 and 1908. His mother was a member of the White family, a wealthy and politically influential family in Kentucky. Through his mother he was related to John D. White, Addison White, and Hugh Lawson White, all of whom served in U.S. congress.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Connelley |first1=William Elsey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q72JTkxdEYMC&dq=samuel+wilber+hager&pg=PA311 |title=History of Kentucky |last2=Coulter |first2=Ellis Merton |date=1922 |publisher=American Historical Society |isbn=978-0-598-57298-1 |language=en}}</ref> He earned a Master of Arts and graduated cum laude and salutatorian from Centre College in 1909. While still enrolled in college, he got his first job as a reporter for ''The State Journal'' in Frankfort during the summer of 1908. In 1910, He was offered a scholarship to Harvard Law School, but declined, instead deciding to join his father at the ''Messenger-Inquirer'' in Owensboro.<ref name=":1" /> He helped his father with the newspaper, while also learning every detail of the business.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=December 26, 1982 |title=Owensboro newspaper executive Lawrence W. Hager Sr. dies at 92 |pages=8 |work=The Courier-Journal}}</ref> In 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I, and was an artillery officer in France until the end of the war. On December 27, 1918, Hagers father died, a short time before he would return from France. When he returned, he became editor of the ''Messenger-Inquirer.'' On June 5, 1921, he married Martha Augusta Brown. He and Martha had two children, Lawrence W. Jr. and John S. Hager.<ref name=":0" />
In 1913, Hager helped raise support for the creation of the Owensboro-Daviess Chamber of Commerce. He would eventually become a charter member of the chamber, and be elected the chambers board of directors.<ref name=":3" />
In 1915, Hager was one of the main founders of the Owensboro Rotary Club. In 1916, he founded the Goodfellows Club, an organization which provided gifts and clothing for disadvantaged children.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" />
In 1928, Hager founded the Owensboro Publishing Company. In 1929, he bought the ''Messenger'' from Urey Woodson, and consolidated the city's two newspapers, forming the ''Messenger-Inquirer.''<ref name=":0" />
In 1938, he founded WOMI, Owensboro's first radio station.<ref name=":3" />
Hager was a member of the board of trustees for Kentucky Wesleyan College, and helped raise over US$1,000,000 to move the college to Owensboro in 1951.<ref name=":0" />
Hager died on December 25, 1982, in Owensboro, Kentucky, after a brief illness.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Upi |date=1982-12-27 |title=LAWRENCE W. HAGER Sr. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/27/obituaries/lawrence-w-hager-sr.html |access-date=2023-09-10 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> He was interred at Rose Hill Cemetery in Owensboro.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 27, 1982 |title=Hager, Lawrence W. Sr. |pages=14 |work=Messenger-Inquirer}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:W. Hager, Lawrence}} Category:1890 births Category:1982 deaths Category:Mass media people from Louisville, Kentucky Category:People from Owensboro, Kentucky Category:American newspaper publishers (people) Category:20th-century American politicians Category:American newspaper editors