Morris DeHaven Tracy

Who was Morris DeHaven Tracy?

Morris DeHaven Tracy was a prominent journalist of the 1920s and 1930s, who covered for the United Press wire service many of the important stories of the day, such as the Scopes Evolution Trial, the election of Pope Pius XII, and the tour of Canada of the then Prince of Wales.

He was born August 6, 1890 in Hydesville, California to Joseph and Harriet Tracy. He was the grandson of the historian and Congregational minister Rev. Joseph Tracy. From 1908, he worked for the local Humboldt County newspapers covering the numerous shipwrecks along the Northern California coast. His coverage of the wreck of the passenger liner Bear in 1916 earned him a place in the San Francisco bureau of the United Press, where he was responsible for one of the most important scoops of the time, the reelection of Woodrow Wilson over Charles Evans Hughes. Through his connections with the Humboldt County clerk, Fred Kay, Tracy heard of errors in the initial reported tabulation, and became the first to confirm the election for Wilson.

He became a bureau manager for the United Press in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, DC.