Robert Hunter

Wabash Valley profiles : a series of tributes to hometown people and events that have shaped our history

Description:	One typed page including photograph; biography of Wiles Robert Hunter, national icon for social causes and an influential author. Other individuals mentioned include William R. Hunter, Carolyn (Fouts) Hunger, William Andrew Hunter, Eliza Warren, Caroline Stokes, J. Phelps Stokes, Don M. Nixon. ABASH VALLEY WP R O F I L E SA series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference.Rober t Hunterhe son of affluent and innovative carriage makers, Terre Haute native Wiles Robert Hunter became a national icon for social causes and an influential author. His parents, William R. Bob and Carolyn Callie (Fouts) Hunter, owned Fouts & Hunter Carriage Manufacturing Co., designer and manufacturer of the Mikado Road Wagon, an attractive buggy with wicker backs on the seats. Born on April 14, 1874, Robert was the second oldest son. By the time he graduated from Terre Haute High School in 1893, older brother William Andrew Hunter was already entrenched in the family business, helping his father build a new plant at 129 South Third St. to replace one destroyed by fire. It was later occupied by Lee School Supply Co. Inspired by the manner in which Eliza Warren, Terre Hautes Jane Addams, managed the Terre Haute Social Settlement, Hunter matriculated to Indiana University and graduated in three years. He then accepted a position as organizing secretary of the Chicago Board of Charities. Soon he became a resident of Hull House, where he got acquainted with Addams and other pioneer social reformers. He took a leave of absence in 1899 to reside at Toynbee Hall social settlement in London. Upon returning, Hunter published Tenement Conditions in Chicago, a probing examination of inner city neighborhoods. In 1902 he relocated to New York City as head of the University Settlement House. Two years later, Hunter wrote Poverty, hailed as Americas Bible of Social Reform. Labeling poverty by degrees, the book advocated federal child labor laws and legislation governing hours, sanitation, safety and benefits in the work place. Branded a socialist by critics, he finally joined the Socialist Party in 1905. Meanwhile, Hunter wed Caroline Stokes, daughter of wealthy New York industrialist J. Phelps Stokes, owner of silver mines and president of the Nevada Central Railroad. Hunter visited Indiana frequently and contributed often to Terre Hautes weekly Spectator, founded by high school friend Don M. Nixon. Later he wrote Socialists at Work (1908), Violence and the Labor Movement (1914) and Labor in Politics (1915). In 1910 he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Connecticut. After publishing Why We Fail as Christians and Bolshevism and the Labour Movement during World War I, he joined the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley and resigned from the Socialist Party. An avid golfer, he wrote The Links in 1926, a guide to golf course design, and helped style courses at Berkeley, Montecito and Cypress Point. Hunter underwent a dramatic philosophical change from World War I through the Depression. In 1940 he penned Revolution: Why, How and When?, refuting Marxist principles he had once espoused and advocating free enterprise. Though he lost favor with onetime adherents, the New York Times noted at his death on May 25, 1942 in Montecito: Robert Hunters generation was better because of the enthusiasm of his early years and the wisdom of his later ones.TTERRE HAUTE(812) 238-6000NATIONAL BANKAlways Close to HomeRide the Terre Haute buses FREE the first Friday of every month, compliments of Terre Haute First National Bank.FREE fareFRIDAY
Origin:	2001-11-18
Created By:	McCormick, Mike
Publisher:	Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/546
Collection:	Vigo County Historical Society
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Hunter, Wiles Robert, 1874-1942 Socialism Socialism -- United States Socialist Party (U.S.) Socialists Poverty Working class Authors Famous Hoosiers People Politics

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