Robert Debs Heinl

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 Robert Debs Heinl, nephew of Eugene V. Debs and nationally-known journalist. ABASH VALLEY WP R O F I L E SA series of tributes to hometown heroes who have made a difference.Robert Debs Heinlnephew of Eugene V. Debs, Terre Haute native Robert Debs Heinl became a nationally-known journalist. The youngest son of John G. and Marie Marguerite Mary (Debs) Heinl, Robert was born in 1880 at 21 N. Eighth St., next door to his parents greenhouses, known as Floral Hall. While attending high school, he secured as job as a reporter for the Terre Haute Star. After spending a few years with the Indianapolis Sentinel, he landed a job in 1905 with the New York City News Service. Meanwhile, he married Helen Corbin, a concert pianist from New Harmony, Ind. Between 1906 and 1910, Heinl earned a distinguished reputation as a reporter for the New York Sun and befriended state legislator John Hylan and Republican Deputy Attorney General Fiorello H. LaGuardia, both later New York mayors. From 1910 to 1913, he was Washington correspondent for Leslies Illustrated Weekly. Frequently traveling to Latin American countries, Robert was decorated with the Order of Bolivar by the Venezuelan government. Between 1915 and 1917, Heinl was the associate editor of Nations Business, official magazine for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and nurtured a lifelong friendship with President William Howard Taft. Fascinated by fires, Heinl once dashed from his hotel room in night clothes and jumped onto the running board of an auto en route to a fire. A passenger in the vehicle was Charles M. Schwab, founder of Bethlehem Steel. When he was appointed director general of the Emergency Fleet Corp. during World War I, Schwab asked Heinl to handle public relations. As a result, he was in the position to promote naming a liberty ship, launched Aug. 22, 1919, S.S. Terre Haute. Heinl also engaged Charles Dana Gibson and other artists to create innovative wartime posters and coaxed John Philip Sousa to compose The Shipyard Volunteers March as a morale booster for shipbuilders. Despite his many commitments, Heinl returned to Terre Haute about six times each year and frequently advanced the communitys position in national matters. He also wrote articles for The Spectator, a Terre Haute weekly published by his friend Don M. Nixon. Identified with conservative causes, he maintained great affection for Uncle Gene, always using Robert Debs Heinl as his byline. After the war, Heinl worked for National Geographic until 1924, when he founded Heinl News Service to distribute news of legislative and political events to domestic and shortwave radio stations. Before World War II, Heinl News Service was acquired by the Washington Post and Robert became that newspapers Radio Editor. On Nov. 26, 1950, Heinl died of a heart attack at age 70 while dining with his wife at a Washington restaurant. Besides Helen, he was survived by their only child, Lt. Col. Robert Debs Heinl Jr., a career Marine officer and an award-winning author; grandchildren Pamela and Michael; and brother Fred G. Heinl, proprietor of Heinl Bros. Florist at 129 S. Seventh St. in Terre Haute.AMEMBER FDICAlways Close to HomeHO HO HO! Join ourMember FDICChr ist mas Club for Holiday DoughOpen your account today at any First banking center -- and have more dough for holiday spending next year!File name: Heinl, Robert Debs 2005 profileDate Published: Dec. 8, 2005
Origin:	2005-12-07
Created By:	McCormick, Mike
Publisher:	Terre Haute Tribune-Star
Source:	http://indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/vchs/id/787
Collection:	Vigo County Historical Society
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Copyright:	Copyright Undetermined
Subjects:	Heinl, Robert Debs, 1880-1950 Journalists People Politics

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