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Fremont Older (August 30, 1856 – March 3, 1935) was a newspaperman and editor in San Francisco, California for nearly fifty years. He is best known for his campaigns against civic corruption and efforts on behalf of Tom Mooney and Warren Billings, wrongly convicted of the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916. Born in a log cabin in Appleton, Wisconsin, Older began his working life at age 12 about the year 1868 as an apprentice printer, he claimed, after reading the story of Horace Greeley. He worked in Virginia City, Nevada, on the ''Enterprise'', then moved on to the ''Redwood City Journal'', later writing for the ''Alta California''. In 1895, Older became managing editor of the ''San Francisco Bulletin'' (later merged with the ''San Francisco Call'' in 1929), and gained notoriety when he took on the Boss Abe Ruef machine in San Francisco, during the mayoralty of Eugene Schmitz, which led to the corruption trials during the rebuilding of San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake and fire. At one point, Older was kidnapped and threatened with murder by persons unknown, but said to be working for the grafters. In his later years at the ''Bulletin'', Older was offended by the owner's rewriting of his editorials and refusal to commit to a lifelong appointment, so after twenty-three years of service, he resigned in 1918 and went to William Randolph Hearst's paper, the ''San Francisco Call''. Along with talented staff, he brought the Mooney case and numerous other stories that the ''Bulletin'' owner had refused to carry, including the Fair will case involving a state Supreme court justice and a bribe amounting to $400,000. Older originally believed Mooney was guilty, but changed his mind and spent twenty years working for the release of Mooney and Billings, although it was reported that he disliked Mooney, thinking him worthy of jail for real crimes, but not for the bombing at Steuart and Market for which he was jailed. For his efforts, Older was called a communist, a Wobblie, a syndicalist and traitor, but Hearst backed him. Older died a few years before Mooney was pardoned by California Governor Culbert Olson in 1939. Older was also an early defender of prostitutes, having published a story at the ''Bulletin'' in 1917 entitled "A Voice from the Underworld, by Alice Smith." The article also increased the circulation of the ''Bulletin''. Older was a long-time friend and correspondent of Clarence Darrow and was known as a friend to the poor. He regularly tried to reform drunkards and criminals with mixed success. After twenty years of attempting to help such persons, Older said, "I'm sorry, but I must admit that of the scores I have helped, all but one or two have failed me." ==Legacy== *The World War II Liberty ship, the S.S. Fremont Older, was named for Older. *The Fremont Older Open Space Preserve is also named for Older. *The Fremont Older Elementary School, Cupertino, California is also named for Older. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fremont Older」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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