Symposium on W.R. Hearst at Cuesta

An all-encompassing portrait of the powerful Hearst family empire – boasting a Hearst grandson as the featured discussant – was the subject of a unique symposium that took place at Cuesta in October.

William Randolph Hearst III, grandson of the man who built the Castle at San Simeon, funded the first ever, not-open-to-the-public event, and appeared with his wife Margaret. A former publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, Will Hearst remains one of the major stockholders in the Hearst Corporation and is currently involved in a Bay Area investment group. The all-day event also featured several notable Hearst scholars, including Judith Robinson, author of The Hearsts; Dr. Steve Schoenherr, professor of the history of mass media at the University of California at San Diego, and Cari Baeuchamp, author of biographies on Anita Loos and Frances Marion, two early women screenwriters who worked for the elder Mr. Hearst.

Cuesta history professor Dennis Judd – co-organizer of the discussion – says that the life and career of W.R. Hearst is crucial to understanding today’s media, as well as its growing presence in the last 100 years. “By bringing all of these people together,” says Judd, “we hoped to show that the Castle is only the tip of the iceberg regarding Hearst. In short, Hearst was an extremely complex and significant figure in the first half of the 20th century.” (In his generation, Hearst published nearly one quarter of all of America’s newspapers, owned eight radio stations and also produced nearly 1,000 films, including the hits The Young Mr. Lincoln and the Thin Man movies, as well as the Betty Boop and Tarzan francises.)

About 50 persons attended the October 8 event, and as Cuesta’s link, Judd says that the 15 persons he invited were those who “either had a direct interest in the topic, or could represent Cuesta in our hope to attract future events of a similar nature.”