Miles Romney Sr.
1872 – 1943

Inducted April 10, 1969

Miles Romney Sr. believed a weekly publisher’s obligation to his community and state transcended the presentation of news and editorial opinions. He thought a publisher should go out among the people to help organize and lead political and economic movements described in the news columns and supported on the editorial page.

Romney was born Dec. 18, 1872, in St. George, Utah. He attended public schools in Beaver City, Utah, and in the Bitterroot Valley until age 16. In 1891 he graduated from a business college in Ada, Ohio.

After teaching school in Bannack, he moved to Hamilton and in 1893 bought a half interest in the Western News. He soon acquired full ownership and made the weekly the official spokesman for the Democratic Party in Ravalli County.

He served as a member of the State Democratic Central Committee. In 1902 he was elected mayor of Hamilton for a two-year term. He also was president of the Montana Press Association in 1902.

Romney served as state senator from Ravalli County from 1906 to 1910. He was unsuccessful in three primary bids for governor.

As an editor and as a politician, he is remembered as an outspoken man of unusual energy and force. He has been described as a “free-swinging editor,” “a powerful factor in molding pubic sentiment,” “a wheelhorse in the Democratic Party” and as “a valuable exponent of local interests.”

In 1912 Romney organized and served as first president of the People’s Power League of Montana, a citizens groups that influenced legislation leading to the direct primary, the Corrupt Practices Act and the Workmen’s Compensation Law.

As a captain in the Quartermaster Corps in World War I, he was in charge of all depots in the Army’s southeastern district.

He was a local organizer of the New Deal programs and in 1934 went to Helena as state director of the National Recovery Act. He also organized the Federal Housing Administration in Montana and the National Emergency Council, which became the U.S. Office of Government Reports.

Romney died March 31, 1943, in Hamilton. He had devoted most of his life to the use of the printed word and to direct action to spur constructive change.

Return to Hall of Fame main page

Return to UM School of Journalism