George Dealey

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George Bannerman Dealey (1859–1946) was a Dallas, Texas, businessman.

Dealey was the long-time publisher of the The Dallas Morning News. He used his influence to accomplish many goals but will always undoubtedly be remembered primarily for one of them. He crusaded for the redevelopment of a particularly blighted area near downtown Dallas. When the redevelopment, involving a large square located at the intersection of three major avenues, was completed, it was named Dealey Plaza in his honor. This site became known worldwide when, on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while his motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza.

Dealey was born on September 18, 1859 at the home of his parents, George Dealey (1829-1894) and Mary Ann Nellins (1829-1913), on Queen St., Rusholme, Manchester, England. He was the fifth of ten children. The family moved to Liverpool, England when he was six years old and emigrated to the United States and settled in Galveston, Texas when he was eleven years old. In October 1874 he assumed an older brother's job as office boy at The Galveston News at $3.00 per week. In 1884 the News sent him to North Texas to determine a suitable location for a sister publication; he concluded that Dallas was the best choice, and on October 1, 1885 The Dallas Morning News issued its first edition. Dealey remained in Dallas to manage the operation and eventually bought control of the newspaper. He was its publisher, still working each day, when he died of a massive coronary occlusion at his home at 3704 Alice Circle in Dallas in the early afternoon of February 26, 1946. He was buried in Grove Hill Cemetery in Dallas.

He married Olivia Allen at her home in Lexington, Missouri on April 9, 1884. She was born in Lexington on November 14, 1863 and died at her home in Dallas on January 28, 1960. She had succeeded her husband as chairman of the board of A. H. Belo Corp. and was serving in that capacity when she died.

The Dealeys had three daughters and two sons, one of whom, E. M. (Ted) Dealey (1892-1969), succeeded his father as publisher of the Morning News. A younger brother, James Q. Dealey (1861-1937), was a professor of political science at Brown University and, after retiring from Brown, editor of the Morning News. A nephew, Samuel David Dealey (1906-1944), was a World War II naval hero for whom a destroyer escort was named.

The Dallas Independent School District operates George Bannerman Dealey Montessori School, an elementary school named for him and located in the Preston Royal area of north Dallas.

[edit] References

Acheson, Sam. 35,000 Days in Texas: A History of the Dallas News and Its Forbears. New York: MacMillan, 1938.
Cox, Patrick. The First Texas News Barons. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005. ISBN 0-292-70977-3.
Dealey, Jerry T. D in the Heart of Texas. Dallas: JEDI Management Group, 2002. ISBN 0-9723913-0-4.
Funeral Rites Set for Mrs. Dealey. Dallas Morning News, Jan. 30, 1960, sec. 1, p. 4.
G. B. Dealey, 86, Publisher of The News, Dies. Dallas Morning News, Feb. 27, 1946, sec. 1, p. 1.
Sharpe, Ernest. G. B. Dealey of The Dallas News. Henry Holt, 1955.