Justus Baldwin Lawrence papers

Justus Baldwin Lawrence was born on December 16, 1903, and graduated from Yale in 1927. Lawrence started his career as a reporter for the Hearst newspapers, worked for RKO, and then for six years was advertising and publicity chief for Samuel Goldwyn. From 1939-1942, Lawrence was public relations director for the Motion Picture Producers Association, and his work related to American involvement in the war brought him into contact with Franklin Roosevelt and other national figures. During World War II, Lawrence served as chief public relations planner for Combined Operations Headquarters in England and then chief public relations officer for the U.S. Army, European theater. In 1951, at the request of General Eisenhower, Lawrence became the chief public relations planner and the deputy chief for plans and public affairs at SHAPE, the military headquarters for NATO. He returned to civilian life in 1953 and formed The Lawrence Organization, a public relations firm to advise American and British industrial and financial companies. Justus Lawrence died on April 21, 1987.