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Robert H. Gore Papers, 1929-1989

 

Summary

Extent:
5 Hollinger Boxes
1 Flat File Drawer
6.25 Linear Feet (4 Hollinger boxes, 1 tall Hollinger box, 1 flat file)
Language:
English Spanish; Castilian
Preferred citation:

Robert H. Gore papers, Broward County Historical Archives, Broward County Library.

Background

Scope and content:

The Robert H. Gore Papers contains papers documenting Gore's career as Governor of Puerto Rico, newspaper publisher, real estate developer, and other secondary activities. The series of photographs and correspondence show Gore's relationship with American politicians like Franklin D. Roosevelt and others. The newspapers and scrapbooks document his entrepreneurial and political career. They include editorials that Gore wrote during World War II, transcripts of interviews, and various biographical articles. It is a good source to study his points of view and opinions about national interests as well as the development of South Florida.

Biographical / historical:

Robert H. Gore (1886-1972) was a newspaper publisher who played a major role in the development of South Florida and served as the 11th Civilian Governor of Puerto Rico from July 1933 to January 1934.

Robert Hayes Gore, Sr. was born in 1886 in Knottsville, Kentucky. His father died when he was at the age of nine, and his mother worked in a pants factory to support her children. After graduating high school, Gore attended the University of Kentucky. He became associated with the Scripps-Howard newspapers in 1907 as a reporter. Gore earned a position as managing editor of the Evansville, Indiana Press before he became the publisher of the Terra Haute Post (Indiana) in 1916. As publisher, he developed his idea for a direct marketing life insurance program, "giving away" $1,000 travel life insurance policies with the purchase of a newspaper subscription. Gore left the Terra Haute Post in 1921 after the life insurance-newspaper subscription program became widely successful. Gore founded his own insurance company to function alongside newspaper businesses, the North American Accident Insurance Co., and his insurance-newspaper subscription program was bought by over 1,000 other newspapers. Within a year he was worth millions of dollars, established a publishing house in Terra Haute, and moved the insurance business to Chicago.

In the spring of 1929, R. H. Gore took a trip to visit a publishing friend in Tampa, and while there received a letter from Tom Stilwell, the owner of the Ft. Lauderdale Daily News concerning his life insurance-newspaper subscription program. Stilwell offered to sell Gore the paper, and Gore bought the Daily News effective April 1, 1929. Shortly after that purchase, Gore split his time between Terra Haute and Fort Lauderdale, and eventually moved to Florida full-time, where he expanded his businesses.

The Fort Lauderdale Daily News was consolidated in 1925 by the Galvin brothers of Ohio from two weekly newspapers, the Fort Lauderdale Herald (founded in 1911) and the Sentinel (founded 1910). They then sold the paper to Stilwell, who sold it to Gore. In 1953, the Gore Publishing Company changed the name of the paper from The Fort Lauderdale Daily News to the Fort Lauderdale News. In March 1960 Gore Publishing purchased the Pompano Beach Sun, a weekly newspaper, and on April 11, 1960 published the first issue of the daily Sun-Sentinel.

During his tenure as managing editor of the Terra Haute Post, Gore became increasingly involved in local and national politics, and wrote novels and newspaper columns. During the 1920 presidential campaign, Gore ran an article in favor of then vice-presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt predicted Roosevelt would become president. Gore went on to serve as a member of the Democratic National Executive Committee and as finance chairman for FDR's 1932 campaign. In 1933, after securing the presidency, Roosevelt appointed Gore as the Governor of Puerto Rico. Gore arrived at the island in July, and served until he resigned in December 1933, which became effective in 1934. Despite his short gubernatorial tenure, Gore remained politically influential through the 1930s and was a major conservative commentator on the United States' involvement in World War II. As Gore's newspaper network and business interests in South Florida grew, he also became a patriarchal figure in Fort Lauderdale politics.

Gore's business interests in Fort Lauderdale real estate began with the purchase of the unfinished Wilmar Hotel, which Gore developed into the Governor's Club Hotel. The Governor's Club Hotel opened in December 1937 and quickly became a Fort Lauderdale icon. Gore successfully sued Fred Howland Inc. for poor-quality workmanship on the Governor's Club Hotel, a case that became an important precedent in Florida State Law. He also owned the Sea Ranch Hotel in addition to many other hotels across the country. He also began a successful and award-winning orchid nursery in Fort Lauderdale.

Gore's sons served as leaders for many of the businesses that he founded. In 1963, Gore sold the Fort Lauderdale News and the Sun Sentinel to the Tribune Company of Chicago, along with several other Florida newspapers he had acquired and decided to focus on his orchid business and hotel businesses. His son T.T. Gore served as president of the reorganized Gore Newspapers Company, and J.W. Gore serving as vice president.

Gore's wife Lenora died in 1964. Robert H. Gore died December 27, 1972 in the Governor's Club Hotel after a lengthy illness and was survived by his seven sons and two daughters. In 1990, his son Paul A. Gore published the book "Past the Edge of Poverty: A Biography of Robert Hayes Gore, Senior." The same year, Paul Gore donated some of his father's archive to the Broward County Historical Commission.

Processing information:

This collection received file level processing. This finding aid may be updated to reflect new descriptions as well as aquisitions to the collection.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following series: Series I: Personal and Family Papers and Objects, Series II. Professional and Secondary Activities, Series III. Lawsuit files, Series IV. Correspondence, Series V. Photographs, Series VI. Publications.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The Robert H. Gore Papers are open for research.

Preferred citation:

Robert H. Gore papers, Broward County Historical Archives, Broward County Library.

Location of this collection:
Broward County Historical Archives, Broward County Library
100 S. Andrews Avenue
Fort Lauderdale
FL
33301
USA