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“TRIBUTE TO JAMES STILLMAN FREE” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S3621 on April 18, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO JAMES STILLMAN FREE
Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, on April 3, James Stillman Free, a native of Gordo, Alabama and for 33 years the Washington correspondent for The Birmingham News, passed away at the age of 87. Jim enjoyed a rich and colorful career as a journalist and historian. Back in November 1993, I had the opportunity to attend his 85th birthday celebration and it was a wonderful experience for his many friends and associates as we gathered with him to celebrate and reflect.
Jim Free attended the public schools of Tuscaloosa, AL; earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Alabama; and obtained his master's degree from Columbia University. He was part owner and editor of a weekly Tuscaloosa newspaper shortly before joining the News in 1935.
Jim's 33 years as The Birmingham News' Washington correspondent was the longest tenure for any Washington correspondent for Alabama newspapers. He spent a total of 35 years with that paper, his name and writings becoming synonymous with Alabama political coverage and analysis in the nation's capital. He also served as the Washington correspondent for the Chicago Sun, Raleigh News and Observer, and Winston-Salem Journal during the 1940's and '50's.
His coverage extended from the Great Depression and New Deal through World War II preparations and his own combat duty as a Navy Captain in the Pacific; the McCarthy ``Red Scare'' era; the Civil Rights movement; the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King; and all national defense, medical, educational, and environmental issues that affected Alabama. He was an on-the-scenes, eye witness to much of the social change and history of this century.
His many ``scoops'' included President Truman's 1946 order for the Army to take over strike-threatened railroads, and he led the national press with his stories on the Justice Department's civil rights decisions. Jim filed overseas reports on the 1957 Berlin crisis and NATO operations in the North Sea, Western Europe, and the United Kingdom in 1966. He served as the historian for the Gridiron Club and was the author of ``The First One Hundred Years: a casual chronicle of the Gridiron Club.''
His World War II service allowed him to bring special insight into his coverage of national defense issues. In an October 1961 article on his time in Berlin, he said, ``* * * our test of strength with Russia in the months and years ahead * * * will be 90 percent non-military. It will be political, economic, scientific, and educational. It will be a showdown of our way of life against theirs.'' Indeed, history proved him right.
While covering the Justice Department, Jim relayed messages from Alabama moderates to then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy during the Freedom Rider bus burning crisis. He was also one of the first reporters to question in print the validity of charges brought against public officials and private citizens by Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Jim held a number of leadership positions in his field and received a number of honors. In 1967, he was elected president of the Washington chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 1989, he was inducted into the society's hall of fame. The Raymond Clapper Award committee gave him a special citation for exceptional reporting on national affairs and he received the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the University of Alabama alumni association.
It is a grand understatement to say that Jim Free was a highly regarded and respected figure. He was a well-rounded professional and a genuine person of integrity. Jim never tried to purposely harm anyone's reputation through his reporting. His professional ethics dictated that he would let the facts speak for themselves. He never tried to make a career of finding dirt on government officials. He was not a practitioner of yellow journalism and was not a purveyor of scandal.
Jim was a gentleman who possessed all the traits that one would expect to find in a gentleman--civility, an educated mind, sensitivity, courteousness, and a healthy respect for the views of others.
I was proud to have known Jim Free, who will long be remembered in the dual worlds of journalism and politics for his lifetime of service to the cause of informing citizens about the world around them. I extend my condolences to his family in the wake of their tremendous loss.
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