DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Amon G. Carter — and friend, this one is worth pulling over for. December 11, 1879.
Wise County, Texas. A boy is born, and the world doesn't know yet just what kind of trouble that means. Amon Giles Carter left home early — the marker doesn't say what age, only that it was an early one — and he worked odd jobs, plural, all around the country.
Now that phrase, 'a variety of odd jobs around the country,' covers a lot of ground and tells you something about the man before he ever becomes the man. Restless. Resourceful.
Going. Then, 1905. Fort Worth.
That's where Amon Carter lands, and you could argue Fort Worth never quite recovered. He walked into the advertising manager's chair at the Fort Worth Star, and on February 1, 1906, that paper published its very first issue. Thus began — those are the marker's own words, and they are the right words — thus began a career in journalism that by 1925 had carried him all the way to president and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Not just any paper. The newspaper with the largest circulation in Texas. For many years.
Now, a man like that could have sat back and watched the ink dry. Amon Carter did not sit back. In 1921, he authorized the purchase of equipment that resulted in the establishment of WBAP Radio in Fort Worth.
Radio. In 1921. The man had an instinct for where the world was heading.
And then there were the airplanes. Carter was an aviation enthusiast — that's the marker's phrase — and he brought numerous early aviators to Fort Worth to demonstrate their skills. Not one, not a few.
Numerous. He helped attract the aviation industry to the area, and he promoted Fort Worth and the entire West Texas region until that promotion drew what the marker calls widespread attention. Much of the fortune he earned in oil — and apparently there was quite a fortune — went back out into the world.
Philanthropic interests, the marker says. The crown jewel of those interests being the Amon Carter Museum, established as a gift to Fort Worth. Not named for him after the fact.
Given by him, by name, to the city he had spent half a century building up. Amon G. Carter died in Fort Worth on June 23, 1955.
The city he had arrived in as a young man with odd jobs behind him and ambition ahead of him was, by then, a different place — and he had a great deal to do with that. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. He came to Fort Worth in 1905 with nothing but momentum.
Took him fifty years to stop.
What the marker says
Born in Wise County, Texas, on December 11, 1879, Amon Giles Carter left home at an early age and worked at a variety of odd jobs around the country before his arrival in Fort Worth in 1905. Carter became the advertising manager of the "Fort Worth Star", which published its first issue on February 1, 1906. Thus began a career in journalism that by 1925 had taken him to the position of president and publisher of the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram," the newspaper with the largest circulation in Texas for many years. Carter's involvement in a wide variety of interests left its mark on many Texas institutions. In 1921, he authorized the purchase of equipment that resulted in the establishment of WBAP Radio in Fort Worth. An aviation enthusiast, Carter brought numerous early aviators to Fort Worth to demonstrate their skills and helped attract aviation industry to the area. His promotion of Fort Worth and the entire West Texas region attracted widespread attention. Much of the fortune he earned in oil was spent on philanthropic interests, including establishment of the Amon Carter Museum as a gift to Fort Worth. Amon G. Carter died in Fort Worth on June 23, 1955, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. (1985)