Henry Regnery

Henry Regnery (1912–1996) was a conservative American publisher who founded the newspaper Human Events (1944) and the Henry Regnery Company (1947) and published Russell Kirk's The Conservative Mind (1953).[1][2][3][4]

Henry Regnery
Born(1912-01-05)January 5, 1912
Hinsdale, Illinois
DiedJune 18, 1996(1996-06-18) (aged 84)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Other namesAmerican
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationPublisher
Known forfounder of Henry Regnery Company, America First Committee member, one founder of Human Events
SuccessorAlfred S. Regnery
Board member ofShimer College trustee, Philadelphia Society president
SpouseEleanor Scattergood
ChildrenAlfred S. Regnery, Susan Regnery Schnitzler, Margaret Regnery Caron
Parent(s)William H. Regnery
Francis Susan Thrasher

Background

Henry Regnery was born on January 5, 1912,[5] in Hinsdale, Illinois, the second-youngest of five children of Frances Susan Thrasher and William Henry Regnery, a wealthy Catholic textile manufacturer who had emigrated from Ensch, Germany.[1][3][4][6][7] He obtained a BS in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1934, and an MA from Harvard University, where he worked with Joseph Schumpeter.[1][2][3][4][6] He also studied at Armour Institute of Technology, and from 1934 to 1936 at the University of Bonn.[1][4][6]

Career

After graduation, Regnery worked for the New Deal's Resettlement Administration[2] (around the time that Ware Group member Lee Pressman left to go work for John L. Lewis at the Congress of Industrial Organizations).

Publishing
Regnery published Russell Kirk's book The Conservative Mind

In 1944, Regnery financed the creation of the conservative newspaper Human Events.[2]

In 1947, he founded the Henry Regnery Company, now Regnery Publishing.[2][3][4] "[I]t was a measure of the grip that liberal-minded editors had on American publishing at the time that Regnery, which was founded in 1947, was one of only two houses known to be sympathetic to conservative authors," according to Henry Regnery's 1996 obituary.[2]

In 1951, Regnery published God and Man at Yale, the first book written by William F. Buckley, Jr. At that time, Regnery had a close affiliation with the University of Chicago and published classics for the Great Books series at the University, but he lost the contract as a result of publishing Buckley's book.[2] In 1953, Regnery published Russell Kirk's The Conservative Mind, as well as books by Albert Jay Nock, James J. Kilpatrick, and James Burnham. He also published paperback editions of literary works by novelist Wyndham Lewis and poets T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.[2] In 1954, Regnery published McCarthy and His Enemies by William F. Buckley and L. Brent Bozell Jr. "Although Mr. Buckley [...] had criticized the senator for 'gross exaggerations,' Mr. McCarthy said he would not dispute the merits of the book with the authors," according to a news article in The New York Times. While criticizing McCarthy, the book was sympathetic to him (and in fact was harsher on McCarthy's critics than it was on the senator for making false allegations[8]), and McCarthy attended a reception for the authors.[9]

In the early 1950s, Regnery published two books by Robert Welch, who went on to found the John Birch Society in 1958. In May God Forgive Us, Welch criticized influential foreign-policy analysts and policymakers and accused many of working to further Communism as part of a conspiracy.[10] In 1954, Regnery published Welch's biography of John Birch, an American Baptist missionary in China who was killed by Chinese Communists after he became a U.S. intelligence officer in World War II.

Regnery sold Henry Regnery Company and started Regnery Publishing, which son Alfred inherited.[2]

Associations

In the latter 1930s, Regnery became a member of the America First Committee,[6] of which his father was a co-founder. Regnery was a member of the American Conservatory of Music and the Chicago Literary Club.[6] He was a trustee of Shimer College in the early 1960s[11] and president of the Philadelphia Society.[12]

Personal life and death

Regnery married Eleanor Scattergood; they had four children: Henry Regnery Jr., Alfred S. Regnery, Susan Regnery Schnitzler, and Margaret Regnery Caron.[2][13] Son Henry F. Regnery Jr. was killed on American Airlines Flight 191.[14]

Henry Regnery died age 84 on June 18, 1996, in Chicago of complications of brain surgery.[2]

His nephew, William Regnery II, became the founder of the white nationalist organizations Charles Martel Society and National Policy Institute.

Works

Works written by Regnery include:

Books
  • Memoirs of a Dissident Publisher (1985)[15]
  • The Cliff Dwellers: The History of a Chicago Cultural Institution (1990)[16]
  • Creative Chicago: From the Chap-Book to the University (1993)[17]
  • A Few Reasonable Words: Selected Writings (1996)[18]
Chapbooks, pamphlets

Legacy

Henry Regnery's papers are kept at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.[26]

References
  1. "Henry Regnery". www.nndb.com.
  2. Thomas Jr., Robert Mcg. (23 June 1996). "Henry Regnery, 84, Ground-Breaking Conservative Publisher". New York Times. p. 33. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  3. Jeffrey O. Nelson, 'Henry Regnery: Missionary of Culture', in The Intercollegiate Review, Fall 1996, pp. 14–22
  4. "First Principles Journal biography".
  5. "Regnery, Henry | Encyclopedia.com".
  6. "Home – The Chicago Literary Club". www.chilit.org.
  7. "First Principles – Regnery, Henry". www.firstprinciplesjournal.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  8. White, William S., "What the McCarthy Method Seeks to Establish", book review of McCarthy and His Enemies, The New York Times, April 4, 1954.
  9. Conklin, William R., "M'Carthy Seeking To Push Inquiries: Would Turn to Other Cases if Army Dispute Is Delayed by Hunt for Counsel" [apostrophe in title is correct], news article, The New York Times, March 31, 1954.
  10. Smith, Robert Aura, "One Man's Opinions", book review in The New York Times, November 16, 1952.
  11. "Board of Trustees". Shimer College Record. Vol. 52, no. 4. December 1960.
  12. "The Philadelphia Society". Archived from the original on February 23, 2010.
  13. "Intercollegiate Studies Institute biography".
  14. "HENRY REGNERY, AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER". Chicago Tribune.
  15. Regnery, Henry (1985). Memoirs of a Dissident Publisher. Regnery. p. 260. ISBN 978-0895268020. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  16. Regnery, Henry (1990). The Cliff Dwellers: The History of a Chicago Cultural Institution. Chicago: Chicago Historical Bookworks. p. 12. ISBN 0924772085.
  17. Regnery, Henry (1993). Creative Chicago: From the Chap-book to the University. Chicago Historical Bookworks. p. 200. ISBN 978-0924772245. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  18. Regnery, Henry (1996). A Few Reasonable Words: Selected Writings. Intercollegiate Studies Institute. p. 366. ISBN 978-1882926138. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  19. Regnery, Henry (1934). Congruences and Residues. Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Department of Mathematics. p. 60. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  20. Regnery, Henry (1969). Wyndham Lewis: A Man Against His Time. Chicago Literary Club. p. 33. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  21. Regnery, Henry (1980). Russell Kirk: An Appraisal. Clarke Historical Library – Central Michigan University. p. 15. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  22. Regnery, Henry (1981). William H. Regnery and His Family. Regnery. p. 75. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  23. Regnery, Henry (1984). The Present State of Book Publishing. Regnery Gateway. p. 24. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  24. Regnery, Henry (1985). A Prophet Without Honor in His Own Country: Francis F. Browne and The Dial. Chicago Literary Club. p. 14. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  25. Regnery, Henry (1995). To Edit or Not to Edit. Chicago Literary Club. p. 13. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  26. "Regnery (Henry) papers". www.oac.cdlib.org.
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