Ivy Lee was one of the founders of the fields of public relations and crisis communications. His approach to public relations was revolutionary for the time, and he helped establish a lot of practices that still exist today.

Research:

Auerbach, Jonathan. “Weapons of Democracy: Propaganda, Progressivism, and American Public Opinion.” New Studies in American Intellectual and Cultural History. Jeffrey Sklansky, Series Editor. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2015.
Committee of Coal Mine Managers. “The Struggle in Colorado for Industrial Freedom.” 1914. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=9kowAAAAYAAJ&rdid=book-9kowAAAAYAAJ&rdot=1
Congress of the United States. “Investigation of Nazi Propaganda Activities and Investigation of Certain Other Propaganda Activities.” United States Government Printing Office. 1934. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=shUWAAAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PP7
Cutlip, Scott M. “The Unseen Power: Public Relations. A History.” Routledge, 1994.
Dinsmore, William H. “PR to the Rescue – Again!” Public Relations Quarterly. Summer 1979.
Georgia Historical Society. “Marker Monday: Ivy Ledbetter Lee, Founder Of Modern Public Relations 1877-1934.” https://georgiahistory.com/marker-monday-ivy-ledbetter-lee-founder-of-modern-public-relations-1877-1934/
Hainsworth, Brad E. “Retrospective: Ivy Lee and the German Dye Trust.” Public Relations Review. Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 1987. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-8111(87)80071-1
Hallahan, Kirk. “Ivy Lee and the Rockefellers’ Response to the 1913–1914 Colorado Coal Strike.” JOURNAL OF PUBLIC RELATIONS RESEARCH, 14(4), 265–315. 2002.
Hiebert, Ray Eldon. “Biographers for Billionaires.” The Public Relations Quarterly. Summer 1966.
Hiebert, Ray Eldon. “Courtier to the crowd; the story of Ivy Lee and the development of public relations.” Iowa State University Press. 1966.
Hiebert, Ray Eldon. “Ivy Lee and Rockefeller Press Relations.” Journalism Quarterly; Summer 1966.
Hiebert, Ray Eldon. “Ivy Lee: ‘Father of Modern Public Relations.’” The Princeton University Library Chronicle , WINTER 1966, Vol. 27, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26409644
Hiebert, Ray Eldon. “Lucky Lindy: A Public Relations Hero.” Public Relations Quarterly. Spring 1975.
"Ivy Ledbetter Lee." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1944. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310009213/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7478f6e9. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022.
"Ivy Ledbetter Lee." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk, Gale, 1999. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1667000116/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=30efc6d4. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022.
Meade, Jared. “Father of PR, Ivy Lee, Pioneered Tactics We Use Today.” 8/24/2020. (3/23/2022). https://www.prnewsonline.com/ivy-lee-crisis-history/
New York Times. “Ivy Lee, as Adviser to Nazis, Paid $25,000 by Dye Trust.” 7/12/1934. https://nyti.ms/3LqanZh
Olasky, Marvin N. “Ivy Lee: Minimizing Competition through Public Relations.” Public Relations Quarterly. Fall 1987.
Olasky, Marvin N. “The Agenda-Setting of Ivy Lee.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, August 1985. Via ERIC.
O'Neill, Kathleen. "U.S. public relations evolves to meet society's needs." Public Relations Journal, vol. 47, no. 11, Nov. 1991, pp. 28+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A11595331/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=14ce8464. Accessed 22 Mar. 2022.
Russell, Karen Miller and Carl O. Bishop. “Understanding Ivy Lee’s declaration of principles: U.S. newspaper and magazine coverage of publicity and press agentry, 1865–1904.” Public Relations Review 35 (2009) 91–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2009.01.004
SNAC. “Lee, Ivy L. (Ivy Ledbetter), 1877-1934.” (3/23/2022) https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w64j0h2p#biography
Turney, Michael. “Ivy Lee was decades ahead of his contemporaries.” On-line Readings in Public Relations. 2015. (3/23/2022) https://www.nku.edu/~turney/prclass/readings/3eras2x.html

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monday Evening // July 7, 2025

The Daily Office Podcast

Intro

The AI-powered Podcast Player