page_title: History of public relations
section_title: Antecedents
hierarchical_section_title: History of public relations / Antecedents
caption_attribution_description: English: The Official Medallion of the British Anti-Slavery Society
context_page_description: Most textbooks date the establishment of the "Publicity Bureau" in 1900 as the start of the modern public relations profession. Of course, there were many early forms of public influence and communications management in history. Basil Clarke is considered the founder of the public relations profession in Britain with his establishment of Editorial Services in 1924. Academic Noel Turnball points out that systematic PR was employed in Britain first by religious evangelicals and Victorian reformers, especially opponents of slavery. In each case the early promoters focused on their particular movement and were not for hire more generally.
  Propaganda was used by both sides to rally domestic support and demonize enemies during the First World War. PR activists entered the private sector in the 1920s. Public relations became established first in the US by Ivy Lee or Edward Bernays, then spread internationally. Many American companies with PR departments spread the practice to Europe after 1948 when they created European subsidiaries as a result of the Marshall plan.
  The second half of the twentieth century was the professional development building era of public relations.
context_section_description: Explorers like Magellan, Columbus used exaggerated claims of grandeur to entice settlers to come to the New World. For example, in 1598, a desolate swampy area of Virginia was described by Captain Arthur Barlowe as follows: "The soil is the most plentiful, sweet, fruitful and wholesome of all the world." When colonists wrote back to Europe about the hardships of colonizing Virginia, including the death toll caused by conflicts with Indians, pamphlets with anonymous authors were circulated to reassure potential settlers and rebuke criticisms.
  The first newsletter and the first daily newspaper were founded in Germany in 1609 and 1615 respectively. Cardinal Richelieu of France had pamphlets made that supported his policies and attacked his political opposition. The government also created a publicity bureau called Information and Propaganda and a weekly newspaper originally controlled by the French government, The Gazette. In the mid-1600s both sides of the English Civil War conflict used pamphlets to attack or defend the monarchy respectively. Poet John Milton wrote anonymous pamphlets advocating for ideas such as liberalizing divorce, the establishment of a republic and the importance of free speech. A then-anonymous pamphlet in 1738 by Maria Theresa of the Austrian Empire was influential in criticizing the freemasons and advocating for an alliance between the British, Dutch and Austrian governments.
  In 1641, Harvard University sent three preachers to England to raise money for missionary activities among the Indians. To support the fund-raising, the University produced one of the earliest fund-raising brochures, New England's First Fruits. An early version of the press release was used when King's College (now Columbia University), sent out an announcement of its 1758 graduation ceremonies and several newspapers printed the information. Princeton University was the first university to make it a routine practice of supplying newspapers with information about activities at the college.
  According to Noel Turnball, a professor from RMIT University, more systematic forms of PR began as the public started organizing for social and political movements. The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade was established in England in 1787. It published books, posters and hosted public lectures in England advocating against slavery. Industries that relied on slavery attempted to persuade the middle-class that it was necessary and that slaves had humane living conditions. The Slave Trade was abolished in 1807. In the U.S., the movement to abolish slavery began in 1833 with the establishment of the American Anti-Slavery Society, using tactics adopted from the British abolitionist movement. According to Edward Bernays, the U.S. abolitionist movement used "every available device of communication, appeal and action," such as petitions, pamphlets, political lobbying, local societies, and boycotts. The South responded by defending slavery on the basis of economics, religion and the constitution. In some cases propaganda promoting the abolition of slavery was forbidden in The South and abolitionists were killed or jailed. Public relations also played a role in abolitionist movements in France, Australia and in Europe.
  The Boston Tea Party has been called a "public relations event" or pseudo event, in that it was a staged event intended to influence the public. Pamphlets such as Common Sense (1775–76) and The American Crisis (1776 to 1783) were used to spread anti-British propaganda in the United States, as well as the slogan "taxation without representation is tyranny." After the revolution was won, disagreements broke out regarding the United States Constitution. Supporters of the constitution sent letters now called the Federalist Papers to major news outlets, which helped persuade the public to support the constitution. Exaggerated stories of Davy Crockett and the California Gold Rush were used to persuade the public to fight the Mexican–American War and to migrate west in the U.S. respectively.
  Author Marvin Olasky said public
caption: A medallion from 1787 promoting the abolitionist cause
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