Paul M. Sparrow

Paul M. Sparrow is a historical consultant, public speaker, and writer on the Franklin D. Roosevelt era. Prior to becoming an established FDR historical expert, Sparrow served as a presidential library director, museum executive, journalist, and journalism professor, as well as a producer, director, and writer for Emmy Awards|Emmy Award winning television programs.
== Early Career & Education ==
Sparrow began his career as a documentary filmmaker in San Francisco. He earned a Bachelor of Arts, Music degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1977; he earned a Master of Fine Arts: Electronic Music & the Recording Media degree from The Center for Contemporary Music, Mills College in 1979.
== Broadcasting Career ==
Paul M. Sparrow began his professional broadcasting career in 1982 at KPIX-TV, San Francisco, as an editor, associate producer, and segment producer. At KPIX, Sparrow contributed to several major news stories, including the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt|AIDS Quilt, 1985 Mexico City earthquake|Mexico City Earthquake, Religion in America, the 1984 United States presidential election, military aviation, and environmental issues. Sparrow won his first Emmy Award at KPIX.
In June 1988, Sparrow accepted the position of Co-Producer for the syndicated news program "USA Today on TV" syndicated by Grant Tinker. After becoming the Coordinating Producer, he managed editorial content for the 30-minute daily news show and oversaw production and research for five U.S. Bureaus covering major international breaking news stories, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the 1988 United States presidential election, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the fall of the Berlin Wall. 
From 1990 to 1996, Paul Sparrow served as Co-Executive Producer for Fox Broadcasting Company iconic “America's Most Wanted.”He is credited as a producer on more than 250 hours of prime-time television programming while working directly with law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service, leading to the recovery of 21 missing children and the apprehension of more than 300 fugitives.
Sparrow next served as a Los Angeles-based Executive Producer for Telepictures, producing TLC (TV network) "How’d They Do That?", a prime-time news-magazine program that set ratings records for TLC, covering topics ranging from presidential security to the development of the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit.
In July 1998, Paul Sparrow assumed the role of Senior Producer for the Discovery Channel's "Eco-Challenge: Morocco", a six-hour miniseries documenting a 300-mile wilderness adventure race, hosted by Liam Neeson. Eco-Challenge: Morocco won the National Emmy Award for Special Achievement in 1999.
== Museum & Library Career ==
=== Newseum ===
In April 1999, Paul M. Sparrow joined the leadership team that planned and directed the building of Newseum in Washington, D.C., a $450 million, state-of-the-art, digitally integrated museum that reflected media's major transformation, preserved the history of the press, and promoted the First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment and media ethics. Sparrow served as Newseum's Director of Broadcasting (April 1999 - September 2006), Deputy Director & Vice President: Broadcasting, Programs & Education (September 2006 - August 2010), and Senior Vice President: Broadcasting (New Media) from August 2010 until July 2015.
While with Newseum, Sparrow was the executive producer for two public television series, including The Future of News, and supervised dozens of live programs with leading journalists and politicians.
Sparrow also wrote and produced the History (American TV network)|History Channel documentary "History Undercover: Holocaust - The Untold Story" in 2001. The program, nominated for a national Emmy Award, examines the American news media's complacency ("The New York Times" in particular) in reporting Nazi Germany's plan to exterminate European Jews. This program earned a National Emmy Award nomination for Historical Programming in 2001.
=== FDR Library and Museum ===
National Archives and Records Administration|The National Archives selected Paul Sparrow in June 2015 as the Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum|FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York|Hyde Park, NY. Under Sparrow's directorship, the FDR Library presented five major special exhibits such as the 75th anniversary of Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor, Internment of Japanese Americans|Japanese Internment (including hosting a program with actor George Takei), and Normandy landings|D-Day. Sparrow retired as Director after serving in that capacity until December 2021.
== Other Activities ==
He was a consultant for the National September 11 Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center and for Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage.
Sparrow has hosted several public events and webinars with leading experts and authors, including Michael Beschloss, Blanche Wiesen Cook, Allida Black, Douglas Brinkley, Richard Breitman, Rebecca Erbelding, David Michaels (epidemiologist)|David Michaelis, Susan Dunn, and Bret Baier.
== Select Articles & Media ==
** "Newseum looks at social media in new HP New Media Gallery" Washington Post. 2012.
** "Let’s Start Talking About a Radically Different Future of News" American Journalism Review article by Paul M. Sparrow, October 28, 2014."Paul Sparrow: Championing the First Amendment" UC Santa Cruz Alumni Profile, 2015.
** "The True Story Behind the Most Important Speech of the 20th Century" FDR Library article, December 7, 2015.
** "Meet the FDR Library’s new director Paul Sparrow" Hudson Valley One article, April 1, 2016.
** "How Roosevelt crafted his 'Day of Infamy' speech" Poughkeepsie Journal, December 7, 2016.
** "Q&A with Paul Sparrow" CSPAN Interview, June 11, 2017.
** "Taking a look back at FDR - and his challenges" Fox News, October 20, 2017.
** “The 75th Anniversary of FDR’s Death” Forward with Roosevelt, FDR Library Blog, April 8, 2020.
Category:Historians
Category:Motivational speakers
Category:Writers