Dates

• Existence: 1899-1989

Biography

Harvey W. Wertz was born in Grand Junction, Iowa, on August 4, 1899. During World War I he served in the Machine Gun Company of the 168th Regiment, 3rd Iowa Infantry, part of the Rainbow Division, which was involved in much of the heaviest combat in France. Wertz was wounded in a German gas attack. In 1918, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

After the war, Wertz attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where he graduated with a B.A. in journalism in 1924. The following four or five years found him working as a reporter on the following newspapers: St. Louis Star Times, Chicago Tribune (Paris bureau), N.Y. Graphic, N.Y. Evening Post, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1929, Harvey Wertz married Scerita Osborne. He subsequently returned to graduate school at the University of Missouri. Upon receiving his M.A., Wertz went to work for the Newspapers Enterprise Association and then the federal government as the information officer of the Office of Price Administration.

Moving to California he purchased a weekly newspaper, the Sherman Oaks Sun. He later sold the paper in order to pursue other career options. Wertz served as a consultant and information director to the Office of Rent Stabilization and was then a field campaign manager for Estes Kefauver's presidential bid. He was also the campaign manager and assistant to Councilman Everett Burkhalter of Los Angeles and State Senator James Corman. On top of all of this Wertz did public relations work over the years for many organizations, was sought after as a popular speaker, and remained active in the Army Reserves. Harvey W. Wertz died in 1989.

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