Creed C. Black, well-known journalist and editorial writer, was born in Harlan, Kentucky on July 15, 1925. He was educated in the public schools of Paducah, Kentucky, received a BS degree “with highest distinction” from Northwestern University in 1949, and an MA in political science from the University of Chicago in 1952. His career in journalism began as a high school student when he served on the staff of the Paducah Sun-Democrat. During World War II, he worked on the German edition of Stars and Stripes. After graduation from Northwestern University, he went to work as copy editor for the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Herald-American. In 1950, he was appointed chief editorial writer, and later, in 1957, executive editor for the Nashville Tennessean. In 1959, he moved to Savannah, Georgia to become vice-president and executive editor of the Wilmington News-Journal in Wilmington, Delaware. In the spring of 1964, he resigned from this position because of a disagreement of editorial policy with the DuPont family, who owned the Wilmington papers. In the autumn of that same year he was hired by the Chicago Daily-News as managing editor, a post which he held until 1968 when he was promoted to executive editor. In January, 1969, he was appointed Assistant Secretary for Legislation in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
