Byron Price, journalist and editor with the Associated Press, director of the United States Office of Censorship, and assistant secretary-general for administrative and financial services of the United Nations, was born in Clearspring Township, Lagrange County, Indiana, on March 25, 1891. The son of John and Emaline (Barnes) Price, he attended public schools in Topeka, Indiana, then went to Wabash College (1908-1912) where he wrote for the school newspaper, won the state oratorical contest in his junior year, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Price worked for newspapers in Crawfordsville and Indianapolis, Indiana from 1909 to 1912 and for United Press in Chicago and Omaha in 1912. He joined the Associated Press (AP) in 1912, remaining with them until 1941, with the exception of service as first lieutenant and later captain in the 52nd Pioneer Infantry in the United States Army from 1917 to 1919. He was editor (1922-1927) and chief (1927-1937), of the AP's Washington Bureau, and AP executive news editor in New York (1937-1941).
In December, 1941 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Price director of the Office of Censorship, a position he held until the close of World War II. In November, 1945 he was sent to Germany as President Harry S. Truman's personal representative to survey economic conditions there.
In Hollywood in 1946 Price assumed three positions simultaneously: vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America, chairman of the board of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and president of Central Casting Corporation. In 1947 he resigned all three positions to become the assistant secretary-general for administrative and financial services of the United Nations, often serving as acting secretary-general. He retired in 1954, recommending that his position be incorporated into the secretary-general's duties.
After retirement to Chestertown, Maryland Price served as consultant to the United States government, and organizations such as the CBS Foundation. In 1959, he served as director-general of the Press Congress of the World held by the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
During his career he received several honors: a special Pulitzer Citation in 1944, the United States Medal for Merit, and Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire in 1946, and honorary degrees from Wabash College, Indiana University, Bard College, and Harvard University.
Price married Priscilla Alden on April 3, 1920; they have no children. In April 1976 they moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina.
