Green Bay businessman, journalist, historian, and promoter Harold T.I. Shannon was born in Fort Howard, Wisconsin. His father was Timothy J. Shannon, a Chicago and Northwestern Railroad conductor and a Green Bay city treasurer. After attending St. Patrick's School and West High School Shannon served in the military during World War I, and he began his professional career as a journalist with the Green Bay Press Gazette. Later, Shannon was associated with the De Pere Journal Democrat and the Appleton Post Gazette and with the WHBY and WIBA radio stations. During the 1940s and early 1950s he served as regional head of the Office of Price Administration.
Shannon was best known for his promotion of special events ranging from a national advertising tour of the Oneida truck after World War I to the Wisconsin Tercentennial celebration in Green Bay in 1934. With Senator F. Ryan Duffy, Shannon was largely responsible for arranging for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to attend this anniversary event. His obituary also cites award-winning work that he did for the Crusade for Freedom and Radio Free Europe. Harold Shannon was also known for his association with state and local history and with historic preservation efforts: he headed the Brown County Historical Society for many years, served as a curator of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and was instrumental in establishing the National Railroad Museum. Shannon died August 5, 1965.
