Cicero Kiwanis will welcome veteran photojournalist
Bob Daugherty will be a guest of the Cicero Kiwanis at their breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 23 at the Red Bridge Park Community Building.
According to Peggy Georgi, “Bob’s journey into the world of journalism and becoming an award-winning photographer is nothing less than inspiring.”
Below, in Bob’s words, are a few highlights of his journey, career, awards, and recognitions.
Daugherty
My family moved from Kentucky to Marion out of economic necessity when I was 12.
My father was a poor sharecropper, and like many others, migrated north to the factories. My career in journalism began when I was about 11 years old. I had a swell deal with GRIT, a weekly newspaper published somewhere in Pennsylvania. I received a small bundle of tabloid-sized newspapers by mail each week. I would make the rounds to farm fields near East Fork, Kentucky, and call on my steady customers.
One such customer told me he couldn’t read, but that he sure liked the many pictures in the newspaper. I gave that some thought. Maybe pictures were the universal communication. Maybe this insight from an illiterate farmer was my motivator … I spent about 50 years communicating with my camera. I actually started my newspaper career full-time at age 16 on the Marion (Indiana) Chronicle-Tribune while in high school. In the interest of full disclosure, which was unfortunately the extent of my formal education.
I did marry an IU grad, who was an elementary principal and who has tolerated me for the past 55 years. I worked on the Chronicle for about five years before being invited to the Indianapolis Star in 1960. I joined Associated Press Indianapolis bureau in 1963. I moved to Boston for only nine months in 1966. I then was then shipped to Washington.
That was where I wanted to be.
There I held the position of staff photographer until 1979 and chief photographer until 1991. I assumed position of Assistant Chief of Bureau/Photos until 1997. Became the first director of the newly formed AP State Photo Center in 1997.
I retired in 2007 after 43 years with the Associated Press and a 50-year career in journalism total.
During my AP career: Accompanied President Nixon on his historic visit to China. Covered the Watergate hearings and President Nixon’s resignation. Covered 37 Kentucky Derbies. Covered 22 political conventions and 23 Masters golf classics. Photographed nine presidents (during or after their term in office (Ike, Truman, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush); several Summer Olympics since 1976, including 2008 Beijing Olympics; Countless Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle launches and many astronaut recoveries at sea. Three months in Saudi Arabia covering Desert Storm. Several Baseball World Series and several Super Bowls.
My era was what we referred to as the ‘golden age of journalism.’ Newspapers struggle to survive. Staff cuts, salary cuts, a shrinking news hole and fewer days of publication are just a few techniques newspapers use to survive. Some have not.
Received Oliver Gramling Achievement Award (top AP employee award), 1999 ($10,000)
Received White House News Photographers lifetime achievement award, 2009. Received Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, 2015.