By Richard LeGrier
Within a week of celebrating the birth and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Hartford mourned the passing of a local African American hero, William R. Hales. The founder of the Hartford Inquirer died Wednesday, January 10, 2007, at the age of 72.
The Hartford Courant regarded William “Roy” Hales as “an icon in the city’s black community.” Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez expressed a “heavy heart” in the loss of William Hales, “a pioneer journalist” who “gave me advice and counsel that I have long valued and respected.”
Longtime friend and pastor, Rev. Dr. King T. Hayes reflected that “Roy Hales was a ‘People’s Person’ who truly believed in helping others.” His funeral was held in Hartford, at Shiloh Baptist Church, 350 Albany Avenue, on Wednesday, January 17, 2007. “Roy Hales will not be buried. He had to leave his body but his Spirit still lives; Roy Hales will remain in the annals of Hartford history and should never be forgotten.”
Like Dr. King, William “Roy” Hales had a dream. Born on August 18, 1934; Mr. Hales was perhaps one of those “outsiders coming in,” that Dr. King referenced in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Raised on a farm in Girard, Ga., trained as both an automobile and diesel mechanic, Hales came to Hartford in the 1950’s, worked as a lead mechanic at several prominent dealerships, opened a laundromat and electronics business on Albany Avenue, moved into real estate, and eventually branched into four Connecticut cities and one Massachusetts city to circulate his Inquirer weekly newspapers.
In recent newspaper articles reporting his passing, former Hartford Mayor Thirman Milner recalled William Hales as a great man who cared deeply about the city and its residents. “His newspaper articles reflected that,” Milner said. Hales and Milner, the first African American mayor of New England, talked often about important issues, as well as the difficulties of running a newspaper.
“Being a publisher was tough. Many times he talked about how hard it was,” Milner said. “But he kept the paper going for the community, and that was an accomplishment.”
“William Hales had enormous respect and admiration. He was a gentleman-one who would open doors for women-he had a tremendous generosity of Spirit and talent the way he grew his newspaper and provided access to the community,” recalled Carrie Saxon Perry, president of the Greater Hartford NAACP, and the first African American woman to be elected mayor of a major U.S. city. “I would see him often at the Cozy Spot Restaurant, and I would talk with him. He was very open and a great listener.” Many women considered Hales “a great catch” until he remarried. Honorably he earned favor beyond his widespread admirers and with national advertisers.
“Little by little he learned,” W. Reggie Hales, who became an integral part of Inquirer day to day operations, proudly recalled of his publisher father.
“Back then, the paper looked pretty raggedy, but the community had a way to get the positive aspects of their neighborhoods in print. We weren’t getting coverage in the big media.”
William Hales launched the Hartford Inquirer from a one-room office on Albany Avenue in 1975, a year after the collapse of the Hartford Star, another community paper. Putting out the paper was quite a challenge and learning experience for Hales who had no experience. He learned on the fly, picking up tips on advertising, layout and photography from people in the business, during his first years of publishing
Soon after starting the Hartford Inquirer, Hales helped create the Waterbury Inquirer, and eventually grew the Inquirer Newspaper Group to include Bridgeport, New Haven and Springfield circulations.
Although self-taught in the news industry, Hales became widely-recognized for championing the causes of the less privileged and covering key issues important to the African American community. Among the numerous awards and citations, his newspaper was the recipient of a City of Hartford proclamation, declaring June 7, 1995 as “Inquirer Newspaper Day.”
“Mr. Hales had the same impact in Hartford that Jet magazine did nationally.
We had a voice that people would hear all over the state.” stated former city Councilman Steve Harris. Ultimately William R. Hales distinguished himself as the founder and publisher of New England’s largest circulating African American weekly publication.
Between 1975 and 2006 his newspapers became the community-conscious communications that covered national news and weekly concerns in Connecticut and Massachusetts cities for nearly 30 years.
The Boston Globe cited Hales’ creation of the Waterbury Inquirer and its regard by readers and community leaders for “providing an outlet for blacks’ perspectives on local issues.”
Over those years that constituted William R. Hales’ life as a businessman, family man, community leader and philanthropist, he dually dealt with injustice and opportunity for people of color and the disenfranchised.
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