Victor Hanson

Victor Henry Hanson (born c. 1875 - died March 1945) was publisher of The Birmingham News from 1910 until his death.

Hanson was the son of a Georgia newspaper publisher. he was working as advertising manager for the Montgomery Advertiser when he purchased a third of the outstanding stock in the fledgling Birmingham News and moved to Birmingham as vice president and general manager. When founding publisher Rufus Rhodes died less than a year later, he and a partner bought out Rhodes' widow and Hanson assumed the role of publisher.

One of the first challenges Hanson faced was pressure to suppress news of a double suicide involving a prominent bachelor and the wife of a banking executive under the threat of losing the loan he took out to purchase the remaining stock in the paper. He decided to print the news anyway and was able to move his note to a different bank. He later controlled the Huntsville Times and WSGN-AM as well.

Hanson married the former Ruth Lawson in 1936. He lived with acute diabetes for most of his later life, but died in 1945 of a heart attack. Ruth went on to contribute much toward diabetes research and treatment, buying insulin for the poor, establishing a research chair at the UAB School of Medicine, and opening UAB's Diabetes Research and Education Hospital in 1973.

Hanson's nephew, Clarence Hanson, Jr, assumed control of the News after Victor's death, leaving Ruth as chair of the paper's board of directors. Clarence's son Victor Hanson II succeeded him in 1983 and was succeeded by his son, Victor III in 2001.

References

• "Victor H. Hanson Last Rites Today" (March 8, 1945) Dothan Eagle
• Scarritt, Tom (November 29, 2009) "Hanson legacy noteworthy." Birmingham News