Baker, Joseph Varney

Joseph Varney Baker, born on August 20, 1908, was a South Carolinian who was once described by a newspaper as a “short, crippled, intense man” (Binzen, 1967). In 1934, Joseph V. Baker left his job at a newspaper to become the first African American public relations practitioner to gain nationwide prominence by obtaining major accounts from large corporations. It was at this time that his career in public relations was solidified and he became a communications pioneer. More specifically, to devote all of his time to his newly found professional interest in public relations, he resigned as editor of the Philadelphia Tribune to work as a public relations consultant for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. This act ultimately led him to an entrepreneurial endeavor that allowed him to start his own firm, Joseph V. Baker Associates, in 1934. An astute business mogul, Baker determined that his mission as a public relations practitioner was threefold and could be delineated as crucial in the areas of community relations, press relations, and publicity.

Arthur C. Kaufman and Baker, cited as a publicist, were given the Phi Beta Sigma annual Awards for Public Service at the fraternity's annual Better Business Week's dinner at the Bellevue Stratford in 1954. Baker was cited for being a public relations leader and for being active in the public relations business for over 20 years. At the time of the award, he was credited with having persuaded several large corporations to “increase qualitative opportunities for Negroes and to include that group's purchasing power in policy planning” (“Fraternity to Honor,” 1954, p. C).

Baker traveled in journalistic and industrial circles for over 50 years. In 1955, he was dismissed or resigned as Philadelphia's chief of Negro research and planning, a position for which he was being paid $5,652.

Having made a name for himself in public relations, Baker became the first African American president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 1958. He was unanimously elected. At the time of his election, his firm had been in business for 22 years. Baker was a charter member of the Philadelphia chapter of PRSA and had served as vice-president prior to assuming the helm of the organization. Furthermore, he became the first African American who was accredited by one of the premier national organizations for public relations practitioners, PRSA. Also at that time his public relations agency served as counsel to a number of leading industrial and business ventures. More and more corporations, organizations, businesses, and other entities hired his firm to design community-related events and public relations campaigns. His firm also was known for the comprehensive research on the black consumer market that it provided to its clients.

A multidimensional professional, Baker was designated as an assistant on Vice President Nixon's campaign staff by the campaign director, Robert H. Finch, in 1960. He was charged with preparing background information for Nixon's presidential campaign. At the time of Baker's appointment, Nixon was at a speaking engagement in Greensboro, NC, where he was defending the Eisenhower administration's record on civil rights.

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