What year was the first public relations course taught at New York University?

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PReserving our history


What year was the first public relations course taught at New York University?

Hofstra students wore protective gloves as they handled artifacts at the Museum of PR

Edwards Bernays is often referred to as the “father of modern public relations” with good reason. A nephew of the father of modern psychiatry, Sigmund Freud, Bernays was also an observer of human behavior. He understood early on that words and images could be used to persuade attitudes, publishing landmark books on PR including “Crystallizing Public Opinion” in 1923 and “Propaganda” in 1928. In 1923 at New York University, Bernays taught the very first public relations course. He planned and staged numerous events and campaigns on behalf of a wide variety of clients, and worked with several 20th century presidents from Calvin Coolidge to Ronald Reagan.

A chance meeting became a 10-year friendship between Edward Bernays and Shelley Zuckerman Spector, an award-winning public relations executive and faculty member at Baruch College. Professor Spector documented Bernays’ career through a series of videotaped interviews she conducted at his home. When Bernays died in 1995 at age 103, she gathered and preserved many of his books and artifacts. Her devotion to PR history led to the creation of the Museum of Public Relations in 1997, which found a new home just six months ago at the Baruch College library in Manhattan. The museum contains historical items from Bernays and the PR field’s most important pioneers and campaigns.

What year was the first public relations course taught at New York University?

Shellie Spector and me with an early Edison light bulb

Twenty Hofstra students and I experienced the Museum of Public Relations last Friday and I urge all students and practitioners of PR to visit. Hearing and seeing Bernays talk about his life, touching artifacts from communication history (newspapers from the early 19th century, a telegraph, an Edison phonograph cylinder, a turn-of the century telephone and typewriter, books by PR trailblazer Ivy Lee, and much more) made PR’s past come alive for these 21st century students. Oohs, ahhs and wows filled the room as students touched and felt history in their hands.

Kudos to Shelley Spector for her labor of love. She’s preserving a one-of-a-kind time capsule that will ensure PR’s history endures. See the PR museum when you can. Learning history is the best way to learn about the future. Your thoughts?

Posted in: Uncategorized | Tagged: "Crystallizing Public Opinion", Baruch College, Edward Bernays, Hofstra, Ivy Lee, Museum of Public Relations, New York University, PR, propaganda, public relations, Shelley Zuckerman Spector, Sigmund Freud

Where was the first public relations course taught?

According to Wright (2011) , the first undergraduate course in public relations was taught at the University of Illinois in 1920.

Who taught the first PR course at a university?

In time, it became THE de facto public relations textbook and was repeatedly reprinted and remained in use well into the 1960s. As a sidelight to this book's eventual recognition as a textbook, it's relevant to note that Bernays was the first person to ever teach a college course in public relations.

When did public relations first start?

Public relations has historical roots pre-dating the 20th century. Most textbooks regard the establishment of the "Publicity Bureau" in Boston in 1900 as marking the founding of a public relations profession. Academics have found early forms of public influence and communications management in ancient civilizations.