John W. Gallivan
Encyclopedia
John W. Gallivan is an American newspaper publisher, cable television pioneer, and civic leader. A major figure in the promotion and development of Salt Lake City and Utah
's ski industry, he was instrumental in starting the campaign to bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City. Using his position as publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune, "Jack" Gallivan was the driving force behind numerous civic improvement and development projects including the Salt Palace
, the Salt Lake Arts Center, Symphony Hall
, The Capitol Theatre, and the promotion of light rail
. His many contributions to the economic and cultural life of the city were recognized by the community in the naming of the John W. Gallivan Plaza
near the center of downtown.
, Utah. After the death of his mother in 1921, Gallivan would live with his mother's half sister, Mrs. Thomas (Jennie) Kearns. Mrs. Kearns was the widow of Utah Senator Thomas Kearns
, an owner of the famous Silver King Coalition Mines in Park City and owner of the state's largest newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune
. Gallivan spent much of his early life in the Kearns home on South Temple
Street in Salt Lake - now The Utah State Governor's Residence
.
at the Cathedral School in Salt Lake City and later the Peralta Grammar School and Williard Jr. High School in Oakland, California. Between 1930 and 1933 Gallivan attended Bellarmine Prep
in San Jose, California. He then attended the University of Notre Dame majoring in English. Upon graduation in 1937 he was offered a job at the Chicago Tribune
, but informing Mrs. Kearns of the offer, Gallivan says she told him bluntly "I didn't pay for your education so you could work at the Chicago Tribune."
in implementing many of Fitzpatrick's most important projects. He assisted in the management and operation of Tribune investments including KALL Radio
, KUTV Television and the television equipment supplier TeleMation. Gallivan worked with Fitzpatrick in negotiations leading up to the founding of the Newspaper Agency Corporation
and the joint operation agreements reached with the LDS owned Deseret News which was signed on August 30th, 1952. (The agreement would also bring on a decade long struggle with the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department.) In 1955, while serving as promotion and special projects director for the Kearns-Tribune Corporation, with Fitzpatrick's blessing, Gallivan procured a franchise license to build a cable TV system for Elko, Nevada
, the first in the Western United States. By the end of the decade the Tribune Corporation was operating 5 systems in Nevada under the name Community Television which in 1962 merged with Western Microwave, Inc, a systems in Montana operated by Bob Magness. The new enterprise Tele-Communications Inc.
(TCI) flourished and quickly expanded to 32 systems. In 1968 the corporation went public and was soon the world's largest cable company. Gallivan was periodically a director of TCI through its eventual merger with AT&T
in 1998.
Following the death of John F. Fitzpatrick on September 11, 1960, Gallivan became the Tribune's publisher, a position he would hold until his retirement from that office in 1984. (Gallivan continued to serve actively as chairman of the board of the Kearns Tribune Corporation until 1997.) In 1970 Gallivan was a key figure in the effort to push through the U.S. Congress, The Newspaper Preservation Act
, legislation intended to protect papers with joint operating agreements from anti-trust laws that might have forced some competing papers out of business. Gallivan led many public issue campaigns throughout his career, some more successful than others. He was repeatedly involved in various efforts to revise and modernize Utah's Liquor Laws
, including an ill-fated campaign for "Liquor by the Drink." He championed Urban Renewal, City-County Consolidation, Mayor-Council City Government, the Central Utah Project
, Downtown Beautification, Zoo-Arts-&-Parks, the original Utah Arts Festival, and Light Rail.
from his early years as a Congressman and was invited to The White House several times in the early 1960's. Following a luncheon President Kennedy hosted for the Utah Publishers Association in 1961, the President turned to Gallivan and asked if he could do anything for Utah. Gallivan replied "we have an application in for an area redevelopment loan for Park City and we'd like the administration to look kindly upon it." At that, the President turned to White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger
and said: "Take care of that." The loan was quickly put in place. It was the beginning of the Park City Ski Resorts, the birth of Utah as a major winter sports destination and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games
.
As early as 1964, Jack Gallivan, along with Utah Governor Calvin Rampton
and Utah Adjutant General Max Rich, began campaigning for the Winter Olympics. Although initially proposed as little more than a publicity stunt for the struggling resorts, the effort slowly gathered momentum and after thirty years of rejection Salt Lake City was finally awarded the 2002 Olympic Winter Games
. In recognition of his long struggle to bring the Olympics to Utah, Jack Gallivan, then 86, carried the Olympic torch
on a segment of the run to the opening ceremonies.
and, in Utah, the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice)). From 1970 to 73 Gallivan was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Citizens Conference on State Legislatures. From 1966 to 1987, he served as president and director of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association 1961-1987; He was co-organizer of the Salt Lake Downtown Planning Association; co-founder Ski Utah and the Utah Travel Council; co-organizer and member of Olympics for Utah Committee; Journalist in Residence at the Hinckley Institute of Politics
, University of Utah
; co-founder of the University of Utah Intermountain Organ Bank 1970; co-founder of Bleacher Utes (predecessor of the University of Utah Crimson Club); chair of the Executive Committee and Board of the University of Utah Hospital 1979-1989; chair of the University of Utah Health Sciences Council 1985-89; co-founder of the University of Utah Hospital Foundation 1990; chair of the Salt Palace Convention Center and Arena Planning, Funding and Construction Committee 1966-69; chair of the Planning, Funding and Construction Committee for Symphony Hall, Capitol Theater, and the Salt Lake Art Center 1976-79; and a member of the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission 1993-96. He has served as director of the Utah Zoological Society and as President of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He has also chaired numerous campaigns for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, including the restoration of Salt Lake's Cathedral of the Madeleine
. He was named "lifetime honorary director" of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce in 1975 and in 1981 that same organization honored Gallivan with the title: "Giant in Our City." In 1988 Gallivan was named by Pope John Paul II as a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great
. In 1998 his alma mater Notre Dame University named The John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics & Democracy in his honor.
Gallivan is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Crusade for the Homeless Foundation. He spearheaded campaigns to build the Sunrise Metro Apartments, Grace Mary Manor, and Palmer court, providing nearly 400 supportive housing units for the chronically homeless in Salt Lake. As of June 2011, Gallivan remains active in promoting a campaign to encourage all Utahans to make a one-time gift of 1% of their income to fund a permanent endowment to end chronic homelessness in Utah. He celebrated his 96th birthday on June 28th, 2011.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
's ski industry, he was instrumental in starting the campaign to bring the 2002 Olympic Winter Games to Salt Lake City. Using his position as publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune, "Jack" Gallivan was the driving force behind numerous civic improvement and development projects including the Salt Palace
Salt Palace
This article describes a large building in Utah. A one-story building made of locally mined salt blocks in Grand Saline, Texas is also called the "Salt Palace"....
, the Salt Lake Arts Center, Symphony Hall
Abravanel Hall
Abravanel Hall is a concert hall in Salt Lake City, Utah that is home to the Utah Symphony, and is part of the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts. The hall is an architectural landmark in the city, and is adjacent to Temple Square and the Salt Palace on South Temple Street...
, The Capitol Theatre, and the promotion of light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
. His many contributions to the economic and cultural life of the city were recognized by the community in the naming of the John W. Gallivan Plaza
Gallivan Center
The Gallivan Center is an urban plaza in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. It opened in 1993. Also known as the John W. Gallivan Utah Center, it is named in honor of John W. Gallivan....
near the center of downtown.
Early life
John W. Gallivan was born in Salt Lake City June 28th, 1915 to Daniel Gallivan and Francis Wilson Gallivan. He lived the first five years of his life in the mining town of Park CityPark City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
, Utah. After the death of his mother in 1921, Gallivan would live with his mother's half sister, Mrs. Thomas (Jennie) Kearns. Mrs. Kearns was the widow of Utah Senator Thomas Kearns
Thomas Kearns
Thomas Kearns was a mining, banking, railroad and newspaper magnate. He was elected United States Senator from Utah from 1901 to 1905.- Immigration and mining :...
, an owner of the famous Silver King Coalition Mines in Park City and owner of the state's largest newspaper, The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune is the largest-circulated daily newspaper in the U.S. city of Salt Lake City. It is distributed by Newspaper Agency Corporation, which also distributes the Deseret News. The Tribune — or "Trib," as it is locally known — is currently owned by the Denver-based MediaNews Group....
. Gallivan spent much of his early life in the Kearns home on South Temple
South Temple Historic District
The South Temple Historic District is a historic district that was the first to be listed in the Salt Lake City Register in 1976, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982....
Street in Salt Lake - now The Utah State Governor's Residence
Utah Governor's Mansion
The Utah Governor's Mansion is the official residence of the Governor of Utah and family. It is located at 603 E. South Temple St., Salt Lake City, Utah....
.
Education
Gallivan received his primary education from the Catholic Sisters of the Holy CrossSisters of the Holy Cross
The Sisters of the Holy Cross headquartered on the same grounds as Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, is one of three Catholic congregations of religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Father Basil Anthony-Marie Moreau,...
at the Cathedral School in Salt Lake City and later the Peralta Grammar School and Williard Jr. High School in Oakland, California. Between 1930 and 1933 Gallivan attended Bellarmine Prep
Bellarmine College Preparatory
Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-male, private secondary school located in San Jose, California, USA. Founded in 1851, it is the oldest secondary school in California....
in San Jose, California. He then attended the University of Notre Dame majoring in English. Upon graduation in 1937 he was offered a job at the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, but informing Mrs. Kearns of the offer, Gallivan says she told him bluntly "I didn't pay for your education so you could work at the Chicago Tribune."
Career
Jack Gallivan began working for the Kearns Tribune Corporation in Salt Lake City in 1937 and would continue at the paper for the next 60 years. Over that time he would work in nearly every department of the Tribune's operations. From 1948 to 1960 he served as Assistant Publisher and Secretary of the Corporation. He worked closely with publisher John F. FitzpatrickJohn F. Fitzpatrick (publisher)
John Francis Fitzpatrick was the publisher of The Salt Lake Tribune from 1924 to 1960. He created the Newspaper Agency Corporation in 1952.- Early life :...
in implementing many of Fitzpatrick's most important projects. He assisted in the management and operation of Tribune investments including KALL Radio
Kall
Vodafone Faroe Islands is a Faroese telecommunications company, which started in October 2000. On May 29 2008 the company being previously known as Kall was rebranded to Vodafone....
, KUTV Television and the television equipment supplier TeleMation. Gallivan worked with Fitzpatrick in negotiations leading up to the founding of the Newspaper Agency Corporation
Newspaper Agency Corporation
The Newspaper Agency Corporation Inc. is a printing, delivery and advertising company jointly owned by the Deseret Morning News and The Salt Lake Tribune, the two major daily newspapers in Salt Lake City, Utah.-History:...
and the joint operation agreements reached with the LDS owned Deseret News which was signed on August 30th, 1952. (The agreement would also bring on a decade long struggle with the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department.) In 1955, while serving as promotion and special projects director for the Kearns-Tribune Corporation, with Fitzpatrick's blessing, Gallivan procured a franchise license to build a cable TV system for Elko, Nevada
Elko, Nevada
Elko is a city in Elko County, Nevada, United States. The population was 18,297 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Elko County. The city straddles the Humboldt River....
, the first in the Western United States. By the end of the decade the Tribune Corporation was operating 5 systems in Nevada under the name Community Television which in 1962 merged with Western Microwave, Inc, a systems in Montana operated by Bob Magness. The new enterprise Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. or TCI was a cable television provider in the United States, for much of its history controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone....
(TCI) flourished and quickly expanded to 32 systems. In 1968 the corporation went public and was soon the world's largest cable company. Gallivan was periodically a director of TCI through its eventual merger with AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
in 1998.
Following the death of John F. Fitzpatrick on September 11, 1960, Gallivan became the Tribune's publisher, a position he would hold until his retirement from that office in 1984. (Gallivan continued to serve actively as chairman of the board of the Kearns Tribune Corporation until 1997.) In 1970 Gallivan was a key figure in the effort to push through the U.S. Congress, The Newspaper Preservation Act
Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970
The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 was an Act of the United States Congress, signed by President Richard Nixon, authorizing the formation of joint operating agreements among competing newspaper operations within the same market area. It exempted newspapers from certain provisions of antitrust...
, legislation intended to protect papers with joint operating agreements from anti-trust laws that might have forced some competing papers out of business. Gallivan led many public issue campaigns throughout his career, some more successful than others. He was repeatedly involved in various efforts to revise and modernize Utah's Liquor Laws
Alcohol laws of Utah
The alcohol laws of Utah regulate the selling and purchasing of alcohol in the United States state of Utah. A person must be 21 years old to buy or consume alcohol. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has regulated the sale of alcoholic beverages since 1935, two years after the end...
, including an ill-fated campaign for "Liquor by the Drink." He championed Urban Renewal, City-County Consolidation, Mayor-Council City Government, the Central Utah Project
Central Utah Project
The Central Utah Project is a United States federal water project. It was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956 as a participating project...
, Downtown Beautification, Zoo-Arts-&-Parks, the original Utah Arts Festival, and Light Rail.
The Winter Sports Industry and The Salt Lake Olympics
By 1960, Gallivan's hometown of Park City was on the verge of becoming a ghost town. The mines had closed, unemployment was high and the entire area was economically depressed. Jack Gallivan had known President KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
from his early years as a Congressman and was invited to The White House several times in the early 1960's. Following a luncheon President Kennedy hosted for the Utah Publishers Association in 1961, the President turned to Gallivan and asked if he could do anything for Utah. Gallivan replied "we have an application in for an area redevelopment loan for Park City and we'd like the administration to look kindly upon it." At that, the President turned to White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger
Pierre Salinger
Pierre Emil George Salinger was a White House Press Secretary to U.S. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...
and said: "Take care of that." The loan was quickly put in place. It was the beginning of the Park City Ski Resorts, the birth of Utah as a major winter sports destination and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
.
As early as 1964, Jack Gallivan, along with Utah Governor Calvin Rampton
Calvin L. Rampton
Calvin Lewellyn Rampton was the 11th Governor of the state of Utah from 1965 to 1977.Following his graduation from Davis High School in 1931, he took over his family's automobile business, due to his father's death that same year. He sold the business in 1933 and entered the University of Utah,...
and Utah Adjutant General Max Rich, began campaigning for the Winter Olympics. Although initially proposed as little more than a publicity stunt for the struggling resorts, the effort slowly gathered momentum and after thirty years of rejection Salt Lake City was finally awarded the 2002 Olympic Winter Games
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
. In recognition of his long struggle to bring the Olympics to Utah, Jack Gallivan, then 86, carried the Olympic torch
Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
on a segment of the run to the opening ceremonies.
Family
He and his wife, the late Grace Mary Ivers Gallivan, (married June 30th 1938) are the parents of one daughter, Gay Gallivan McDonough, and three sons, John W. Jr., Michael D., and Timothy. He has nine grandchildren and three great grandsons.Miscellaneous
In 1967 Jack Gallivan, together with Arch Madsen and Joseph Rosenblatt, established the Utah chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now nationally the National Conference for Community and JusticeNational Conference for Community and Justice
The National Conference for Community and Justice is a national, human relations, non-profit organization in the United States. Its mission is to fight bias, bigotry, and racism and promote understanding and respect through advocacy, conflict resolution, and education.The NCCJ was founded in 1927...
and, in Utah, the Inclusion Center for Community and Justice)). From 1970 to 73 Gallivan was chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Citizens Conference on State Legislatures. From 1966 to 1987, he served as president and director of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association 1961-1987; He was co-organizer of the Salt Lake Downtown Planning Association; co-founder Ski Utah and the Utah Travel Council; co-organizer and member of Olympics for Utah Committee; Journalist in Residence at the Hinckley Institute of Politics
Hinckley Institute of Politics
The Hinckley Institute of Politics is a bipartisan institute located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose is to engage students in practical politics and in governmental, civic and political processes. It aims to promote a better understanding and appreciation of...
, University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
; co-founder of the University of Utah Intermountain Organ Bank 1970; co-founder of Bleacher Utes (predecessor of the University of Utah Crimson Club); chair of the Executive Committee and Board of the University of Utah Hospital 1979-1989; chair of the University of Utah Health Sciences Council 1985-89; co-founder of the University of Utah Hospital Foundation 1990; chair of the Salt Palace Convention Center and Arena Planning, Funding and Construction Committee 1966-69; chair of the Planning, Funding and Construction Committee for Symphony Hall, Capitol Theater, and the Salt Lake Art Center 1976-79; and a member of the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission 1993-96. He has served as director of the Utah Zoological Society and as President of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He has also chaired numerous campaigns for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, including the restoration of Salt Lake's Cathedral of the Madeleine
Cathedral of the Madeleine
The Cathedral of the Madeleine is a Roman Catholic church in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was completed in 1909, and currently serves as the cathedral, or mother church, of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. It is the only cathedral in the U.S. under the patronage of St. Mary Magdalene.The...
. He was named "lifetime honorary director" of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce in 1975 and in 1981 that same organization honored Gallivan with the title: "Giant in Our City." In 1988 Gallivan was named by Pope John Paul II as a Papal Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
. In 1998 his alma mater Notre Dame University named The John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics & Democracy in his honor.
Gallivan is the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Crusade for the Homeless Foundation. He spearheaded campaigns to build the Sunrise Metro Apartments, Grace Mary Manor, and Palmer court, providing nearly 400 supportive housing units for the chronically homeless in Salt Lake. As of June 2011, Gallivan remains active in promoting a campaign to encourage all Utahans to make a one-time gift of 1% of their income to fund a permanent endowment to end chronic homelessness in Utah. He celebrated his 96th birthday on June 28th, 2011.