Emil Hurja
{{Short description|American politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Emil Hurja
| image = Emil Hurja LCCN2016874298.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Hurja in 1938
| birth_name = Emil Edward Hurja
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1892|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = Crystal Falls, Michigan, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1953|05|30|1892|01|22|df=y}}
| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.
| nationality = American
| other_names = Wizard of Washington
| occupation = Newspaper editor, political consultant
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Emil Edward Hurja (January 22, 1892 – May 30, 1953) was an American newspaper editor and political consultant. Hurja was a pioneer of political opinion polling and played an advisory role during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.{{Cite journal |last1=Eisinger |first1=R. M. |last2=Brown |first2=J. |title=Polling as a Means Toward Presidential Autonomy: Emil Hurja, Hadley Cantril and the Roosevelt Administration |date=September 1, 1998 |url=https://academic.oup.com/ijpor/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/ijpor/10.3.237 |journal=International Journal of Public Opinion Research |language=en |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=237–256 |doi=10.1093/ijpor/10.3.237 |issn=0954-2892}}{{cite news
|url= http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/emil-hurja-pollster-fdr-213537|title=FDR's Nate Silver |work= Politico Magazine|author= David Greenberg |accessdate= April 25, 2016}}{{cite web|url= http://millercenter.org/conferences/2008/polling/timeline|title= 1932: Emil Hurja becomes the first political consultant to analyze polls for a presidential campaign|publisher= Miller Center of the University of Virginia|accessdate= May 5, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160512165439/http://millercenter.org/conferences/2008/polling/timeline|archive-date= May 12, 2016|url-status= dead}} He was known as the Wizard of Washington.{{Cite book |last=Holli |first=Melvin G. |date=2002 |title=The Wizard of Washington: Emil Hurja, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Birth of Public Opinion Polling |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-09547-3 |doi=10.1007/978-1-137-09547-3|isbn=978-1-349-63449-1 }}
Biography
Hurja was born in Crystal Falls, Michigan.{{cite news |title=Emil E. Hurja, 61, Dies in Capital |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111707706/emil-hurja-1892-1953/ |work=Detroit Free Press |date=May 31, 1953 |location=Detroit, MI |page=34 |access-date=October 19, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} He was one of twelve children born to Matt Hurja (originally Pitkäkangas), a shopkeeper, (1863–1931) and Anna Liisa (née Keisari) Hurja (1870–1940), both of whom were immigrants from Finland to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In 1917, he received his A.B. at the University of Washington, where he covered the Ford Peace Expedition of 1915 as a college journalist. He served as a captain in the United States Army during World War I. He worked as the newspaper editor for the Breckenridge Daily American (1921–1926) in Breckenridge, Texas.{{cite web|url=http://www.breckenridgeamerican.com/about-us|title= About us|date= October 13, 2015|publisher= Breckenridge American|accessdate= April 25, 2016}} He was editor of the Pathfinder magazine (1939–1945).{{cite web|url= http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MI/scandinavian.html|title= Emil Hurja (1892–1953) |publisher= Scandinavian Ancestry Politicians |accessdate= April 25, 2016}}
Hurja was chief pollster of the Democratic National Committee (1932–1937) under the direction of Democratic National Committee Chairman James Farley, where he helped poll Roosevelt's campaign and the popularity of the New Deal.{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=G. Elliott |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1272854098 |title=Strength in numbers : how polls work and why we need them |date=2022 |isbn=978-0-393-86697-1 |edition=First |location=New York, NY |oclc=1272854098}} He also provided poll analysis for the Democratic Party during elections held during 1932, 1934 and 1936. Notably, he predicted that FDR would gain seats in the 1934 United States Senate elections due to the popularity of the New Deal, bucking the conventional wisdom that the President's party tends to lose seats in the midterm.
He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention from Michigan and appeared on the cover of Time in March 1936.{{Cite magazine |title=Democracy's Emil Hurja |date=March 2, 1936 |url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19360302,00.html |access-date=August 29, 2022 |magazine=Time}} He was a candidate in the Republican primary for the House of Representative from the 12th District of the State of Michigan (1946–1948).{{cite web|url= http://www.mackinac.org/4445|title=The Crystal Gazer from Crystal Falls |publisher= mackinac.org. |author= Burton W. Folsom |date= July 1, 2002 |accessdate= April 25, 2016}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19360302,00.html |title=Democracy's Emil Hurja |magazine=Time |at=cover |date=March 2, 1936 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930093516/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19360302,00.html |archive-date=September 30, 2007}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/pdfs/findingaids/findingaid_hurja.pdf |title= Emil Hurja 1912–1952|publisher= F D R Library, Accession Number: 59-20 |accessdate= May 5, 2016}}
In 1919, he married Gudrun Andersen. He died in Washington, D.C. and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/eehurja.htm Emil Hurja, Captain, United States Army](Arlington National Cemetery)
Honors
He was awarded both the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.[http://www.state.tn.us/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/ths9.pdf Hurja, Emil (1892–1953) Collection] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203043200/http://www.state.tn.us/tsla/history/manuscripts/findingaids/ths9.pdf |date=February 3, 2009 }}
Impact and legacy
G. Elliott Morris has called Hurja the first modern pollster.
References
{{Reflist|2}}
Related reading
- Sabato, Larry J. (1981) The Rise of Political Consultants (New York: Basic Books) {{ISBN|978-0465070398}}
- Johnston, Alva, {{"'}}Prof.{{'"}} Hurja, The New Deal's Political Doctor", The Saturday Evening Post (June 13, 1936)
External links
- {{cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/emil-hurja-pollster-fdr-213537 |title=FDR's Nate Silver |last=Greenberg |first=David |date=January 16, 2016 |newspaper=Politico |access-date=January 18, 2016}}
- {{cite news |url=http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/kb/artikkeli/4387/ |title=Hurja, Emil (1892–1953)|last=Kostiainen|first=Auvo |publisher= Biografiakeskus Finnish Historical Society |date=September 6, 2001|access-date=May 5, 2016}}
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Category:People from Crystal Falls, Michigan
Category:University of Washington alumni
Category:American political consultants
Category:American newspaper editors
Category:Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal
Category:American people of Finnish descent
Category:United States Army personnel of World War I