Horace Griffen Papers

Horace Bigelow Griffen, World War I veteran and newspaper administrator, was born to Horace Bigelow Griffin (1854-1929) and Emma (Ford) Griffin (1856-1903) in Hillsboro, Kansas on December 28, 1894. He moved with his family to a homestead outside of Tempe, Arizona in 1895. In 1903, they moved inside the city limits to be nearer to educational facilities. Griffen graduated from Tempe Normal School in 1914 and began his career in the circulation department of the Arizona Republican (later the Arizona Republic) shortly afterward. He left the newspaper for two years during World War I (1917-1919) to serve in the Quartermaster Corps and began working as the south side circulation manager upon his return. In 1934, he transferred to the advertising department and started working as a travelling salesman. In total, Griffen worked in the circulation and advertising departments of the Arizona Republic for fifty years.

In addition to his work at the newspaper, Griffen was at various times a semi-professional baseball player, a district governor of Rotary International, president of Mesa Rotary, post commander of the American Legion at Tempe, and three-time president of the ASU Alumni Association. He was also a member of the Tempe Masonic Lodge and the Order of Eastern Star.

Griffen married Jessie Agnes Dickinson (1894-1985) and the couple had two children, Horace Bigelow (1921-) and Eunice Claire (Griffen) Horlbeck (1922-1988). Horace Griffen died in Arizona on August 22, 1972.