Allen Griffin

Robert Allen Griffin was the creator and owner of the Monterey Peninsula Herald. His first wife also became a co-owner of the newspaper. Griffin purchased and owned the Carmel Pine Cone. He created KDON-FM. and served as one of its 15 directors. During World War I, he commanded Company F of the 364th Infantry Regiment. During World War II, he commanded the 13th Infantry Regiment in Europe. During the Cold War, he was appointed by Harry S. Truman to serve the President at the Economic Cooperation Administration for several years in Asia. He was one of the 32 founders of the Community Foundation for Monterey County. He served as President, and later Executive Director, of the International Press Institute. He served on the Board of the Monterey Community Hospital. He was an Episcopalian, and a member of Monterey's St. John's Episcopal Church. His father was William Black, and his mother was Francesca Black. His father owned a hardware store and a wholesale plumbing supply company.

His experience in journalism began as a student at Central High School (CHS), where he was a student journalist for the school's student newspaper, the Luminary. In his junior year, he was Luminary's business manager, and also president of the Central Writers' Club (CWC). In 1914, he wrote for the Sketch Book, one of Sequoia's sections. In 1915, he wrote the leading feature of the winter edition of Sequoia; a fictional story entitled Metamorphosis.

He also worked as an Associate Editor at The Chaparral, Stanford's humor magazine, for several years.

On January 5, 1915, Griffin was one of the 5 founding members of the Stanford chapter of Sigma Delta Chi, alongside Edwin Ford, Milton James Bennet, Harold Levy, and Glenn Hughes.

On January 26, 1915, he was elected Senior editor of The Stanford Quad, the campus yearbook. The Quad was only allowed to be staffed by juniors, and it called itself a "junior publication." His staff manager was H. L. Hews.

Founding the Stanford Illustrated Review A weekly meeting of the Stanford Illustrated Review. Griffin is seated at the head of the table, on the left. In his junior year, He served again in that position in his senior year. The Stanford Quad wrote of Griffin's sports journalism contributions that: "Griffin's editorials have been, for the most part, clear, thoughtful and well expressed, though at times he has been vague and hard to follow. He has ventured into questions of national importance as well as topics of campus life, and has shown in these treatises a mind well stocked with information and able to think clearly and arrive at sane conclusions." On March 28, 1916, with Griffin taking some sort of organizational role, Brigadier General Franklin Bell and retired Captain Samuel A. Purviance spoke at the men's assembly of the Stanford Union. They were there to discuss whether Stanford would or should establish a military training program, simply called the "Drill." The president of Stanford, Ray Lyman Wilbur, heard from the men on whether they would be for or against the program. Griffin was responsible for Stanford's participation in the Citizens' Military Training Camp, which occurred in the woods somewhere in the Monterey Peninsula. In July 1916, thanks largely to Griffin's efforts, George C. Marshall was on the cadre of one of these camps in Monterey, at the Hotel Del Monte. Bugge's initial cadre were all non-commissioned officers, until Bugge selected a core group of qualified student leaders. On October 9, 1916, Bugge appointed Griffin to serve as a Cadet Captain of Stanford ROTC, and the companies were organized the following day.

On November 3, 1916, at the Sigma Chi house, Griffin and J. H. Eastman recruited for the French section of the American ambulance service. They were seeking men between the ages of 21 and 35, and in sympathy with the Allied cause.

On December 8, 1916, Major Bugge promoted Griffin to Cadet Major of the Battalion. As Cadet Major, he was in command of the entire Stanford ROTC, meaning that all student cadets at the school were under his supervision. At the 25th Founders' Day anniversary celebrations, celebrating 25 years since the university's founding, Cadet Major Griffin led his Battalion to escort the colors onto the field at 9:30am. thumb Stanford ROTC, seen here in 1917 or 1918.On the night of March 14, 1917, Major Bugge, Cadet Major Griffin, and his company commanders, performed an inspection of the troops for the first time, and they did not perform well. Bugge and Griffin issued criticisms and marks of demerit for over half the men. When Major William David Davis and Major Bugge expected the battalion on April 24, 1917, Davis said that the battalion had made a "remarkable showing," and was pleased with Griffin's command.

In the Spring of 1917, Stanford ROTC was reorganized, and "Griffin's Battalion," now called the Second Battalion, was placed under the roster of a regiment. The First Battalion was commanded by a member of the NCO cadre, Sergeant Bates. They experienced their first field training exercise on a hike into the hills around Stanford in April, 1917, where "moving pictures" were captured of Griffin's battalion.

Prior to Griffin's graduation, he was expected to join the rest of his fellow Stanford men in the service of the Stanford Unit of the American Ambulance Service, which had been organized by J. H. Eastman and a group of San Francisco businessmen.

Major Bugge later went on to become the Superintendent of West Point.

Military commission and deployment When Griffin graduated in 1917, he was commissioned as an officer into the Infantry Branch of the United States Army. He was given a direct commission as Captain, and sent to the European theatre of World War I. He commanded Company F of the 364th Infantry Regiment, 91st Infantry Division.

The next day, Griffin led eleven soldiers to charge an enemy machine-gun nest. Later, during the continued attack on Épinonville, Griffin carried wounded soldiers off of the battlefield while under continued and heavy enemy machine-gun fire.

On January 1919, one of Griffin's Sergeants, Lloyd Seibert, was awarded the Medal of Honor.

Involvement in Polish-American relations Griffin worked for Prince Kazimierz Lubomirski, the first Polish Minister to the United States. In 1919, Griffin left the Army. He decommissioned while he was in Upton, New York, hoping to get a job in journalism somewhere in New York. He applied for more journalism jobs in Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and San Francisco. thumb The APCCI was inaugurated at the Bankers' Club on Broadway, in the Equitable Building.Lubomirski nominated Griffin to the position of Secretary of APPCI. A meeting of APCCI's organizers was held on February 25, 1920, but it wasn't formally registered until April 6, 1920, after paperwork was filed. The APCCI's inauguration ceremony was on May 27, 1920, with 129 people in attendance at the Bankers' Club on Broadway. Five days later, the first official meeting of the APCCI took place. The first President of APCCI was François de St. Phalle. Philip Bird was treasurer. At the end of may, APCCI published the first issue of their journal, the Journal of the American-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On June 15, 1922, the first issue of Griffin's paper, the Peninsula Daily Herald, was printed in Monterey. He wrote a column in the paper every edition called News Comments. thumb Logo of the Monterey Peninsula Herald from 1929 to 1986.In 1922, Griffin partnered with David Alberto to create the Monterey Philharmonic Society. Their first concert was held on October 24, 1922. In February 1923, Griffin purchased the Monterey Cypress-American and consolidated it with the Herald. Building where the Herald was printed from 1927 to 1953, next to Griffin Plaza, in Monterey. In 1927, the Herald moved into the newly built Carmel stone chalk rock building at the corner of Washington Street and Pearl Street. The building had been designed by A. Nostovich and built by A. C. Anthony. Originally, the building had a mission tile roof. Today, the building is known as the J. C. Anthony Building. In 2023, the words The Herald were still carved into the arched panel above the main door. Griffin became dissatisfied with the relationship, and in November, purchased Easton's shares. He approached Perry Newberry to take over the second half of the Pine Cone. Newberry was initially hesitant, but Griffin convinced him. Newberry wrote his first issue on December 3, 1926.

Griffin was co-publisher of the Pine Cone until 1930. He sold his share of the Pine Cone to Hal Garrott, a playwright from New York who had moved to Carmel from Minneapolis. In 1938, Cecil Lynch was listed as program manager. By 1940, KDON was listed as "Mutual's voice in the Monterey Bay Area." Meanwhile, KHUB from Watsonville, also claimed to be "The voice of the Monterey Bay Area." In 1940, it had moved its headquarters to 275 Pearl Street, with a transmitter on the Municipal Wharf. Their second studio in Santa Cruz was at the Casa del Rey Hotel.

In World War II, Griffen recommissioned in the Army – at 47 years old, where he again won more medals in combat. By 1948, he was still listed as a 50% owner of KDON, sharing co-ownership with Salinas Newspapers, Inc. On April 9, 1948, Griffin sold Monterey Peninsula Broadcasting to Salinas Newspapers, Inc.

Founding the Monterey History & Art Association

In 1930, Griffin joined a meeting of a small group of Monterey Peninsulans at Cademartori's Restaurant (Casa Serrano). Here, this group planned the foundations of the organization that became the Monterey History and Art Association (MHAA). The group was officially incorporated on January 13, 1931 under California law, with the stated purpose: "...to preserve the significant reminders of California, and particularly the artifacts of Monterey's historic and colorful past." The first President of MHAA was Roger S. Fitch (former Rough Rider), Vice-President was Carmel Martin (former Mayor of Monterey), and the Secretary was Eastern R. Gibson. Among the members of the founding directors were E. Charlton Fortune and Gouverneur Morris. In its introduction, he wrote that: "We don't intend to give you any pep talks. The purpose of this program is to assist you to attain a better and clearer understanding of the world affairs at stake in this world war that traverses all the seas and has placed its heavy hand upon all the continents."

Commander of 13th Regiment On March 15, 1943, as Colonel, Griffin assumed command of the 13th Infantry Regiment of the 8th Division, at Fort Leonard Wood, taking over from Lt. Colonel James C. Welch, who had been in temporary command for five days after the transfer of former commander Colonel Carter Collins. On March 18, while there was still snow on the ground in the Ozarks, the regiment moved to the Desert Training Center at Camp Laguna, Arizona. While the 13th was at Camp Laguna, the 8th Division was reorganized from a motorized division to an infantry division. On August 22, the regiment moved again to Camp Forrest, Tennessee. On November 22, the regiment moved to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. During that portion of the Battle of Brest, 209 soldiers under Griffin's command were killed, and an additional 630 were wounded.

In November 1947, Griffin and Carmel Martin were appointed to an advisory committee for Point Lobos State Park by Duncan McDuffie, president of the Save the Redwoods League.

Missions to Asia In 1948, he was sent to China for the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), where he served as the Deputy Chief for Roger Lapham, who was just ending his term as Mayor of San Francisco. Griffin and Lapham distributed aid to the government of Chiang Kai-shek.

Around the time that Griffin was in Taiwan, Livingston T. Merchant also visited the island for the first time on his own mission. Griffin advocated that "drastic mean" should be taken to prevent the island from being controlled by either the Nationalists or the Communists. Griffin and Merchant discussed this at length.

When the United States Congress reduced that aid, Griffin returned to the United States.

On October 21, 1950, There, he became a member of the Southeast Asia Aid Policy Committee (SEAC).

In November, Griffin went on another tour of Southeast Asia with William Chapman Foster, stopping first in the Philippines.

By January 1951, Griffin was back in Washington, where he engaged in conferences with ECA and State Department officials about reorienting the program as a result of his experiences on the "front line."

Later career at the Herald On February 14, 1952, he returned to Monterey. He supported the presidential campaign of Dwight Eisenhower. That building is now on the campus of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. It was remodeled in the Bay Area Style, associated with William Wurster.

In 1963, Griffin started a successful class action lawsuit to redistrict Monterey County, gaining an additional County Supervisor, rebalancing Monterey Peninsula's balance of power against Salinas Valley in County affairs.

After many years as a director of the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, in January 1964, they named him their first "Outstanding Citizen of the Year."

On July 19, 1891, he died in his home in Pebble Beach, California.