Erwin Dain Canham

Erwin Dain Canham (February 13, 1904 – January 3, 1982) was an American journalist and author. He was best known for his work as the longest-serving editor of The Christian Science Monitor. He also was the first, and last, Resident Commissioner of the Northern Mariana Islands as it was in the process of becoming a commonwealth of the United States; and he was very active in various civic, political, and journalistic activities.

Early life Canham grew up in Maine, where, when he was as young as 8 years old, he began helping his father run a small newspaper in Sanford. He attended high-school in Auburn, Maine. In 1925 Canham graduated from Bates College, where was captain of the debating team and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and he joined the Christian Science Monitor the same year.

Career Soon after starting work at the Monitor, Canham took leave to earn his bachelor's and master's degrees at Oriel College, Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship, covering the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland for the Monitor on breaks, He stayed there until 1932 when he returned to the United States to head up the Washington, D.C. bureau.

Besides his work at the Monitor, Canham was involved in other civic and professional activities and organizations. He served as president and board chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and president of the board of trustees of the Boston Public Library. He also served on the Bates College board of trustees, was a member of President Richard Nixon's Commission on Campus Unrest, and served as chair of the National Manpower Commission under the Eisenhower administration, and on an advisory commission to the U.S. Information Agency. In 1955, Canham helped mediate a cell block takeover at the Charlestown Prison.

Resident Commissioner In 1975, Canham was appointed by Gerald Ford as Resident Commissioner of the Northern Marianas Islands with executive authority from 1975 to 1978 to oversee the result of the status referendum in which residents voted to withdraw from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Afterwards, Canham kept his home in Saipan, often traveling between there and Massachusetts, and remained active in journalism and other activities.

He underwent abdominal surgery at Guam Memorial Hospital two weeks before his passing on January 3, 1982. At the time, he had been working on a book describing the history of the Northern Marianas Islands. His remains were interred in Guam. Walter Cronkite told Canham that the Monitor was "representative of the finest in independent, courageous and unbiased American journalism."

In 1971, Canham received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Published works South Africa through American eyes. London: Public relations office, 1948 The Authentic Revolution, etc. London: United States Information Service, 1950 Awakening: the world at mid-century New York: Longmans, Green & Co, 1951 New frontiers for freedom. New York: Longmans, Green & Co, 1954 The Christian Science monitor; to injure no man, but to bless all mankind. 1908-1954. New York: Newcomen Society, American Branch, 1954 Commitment to freedom: the story of The Christian Science Monitor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958 Man's great future. (with Rob Nordell) New York: Longmans, Green & Co, 1959 A Christian Scientist's Life. (printed with The Christian Science Way of Life by DeWitt John, another Monitor editor) Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1962 The American position in the world. Claremont, CA: Claremont Colleges, 1965 The ethics of United States foreign relations. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1966 The Spiritual revolution. Boston: Christian Science Publishing Society, 1966 Campus crisis. Boston: Christian Science Publishing Society, 1971