Purser Hewitt spent nearly half a century at The Clarion-Ledger, rising from sports reporter to executive editor and becoming an influential figure in Mississippi journalism during the middle decades of the 20th century.
Born in Columbus, Mississippi, Hewitt was reared in Dallas, Texas, and Jackson. He graduated from Mississippi College in 1925, earned a journalism degree from Northwestern University and attended the University of Michigan.
Hewitt joined The Clarion-Ledger in 1926 as a sports reporter and advanced through a succession of leadership positions, serving as city editor, news editor and managing editor. In 1953, he received a special citation from the Associated Press Managing Editors Association for outstanding news coverage.
Appointed executive editor in 1957, Hewitt led The Clarion-Ledger during the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s, a period that remains central to any assessment of his career and legacy.
During the period, The Clarion-Ledger and its sister newspaper, the Jackson Daily News, were among Mississippi’s most influential institutions. During the civil rights era, the newspapers defended segregation on their editorial pages, while their news coverage often minimized the movement challenging Mississippi’s system of racial discrimination.
As executive editor, Hewitt occupied a position of significant institutional responsibility during those years. Former Clarion-Ledger journalist John Hammack later described the newspaper of that period as “basically a political tool” that espoused segregation. Hammack identified Hewitt as executive editor during the era, while acknowledging that he did not know Hewitt’s personal views on segregation.
Beyond the newsroom, Hewitt held leadership positions in numerous professional organizations. He served as president of the Mississippi-Louisiana Associated Press Association, held positions with national and regional newspaper organizations and served as state president of Sigma Delta Chi. He also received the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association’s Silver Em award.
Active in civic and religious affairs, Hewitt served on the state Agriculture and Industrial Board, with the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and as an original appointee to the Jackson Airport Authority. A prominent Baptist layman, he served two terms as president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention.
Hewitt believed being a newspaperman was his God-given calling. His daily column, “Hew-itt to the Line — Let the Chips Fall Where They May,” combined information, humor, philosophy and personal recollections.
He retired in 1973 after 47 years with The Clarion-Ledger. In the years that followed, the newspaper began a significant transformation, broadening its coverage of Black Mississippians and confronting issues its predecessors had often ignored or opposed.
Hewitt died in 1986 at age 80 in Fort Myers, Florida.
Purser Hewitt’s career occupies a complicated place in Mississippi journalism history. He was a respected newspaperman whose 47-year career, professional leadership and civic service earned recognition from his peers. He also led Mississippi’s largest newspaper during an era when that institution failed to meet some of journalism’s most fundamental responsibilities. His legacy reflects both the enormous influence of the press in 20th-century Mississippi and its failures during one of the most consequential periods in the state’s history.
