Elmo Israel Ellis papers

Elmo Israel Ellis was born on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918 in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, the third child and second son of Samuel B. and Bertha F. Seletz Israel. He graduated from West Blocton High School, West Blocton, Bibb County, Alabama, in 1936 and then from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1940 with an AB degree in journalism. While attending the University of Alabama, Ellis was the editor for both the Crimson White and Rammer–Jammer. He received his MA degree in 1948 from Emory University, Atlanta, De Kalb County, Georgia.

In 1940 he joined WSB radio as the station’s first Publicity and Promotion Director. He also served as script manager, production manager and program director. During World War II Ellis joined the United States Air Force where he worked as a writer and producer of radio programs. After the war, he worked as a writer and producer of various radio shows in New York. In 1946 and 1947, he wrote and directed programs such as “We the People,” “Great Jury Trials” and “FBI in Peace and War.”

In 1948, Ellis rejoined the WSB family as the production manager for WSB-TV. In 1952, he became the programming manager of WSB-AM-FM; he then went on to become the Vice President and General Manager. In 1969, he became Vice President of Cox Broadcasting Company, the parent company of WSB-TV/Radio. During this time Ellis also taught radio and television at Emory University, Georgia State University, and Oglethorpe University.

Ellis retired in 1982 but stayed active in the communications field by writing weekly columns published in several Atlanta-area newspapers. He wrote several books and innumerable newspaper columns. He won the Peabody Award in 1966 and many other awards and honors throughout his career. In 1995, he was named to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and in January 2000, Georgia Trend magazine named Ellis as one of their “100 Georgians of the Century.”

On 26 December 1944, Ellis married Ruth M. Ballinger in Fort Worth, Texas. After several years in New York, the couple settled in Atlanta where their two children were born. Ellis died on 24 June 2005 and is buried in Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, Georgia.