Frederick R. Peters

1982

Frederick Peters served as the editor of the Evansville Press newspaper from the newspaper’s creation in 1906 to his death in 1935.

Frederick Peters built a reputation in Evansville, throughout the state and across the country as a man who would not allow himself or his newspaper to compromise what was right and what was fair.

Peters had as his chief concern the welfare of the underprivileged. He waged a long-standing and unrelenting campaign against graft and oppression in public office. He fought for better schools and a better community.

Politicians of Peters’ day generally regarded public office as a blank check for political and personal gain. Peters newspaper existed during the era of prohibition, prostitution, gambling and vote-fraud. Peters and his Evansville Press never closed their eyes to the corruption and misconduct. And when the Ku Klux Klan entered Evansville in 1921 searching for members, Peters was the first editor in the state to condemn the Klan as insidious and cowardly. His newspaper was prominent in the public’s counterattack on the Klan and the corrupt politicians which the Klan controlled.