PR NOTABLES OF AMERICAN

DANIEL J. EDELMAN APR, Fellow PRSA

Ofield Dukes — The Inside Man Behind Equal Rights

1920–2013

Daniel Joseph Edelman was an American public relations executive who founded Edelman, the world’s largest independently held public relations firm. Edelman had a significant influence on the methodology of public relations. When he began practicing, public relations was a rudimentary practice dominated by a handful of firms employed primarily as press agents and publicists. A former journalist and World War II public information officer, Edelman had a greater vision. He dreamed of offering clients a range of superior public relations services that had never been seen before. He received PRSA’s Gold Anvil Award in 1999. (Courtesy of Edelman)

1964

While civil rights activists were marching in the streets and staging sit-ins at segregated lunch counters, Ofield Dukes, APR, Fellow PRSA, was promoting equal opportunity near the seat of power — in the White House.

Months after winning writing awards for work in the well-regarded African American newspaper the Michigan Chronicle in 1964, Dukes was offered a post in President Lyndon Johnson’s administration as deputy director of information for the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.

Dukes traveled to educational institutions around the country to promote emerging job opportunities for minorities. He also became a conduit to the White House for African American journalists. That was just the beginning of Dukes’ lifelong commitment to equal opportunity.

In 1966, he moved to the staff of Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who had steered the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress, and he played a key role in Humphrey’s 1968 presidential campaign. When Humphrey lost, Dukes founded his public relations firm, Ofield Dukes & Associates. Motown Records was his first client.

Though he became well-known for his famous clients, including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and “Roots” author Alex Haley, Dukes always worked for inclusion and opportunity for African Americans. He organized the first Congressional Black Caucus Dinner in 1971, founded the Black Public Relations Society of Washington and worked with the National Cancer Institute to implement the first public education campaign to reduce cancer risk among African Americans.

Dukes used his PR skills to advance the years-long effort to establish a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. With Stevie Wonder, he organized a new March on Washington in 1981, building momentum that led to Congressional approval of the holiday in 1983. (Federal celebration of MLK Day began in 1986.)

“Public relations is synonymous with human communication,” Dukes often said. In 2001, his contributions were recognized as he became the first African American to win the Gold Anvil, PRSA’s highest honor. In 2014, he was inducted posthumously into the PRWeek Hall of Fame.

Ofield Dukes, APR, Fellow PRSA, used his public relations skills to help establish a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. His storied career including working for Vice President Hubert Humphrey, launching his own PR firm (with Motown Records as his first client), and founding the Black Public Relations Society of Washington. (2011 The Washington Post / Getty Images)