Ralph A. "Andy" Anderson Papers

Ralph A. "Andy" Anderson, Sr., sportswriter and humanitarian, son of John and Anna Anderson, was born on May 14, 1890, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After two years at Carnegie Institute of Technology, he enlisted in the United States Army in 1917 at Fort Logan, Colorado, and served in the mounted engineers. In 1920 he married Ruby Rose Ellison and they had one son, Ralph A. Anderson, Jr. Andy was city editor and sports editor of the Houston Post from 1919 to 1923. While with the Post, Anderson was honored for his efforts in helping to establish sandlot baseball in Houston and the Houston Amateur Baseball Federation. In 1923 he became sports editor of the Houston Press, with which he was affiliated the rest of his life. He wrote a column on hunting and fishing along the Texas Gulf Coast and conducted a radio program on outdoor sports for several years. In 1923 he also went into business constructing and operating golf courses in several small towns around Houston. During World War II, Anderson promoted the sale of war bonds and subsequently began rehabilitation work with returning disabled war veterans. This work included developing social and recreational activities with an emphasis on the outdoors. He invented attachments for sports equipment to permit persons with various disabilities to participate. Under his direction, annual wild-game dinners were instituted in several veterans' hospitals in South Texas. Anderson visited numerous Veterans Administration hospitals throughout the United States as volunteer-at-large to entertain and instruct the veterans in recreational pursuits. Through his efforts, a park for handicapped veterans was established on the east shore of Lake Houston. Later, the park was named for him. In 1953 he was chosen National Fisherman of the Year and was elected to the Fishing Hall of Fame of the Sportsman's Club of America. Through his column, Andy served as an intermediary between those in need and those in a position to help and he received national recognition for his work. An elementary school in southwest Houston was named for him in 1961. He died on January 24, 1956, at his home in Houston.