William Duerden (1893 - 1962)

William's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Duerden family tree.

William's Family

Add a parent

Add a parent

William Duerden Add a partner Add a child Add a partner Add a child

Add a sibling

Pictures really do say a thousand words. Add photos of William during various points of his life.

Add photo

What do you remember about William Duerden? Share your memories of special moments and stories you have heard about him. Or just leave a comment to show the world that William is remembered.

Post

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during William's lifetime

In 1893, in the year that William Duerden was born, a songbook, called Song Stories for the Kindergarten, was published by sisters Patty and Mildred Hill. One of the songs included in the book was "Good Morning to All" - later the lyrics were changed and it became "Happy Birthday to You".

In 1905, at the age of only 12 years old, William was alive when the Industrial Workers of the World was founded. An international labor union founded in Chicago, it was most often referred to as the "Wobblies" and had ties to the socialist movement and the anarchist movement. At its peak, it had 150,000 members.

In 1926, at the age of 33 years old, William was alive when on November 15th, NBC was founded. It was the U.S.'s first major broadcast network. Ownership of the network was split between RCA (a majority partner at 50%), its founding corporate parent General Electric (which owned 30%), and Westinghouse (which owned the remaining 20%).

In 1943, by the time he was 50 years old, on March 31st, the Broadway musical Oklahoma! opened. Written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (the first of their string of successful collaborations), audiences loved it. The musical ran for 2,212 performances originally and was made into a movie in 1954.

In 1962, in the year of William Duerden's passing, on October 1st, African-American James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registered at the University of Mississippi - becoming the first African-American student admitted to the segregated college. He had been inspired by President Kennedy's inaugural address to apply for admission.