James Geddes Stahlman

James Geddes Stahlman (February 28, 1893 – May 1, 1976) was a Tennessee newspaper publisher and philanthropist.

Stahlman earned his bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University in 1919, and went on to be a member of the Board of Trustees for 43 years. He was a leader in the fundraising effort that helped build the Jean and Alexander Heard Library and the Memorial Gym. Stahlman gave an important collection of historical artifacts, as well as his own papers, to the library.

For almost a century, the Stahlman family owned the Nashville Banner. The Banner was Nashville's conservative paper, taking controversial positions on issues on segregation, especially during the Nashville Sit-ins. Stahlman claimed to be the enemy of civil rights leader Jim Lawson. When the Banner was sold in 1976, Stahlman endowed five research faculty professorships at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; his endowment gift now supports 10 chairs.

In 2008, Gary Gerstle was named to become the first James G. Stahlman Professor of American History at Vanderbilt University.

Stahlman's daughter Mildred T. Stahlman is a professor of pediatrics and pathology at Vanderbilt University, and is well known as a neonatologist.

4."James G. Stahlman," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2015, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. 22 Apr 2015:

James G. Stahlman was publisher of the Nashville Banner from 1930 until 1972, when he sold the newspaper to the Gannett Corporation. He inherited part of the newspaper from his grandfather, Major Edward Bushrod Stahlman, when he died in 1930; James Stahlman's father, Edward Claiborne Stahlman, had died in a boating accident on the Cumberland River near Williams Ferry in 1904. James Stahlman became the sole owner in 1955, when he purchased the remaining stock from his uncle.

Stahlman began working for the Banner on June 1, 1912, following his graduation from high school. He continued to work for the Banner as a campus correspondent for the next four years, until his graduation from Vanderbilt University in 1916. He did graduate work at the University of Chicago for a year and then served in World War I as an infantry private.

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