NEW YORK - Dale R. Wright, a noted black journalist who was the first reporter to integrate the newsroom at the old New York World-Telegram and Sun newspaper, has died at 86.
Daughter Kimberly Wright-King said her father died at a Bronx nursing home of chronic kidney disease and cardiopulmonary arrest on Dec. 13.
Mr. Wright’s 10-article series in the early 1960s on the plight of migrant workers won numerous awards and sparked legislative action to improve working conditions. It also was considered among four Pulitzer Prize entries.
Mr. Wright also worked as a press secretary to Edward Koch, former mayor of New York, Jacob K. Javits, a onetime US senator, and former governor Nelson Rockefeller. He owned and operated the public relations firm Dale Wright Associates, which served New York-area black businesses.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Wright also leaves a son.