Edmond Wroe Freeman III was born on May 31, 1926, in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas.
After spending a year at The Citadel, he served in the US Navy during the Korean War. Freeman then studied philosophy at the University of Chicago.
He returned to Arkansas to work at the Pine Bluff Commercial, which his family owned. Under his guidance, the newspaper attracted a number of talented journalists such as Pat Owens, who won a Nieman Fellowship, and Paul Greenburg, who won a Pulitzer Prize.
Freeman passed away on May 3, 2021.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Edmond Freeman and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Newman/Freeman family home, built at 1220 Main Street, Pine Bluff, in 1911 by Major C. G. Newman, the founder of the Pine Bluff Commercial; destroyed by fire in the 1960s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Edmond Freeman as a baby being held by great-grandmother, Marianna Coleman Newman, with sister, Evelyn Freeman, and cousin, Joyce Freeman
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Edmond Freeman (bottom left) building a pyramid with his boys' gymnastic club; Pine Bluff, Arkansas, ca. 1940
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Edmond Freeman, Citadel class photo, ca. 1943
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Edmond Freeman, Citadel class photo, ca. 1943
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Edmond Freeman (2nd from right) with US Naval Academy gymnastics team; Annapolis, Maryland, ca. 1947
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Edmond Freeman doing flips as part of the US Naval Academy gymnastics team; Annapolis, Maryland, ca. 1945
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#9: Edmond Freeman, US Naval Academy graduation photo, class of 1948-A
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Edmond Freeman, US Naval Academy gymnastics certificate, 1945
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Edmond Freeman's father, Edmond Wroe Freeman Jr., 1897–1984
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Lt. Edmond Freeman (center) at Red Cross collections booth in the mess hall of USS Gilbert Islands, April 16, 1952
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Edmond Freeman's ship, USS Badoeng Strait (CVE-116)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: June and Edmond Freeman, newlyweds portrait; Chicago, Illinois, 1950
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Edmond Freeman (top right) and June Freeman (seated 2nd from right) at Freeman family picnic, 1956
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: June and Edmond Freeman fishing with family off the coast of Panama City, June 1964
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Edmond Freeman working at the Pine Bluff Commercial, early 1950s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Edmond Freeman and his son, Andy, canoeing the Buffalo National River, late 1960s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Edmond Freeman at his desk at the Pine Bluff Commercial, early 1980s
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Newspaper clipping about the Pine Bluff Commercial's Centennial symposium, from left: Louis Ramsay, Joe Stroud, Pat Owens, September 1981
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Sam Papert and Paul Greenberg on the panel of the Pine Bluff Commercial's Centennial symposium, 1981
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Pat Owens on the panel of the Pine Bluff Commercial's Centennial symposium, 1981
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#23: Tom Parsons on the panel of the Pine Bluff Commercial's Centennial symposium, 1981
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Louis Ramsay, Joe Stroud, and Pat Owens on the panel of the Pine Bluff Commercial's Centennial symposium, 1981
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: The Pine Bluff Commercial's Centennial symposium, 1981
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#26: Edmond Freeman with his pre-Columbian art collection
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#27: Edmond Freeman (far left) and June Freeman (4th from right) with the Freeman family at Mt. Whitney
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Edmond and June Freeman descending Mt. Whitney
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: June and Edmond Freeman climbing Mt. Fuji, October 2005
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#30: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Edmond Freeman; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#31: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Edmond Freeman; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#32: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Edmond Freeman; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2009
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
