Edmond Wroe Freeman III was born on May 31, 1926, in Pine Bluff, Jefferson County, Arkansas.
After spending a year at T he 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
