Wil Haygood (born September 19, 1954, in Columbus, Ohio) is an American journalist and author who is known for his 2008 article "A Butler Well Served by this Election" in The Washington Post"A Butler Well Served by this Election" by Wil Haygood, The Washington Post, November 7, 2008 about Eugene Allen, which served as the basis for the 2013 movie The Butler. Since then, Haygood has written a book about Allen, The Butler: A Witness to History. While being interviewed on the radio program Conversations with Allan Wolper on WBGO 88.3FM, Haygood revealed that he had tracked down another White House butler. At the last minute, this butler, who had served three presidents, refused to be interviewed; the man's family apparently did not want his story out against the parallel story of the election of President Barack Obama.
Haygood is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and a professor at Miami University. Haygood's 2018 book Tigerland: 1968–1969: A City Divided, A Nation Torn Apart, And A Magical Season Of Healing was the runner-up for the 2019 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for Nonfiction. In 2022, Haygood was chosen as the recipient of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award.Dayton Literary Peace Prize to Honor Wil Haygood with Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award
Books Two on the River, 1986 King of Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., 1993 The Haygoods of Columbus: A Family Memoir, 1997 In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr., 2003 Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson, 2009 The Butler: A Witness to History, 2013 Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination that Changed America, 2015 Tigerland: 1968–1969: A City Divided, A Nation Torn Apart, And A Magical Season Of Healing, 2018. Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World, 2021. The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home, 2026.
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