Thomas Vail, son of attorney Herman L. Vail and Delia B. White, both members of prominent Cleveland families, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, June 23, 1926. Vail was educated at University School in Cleveland and Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts and graduated from Princeton University in 1948. He joined his family business, the Forest City Publishing Company, and later transferred to its morning paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer. In 1963, Vail assumed duties as publisher and editor of the Plain Dealer. For over twenty five years, Vail oversaw the transition of the Plain Dealer from the city's runner up publication to the largest daily and Sunday newspaper in Ohio. Vail retired from the paper in 1992. Vail was also active in other interests such as the Cleveland Foundation, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and was the co-founder of Cleveland Tomorrow, an organization formed in 1982 to promote economic growth. He was also president of the Cleveland Convention and active in the Visitor's Bureau and the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. On a national level, he served on the boards of the Associated Press and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau. Consists of 130 black and white and five color images in various sizes and four 35 mm color negatives.
