<P> Most textbooks date the establishment of the "Publicity Bureau" in 1900 as the start of the modern public relations (PR) profession . Of course, there were many early forms of public influence and communications management in history . Basil Clarke is considered the founder of the public relations profession in Britain with his establishment of Editorial Services in 1924 . Academic Noel Turnball points out that systematic PR was employed in Britain first by religious evangelicals and Victorian reformers, especially opponents of slavery . In each case the early promoters focused on their particular movement and were not for hire more generally . </P> <P> Propaganda was used by both sides to rally domestic support and demonize enemies during the First World War . PR activists entered the private sector in the 1920s . Public relations became established first in the US by Ivy Lee or Edward Bernays, then spread internationally . Many American companies with PR departments spread the practice to Europe after 1948 when they created European subsidiaries as a result of the Marshall plan . </P>

Who dropped out of harvard and became the person many refer to as the founder of public relations