Penney-Missouri Awards

The Penney-Missouri Awards, beginning in 1960, recognized the best in women's page journalism. Sponsored by the JC Penney Company and run by the Missouri School of Journalism, the competition rewarded progressive content that went beyond the traditional four Fs of family, fashion, food and furnishings. The awards also included workshops that encouraged women's page editors to improve their content.

My article about the first decade of the competition is in the Spring 2006 issue of the journal Journalism History. Since publication of this article (which came from a dissertation chapter), I have collected additional information about the awards.

Papers of the Penney-Missouri Awards are at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection.

Vivian Castleberry

Vivian Castleberry was a trailblazing women's page editor in Dallas who is also known for her work in the peace movement and the women's liberation movement. She was included in the Washington Press Club Foundation oral history project "Women in Journalism."

She is a member of the Texas Women's Hall of Fame.

My article about Vivian appears in the Spring 2007 issue of Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

I am currently working on a book about Vivian. I recently spent a few days with Vivian in Dallas conducting research. It was a joy to meet Curtis Castleberry who I heard heard such wonderful things about.

Aileen Ryan

In the 1960s, Aileen Ryan was a multiple Penney-Missouri winner, the top honor for women's pages, at the Milwaukee Journal. As women's page editor, Ryan covered fashion from the 1920s through the 1970s. In 1931, Ryan expanded the scope of fashion news and went to the New York City fashion shows - unheard of for a newspaper editor at the time. In June 1937, photos documenting one of Ryan's trips to the European fashion shows became the first color photos printed in the Journal.

A scholarship is still given out in Aileen's name at Mount Mary College.

Aileen was inducted into the Milwaukee Press Club Hall of Fame.

My article about Ryan is in the Fall/Winter 2004 issue of Milwaukee History Magazine.

Marjorie Paxson

Marjorie Paxson was a groundbreaking women's page editor in Texas and Florida, who also covered hard news for the wire sevices during World War II. She went on to be the fourth female publisher in the Gannett newspaper chain. She established the National Women and Media Collection at the University of Missouri - it recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

For more on Marj, read my article (along with Lance Speere) in the 2007-2008 issue of Media History Monographs.

I reviewed the National Women and Media Collection in the Spring 2005 issue of the journal Journalism History.

My talk at the 20th Anniversary celebration was reprinted in the Spring 2008 Clio newsletter.

The Columbia Missourian did a great package on the Anniversary.

Paxson's papers are in the Collection.

Here's a link to one of her articles.

Roberta "Bobbi" Applegate

Roberta "Bobbi" Applegate was a women's page journalist in Michigan in the 1940s, before becaming an Associated Press reporter covering the statehouse during World War II. She went on to be the club editor for the Miami Herald's women's pages in the 1950s and early 1960s.

I appreciate the funding I received for researching Bobbi, including a $8,000 Summer Research Fellowship from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a travel grant from the University of Michigan.

Read more about Roberta in my article in the Michigan History Magazine, April 2008.

Here's more about it:
http://www.absolutemichigan.com/dig/michigan/breaking-barriers-in-michigan/

Roberta was recently inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame.

Her papers are located in the Western Historical Manuscript Collection.

Here's a link to one of her stories.

Flo Burge

Florence "Flo" Burge was an award-winning women's page editor in Reno, Nevada in the 1960s. She tackled progressive content, among more traditional content about weddings and cleaning tips. Unlike many of the women's page editors, Burge was married and she raised twin daughters.

For more about Flo Burge, read my article on her in the Winter 2006, Nevada Historical Society Quarterly.

Or, read my entry about Burge in the Nevada Women's History Project.

Burge's papers are the University of Nevada Reno, Special Collections. I appreciate SIUE funding my travel to this archive.

Marie Anderson & the Miami Herald

Marie Anderson was a groundbreaking women's page editor at the Miami Herald in the 1950s and 1960s. She worked with some of the best women's page journalists of the time, including Roberta Applegate, Dorothy Jurney and Marjorie Paxson. She won so many Penney-Missouri Awards, the top recognition for the sections, that she was briefly retired from the competition.

For more on Marie Anderson, read my article (along with Lance Speere) in Florida Historical Quarterly, Spring 2007.

Anderson, along with other Florida women's page editors, can be found in my article in a 2006 South Florida History Magazine.

Marie's papers are at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection.