Bobbi McCallum article published

My article about Seattle women's page journalist Bobbi McCallum is in this month's issue of Columbia, the Magazine of Northwest History. It is now available here.

NFPW Honor

My article about Los Angeles women's page editor Maggie Savoy in California History just received the first-place award for research in the at-large category (for all states without their own chapters) of the National Federation of Press Women. I will learn where it places nationally in a month or two. Here is a link to the article.

My article about Vivian Castleberry in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly won the national NFPW award for research two years ago.

Great home ec quote & photo

I found a great collection of home ec photos from Purdue University. The above image is from 1955.

Ann Hamman earned her master's degree in home ec from Purude University in the 1940s. She went on to become the food editor at the Evansville Courier. I am beginning to collect information about her career and exploring the intersection of women's pages and home economics.

I also came across this quote yesterday: “Home economics has not fared well at the hands of historians. Until recently women’s historians largely dismissed home economics as little more than a conspiracy to keep women in the kitchen.” (Sarah Stage, “Home Economics: What’s in a name?” in Rethinking Home Economics, 1). The same could be said about women's pages and journalism history.

March Madness

With the Final Four teams set, I was thinking of which of the women's page editors were the biggest sports fans. Billie O'Day (of the Miami News) loved the Miami Hurricanes so much, she used to follow the sports photographer onto the field. Roberta Applegate (of the Miami Herald) continued to follow the Michigan State teams after graduation and wrote to her parents about winning games.

But the biggest sports fan had to be the Las Vegas Sun's Ruthe Deskin (featured above). She said several times that her dream job was to coach the basketball team at UNLV.

My article about Ruthe will come out sometime this year.

Women's page journalists and motherhood

In honor of baby Curtis turning five months old today, I have charted out the path of the few women's page journalists who had children. (Those who did not have children include Roberta Applegate, Gloria Biggs, Marie Anderson, Dorothy Jurney, Marjorie Paxson and Koky Dishon.)

For example, Janet Chusmir of the Miami Herald went to work after her children were older. Here is more about Janet. On the other hand, Anne Rowe Goldman, of the St. Petersburg Times, waited to have children until she was near 40 and retired early.

Now we are off to the beach!

Home ec and the women's pages

I am beginning to study the history of home economics in connection with women's page content. In particular, some of the food journalists were trained in home economics.

I am beginning to read this book that takes a new look at the field of home ec - looking beyond the assumption that this was simply a way of confining women to traditional roles. I hope to do the same for the study of women's pages.

Cornell University as a great online exhibit about the history of home ec.

Interviewed Ann Hamman's son

Yesterday I conducted an interview with the son of women's page journalist Ann Hamman. He provided great background information as I begin the research process for a historical article.

Ann was in the Women's Army Corp during World War II so I am requesting some documents about her through FOIA.

She earned a master's degree in home ec after the War so I am also trying to track down her thesis.

Eleanor Hart Research

I just completed a conference abstract about Miami Herald women's page columnist Eleanor Hart. Here is one of her columns.

A review of her columns shows her writing addressed family relationships, political activism and racial integration. This analysis of Hart’s columns is significant to understand how a community developed and the role women journalist played in that development.

Liz Carpenter Dies

Journalist, feminist and White House spokeswoman Liz Carpenter has died. She was a good friend of many Texas journalists including Vivian Castleberry, women's page editor of the Dallas Times Herald.

Liz's memoir, "Ruffles and Flourishes," included the following reference to Milwaukee women's page journalist Toni McBride:



Liz Carpenter was a great woman and a great journalist.

Bobbi McCallum Scholarship

I was happy to see that the Bobbi McCallum Scholarship will continue even though the Seattle P-I went under.

Bobbi was a women's page journalist at the P-I in the later 1960s. After her sudden death at age 25, this scholarship was created in her honor.

My article about Bobbi comes out next month.

Society of Professional Journalists

Yesterday I moderated a panel about women and journalism at a regional Society of Professional Journalists conference. Some attendees seemed to be shocked that SPJ did not allow women to be members until 1969. It is important to recognize how many ways the industry discriminated against women and just how recent that it was the women were openly discriminated against.

Here is an article Lance and I wrote about the fight to allow women to become members of the Milwaukee Press Club - the oldest press club in the country. Milwaukee women's page journalists were part of that fight.

Encyclopedia of the Sixties

Today I am working on three entries for the ABC-Clio Encyclopedia of the Sixties: the media-generated bra-burning myth, Washington Post Publisher Katherine Graham and N.O.W.



Katherine Graham's Washington Post is often given credit for transforming women's pages into modern lifestyle sections. Yet, a closer examination of women's page in the 1960s shows that numerous newspapers were ahead of the Post - most notably Carol Sutton's section at the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Journalism History Correction

I recently came across a reference to a photo of food editor Jeanne Voltz in the Los Angeles Times photo files at U.C.L.A. Here is the link.

This information is incorrect. Jeanne wasn't hired by the L.A. Times until 1960.

New Research Subject: Ann Hamman

I just came across a new research subject - Ann Hamman, the food editor of the The Courier in Evansville, Indiana. She wrote a great letter to the editor of the Columbia Journalism Review in 1971. In it she defended the work of food editors and their roles at newspapers. In looking into that letter, I discovered Ann's interesting background. Unlike some of the other fashion/food editors I have looked at, Ann was highly trained in home ec and consumer ec for her role as food editor.

I hope to track down her son and start collecting some of Ann's articles.

Aileen Ryan information

I just received a wonderful email from the Special Collections folks at Mount Mary College - it included several images regarding Milwaukee Journal women's editor/fashion editor Aileen Ryan. One of those images is featured above - it is announcement about the Aileen Ryan chair in fashion at the College.

I wrote a biographical article about Ryan for the Milwaukee History journal in 2004 - focusing on her role as a fashion journalist. I am now planning on putting together an article that focuses more specifically on how she (and the Journal) represented fashion in Milwaukee in the 1950s and 1960s. During this time, Milwaukee was a big player in U.S. fashion. I hope to look at the archival material at Mount Mary when we visit Milwaukee & Madison this summer.

Jim Bellows article

I came across this article about legendary editor Jim Bellows joining the L.A. Times. It notes that he will be overseeing the women's section. He was married to wonderful women's page editor Maggie Savoy, which is also noted in the article. Maggie would eventually become the women's editor of the Times until her death in 1970.

I am guessing that he also oversaw the food section. I am working on an article about L.A. Times food editor Jeanne Voltz.

I am planning on writing an article about Jim Bellows at some point. He was a great supporter of women journalists.

Great reporting on food history

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a great article about food history today. Here is a link to it.

I am working on a conference paper about food sections in newspapers. (These sections originated in women's pages.) I am focusing on the work of Jeanne Voltz at the Los Angeles Times.

Joan Younger Dickinson revisions

I am working on a complete overhaul of my article about UP reporter & Ladies Home Journal writer Joan Younger Dickinson. She also wrote several books including the one above.

I am revising my article for a national rather than a regional journal. We went through her papers at the University of Wyoming several years ago.

Betty Ewing introduction

I just received this copy of the cookbook, Houston Gourmet. It was written by Houston Chronicle food editor Ann Criswell.



The introduction to the book was written by Betty Ewing. She was the society editor at the Houston Chronicle for many years - documenting the growth of the fourth-largest city in the country.

I am currently working on an article about Betty. I went through her papers a few years ago.

Flo Burge article

The Reno Gazette Journal has an article about Reno women's page editor Flo Burge. Here is a link to it. I am guessing it is part of a women's history month package.

She won a Penney-Missouri Award for her work in the 1960s.

Flo's papers are at the University of Nevada-Reno and are rather extensive. We went through the papers a few years ago. I have tried to track down her daughters but have had no luck.

I published an article about Flo in the Nevada Historical Quarterly in 2006.

Baby Boom Book is published

Dorothy Jurney proofs

I just finished the final proofs of my article about legendary women's page editor Dorothy Jurney. I also just received the permission form for the use of one of her pictures from her papers at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri.

This research has been in the works for the past five years. I am so happy that it is coming out in Journalism History this Spring.

Biographical book about women journalists

I found this reference book at a used bookstore. It's a great resource for researching women journalists.



Included in the book are many women's page editors including Gloria Biggs and Vivian Castleberry. Above is information about Betty Preston Oiler, a women's page editor from Glendale, California. I am working on a revise-and-resubmit about Betty that I hope to finish over Spring Break.

Society Writing

I found this great article about society writing - an important part of women's pages. The writer explained the evolution of society writing as it was becoming more inclusive. Houston society columnist Betty Ewing is quoted.

We plan to take a closer look at society news at some point, especially the coverage of brides.