Betty Ewing and society writing

After weeks of not hearing back from a Texas history journal, I am working on my manuscript about Houston women's page writer and society editor Betty Ewing to send it off to a different journal. I went through Betty's papers at Texas Woman's University in 2005 and have been collecting information ever since.

Too often society columns found in women’s pages are reduced to being insignificant. After all, the women’s section where these columns typically ran was often referred to as the “step-child of the profession” in journalism histories. Yet, these columns chronicled the stories of the powerful – the movers and shakers of a community. And, these columns also highlighted the women married to those in power. In doing so, Ewing gave overlooked women a voice. Ewing highlighted the stories of the wives who worked quietly behind-the-scenes. The stories of these women deserve to be part of the historical record of the South.

Ewing’s reporting and writing revealed the personalities of the community she covered. The work of Ewing, and other columnists like her, demonstrated how community causes from libraries to museums could be championed. These journalists often helped to create the foundations of their communities. Ewing helped to promote the news and culture of Houston at a time of growth and development. Furthermore, the reporting skills developed during World War II served her well when she was restricted to the women’s pages in peacetime. Ewing, like other women reporters of her era, found a way to create her own path in journalism. Her story is important to add to the history of Texas and the South.

NCA paper and presentation

Today, I am working on my paper, "Who’s Wearing the Pants? How The New York Times Reported the Changing Dress of Women," which has been accepted for presentation at the National Communication Association convention in San Francisco - where Lance and I got married. I looked at the literal and symbolic power of women wearing pants.



Religion was used as a common reason for women to stay in skirts and dresses.



Politics were also part of the debate over women wearing pants.



Even restaurants were part of the debate as they would decline serve to a woman wearing slacks.

Vivian Castleberry's Equality Stories

I am working on my book chapter about Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry and her role in the women's liberation movement.

This is the lead from the 1980 article she wrote, "Equality: How Far Do Men Want To Go?"

"Many men say they desire relationships of equality with women. But the past often dies hard - for both men and women.

For many men, equality stops with dirty dishes and the dirty diapers. For many women, it stops with when the car stalls on the freeway and when the kitchen sink stops up."

Vivian Castleberry's college years

Today I did more work on my Vivian Castleberry book today, focusing on her college years at Southern Methodist University during World War II. Because so many men were off serving their country, she had opportunities that she would have not had otherwise such as being editor of the student newspaper.

The above image came from her 1944 yearbook, the Rotunda, that I found on eBay.

New Mexico women's page editors

I just finished reading A History of New Mexico Press Women. It is a state that I have not looked at before in my search of women's pages.

The organization was started in 1950 by Ann Conger, women's page editor of the Albuquerque Tribune. Its meetings had interesting programming that went beyond traditional content. A 1966 speaker oversaw the seminar: "Civil Rights for the Minorities."

Reference to this blog

I found a great reference to this blog from a blogger with the Washington State Historical Society:

"Every once in a while, something really wonderful crosses my desk and this blog post by Kimberly Voss was one of those things. In it, she explains how she was able to discover the story about journalist Bobbi McCallum in order to write the article featured in an issue of COLUMBIA magazine. You can check it out online at our website.

As Kimberly said in her post: "Often, as scholars, we focus on the results -- what it is we found. This is the story of how I got to the results."

Val Imm's Sixth Floor Museum Interview

I am in the middle of transcribing the July 23, 1997, videotaped oral history of Val Imm. It is part if the Sixth Floor Museum's oral history project in relation to the JFK assassination - but also explores Dallas overall. (Val was at Love Field when the president and first lady arrived.)

Val was the society editor at the Dallas Times-Herald from 1960 to 1970. She reported to Vivian Castleberry who I am writing about.



She won several awards for her work. She looked at society writing as sociology rather than high society. It was the same approach that Charlotte Curtis took at the New York Times.

Jerry Mitchell speaks

Here is a clip of Thursday's speaker, Jerry Mitchell, from the Colbert Report.

Journalism legend (and winner of the 2009 "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation) spoke to both of my classes at UCF today. He addressed the lack of Southern newspaper coverage during the civil rights era.

While that was true at most newspapers, one exception was the Louisville Courier-Journal. It was a more progressive newspaper and named women's page editor Carol Sutton to the managing editor position in the 1970s. While was was M.E., she oversaw the coverage of busing. The newspaper took an anti-segregation position:

" Sutton said the staff tried to get information out as soon as possible, which included more than 200 maps to show exactly where the children would be bused. She said the “actual coverage of the busing was just horrendous.”The buses started out at 6 a.m., and the reporters continued covering the story until the final edition was
done at 2 a.m. the next morning. Thus, the Courier-Journal was operating on a 20-hour cycle. She recalled coming in early on a Saturday morning, two weeks into the coverage. It was just Sutton and the city editor, and they said they were happy that the staff had finally gotten a day off when they looked out and saw groups of
people marching down the street in front of the building. Eventually, 10,000 people gathered in front of the Courier-Journal building. They screamed in rage and shook their fists."

Vivian Castleberry letters

I recently received several letters written between Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry and Penney-Missouri Award Director Paul Myhre, as well as some letters about Vivian. The letters can be found in the papers of the Penney-Missouri Awards at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri.

In these letters, including the one above written by Vivian's fashion editor, gave me some new insight into Vivian's life. This letter referenced a severe illness that Vivian's husband Curtis went through - an incident that I had not been aware of before. Their marriage was and is a true partnership.

Back to writing about Vivian Castleberry

We spent yesterday at a Cape Canaveral beach where I got back to writing my book about Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry. Lance's initial suggestion for my book title: "White Gloves and Newsprint."



Today, I am adding some of Vivian's articles to my manuscript. Unlike many editors, Vivian did a great deal of reporting and writing. I appreciate the great folks at the UCF library for finding these articles.

Florida Communication Association presentation

I presented my paper on Miami Herald columnist Eleanor Hart and her "Column with a Heart" this weekend at the Florida Communication Association convention in Orlando. There was no technology available but the powerpoint I would have included is in the previous post.

Every women's section included columns, especially advice columns. I plan to beginning working in this area next summer

Miami Herald women's page columnist Eleanor Hart

Dorothy Dawe death certificate

One of the four Fs of the women’s pages is furnishings. (Although I have found that at some newspapers, furnishings stories were found in the real estate section.) For decades, the top recognition for furnishing coverage was the Dorothy Dawe Award. A few weeks ago, I started looking into furnishings coverage and the award.

I learned that the award is named for a furnishings reporter at the Milwaukee Journal. I found her obituary last month – which noted that she died at age 42 but there were no other details. I filled out the paperwork to get her death certificate and it arrived last week. It looks like she died of multiple forms of cancer.

Here is an article about Dorothy based on a talk by Milwaukee Journal women's page editor Aileen Ryan who I studied a few years ago.

Vivian Castleberry and depression

I am back to working on my book about Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry. In this article I recently found, Vivian writes about depression. It was a disease she suffered from following her bout with cancer.

AJHA Awards

Today was a great day for my paper, "Food Journalism or Culinary Anthropology? Re-evaluating Soft News and the Influence of Jeanne Voltz's Food Section in the Los Angeles Times."


At the American Journalism Historians Association Convention, I won the Maurine Beasley Award for outstanding paper on women's history.



I also won the David Sloan Award for the outstanding faculty paper. I am humbled by the great news.

More about food editor Peggy Daum

On Thursday, I presented a paper about Miami Herald and L.A. Times food editor Jeanne Voltz. I am now working on a paper about Milwaukee Journal food editor Peggy Daum. She was a women's page reporter, working under Penney-Missouri Award winner Aileen Ryan before becoming the food editor in the 1960s.

Peggy won several Vesta Awards - the top recognition for food editing and reporting. She went on to be the founding president of the Association of Food Journalists.

Peggy earned her journalism degree at the University of Arizona - in Tucson, where we are this week. The archive at UA uncovered images of Peggy from yearbooks in the 1950s. Peggy was a student newspaper editor and editor of the yearbook. I appreciate the help of the archivists.

AJHA presentation

Tomorrow, Lance and I are leaving for the American Journalism Historians Association convention in Tucson. I am presenting a paper about women's page journalist and food editor Jeanne Voltz and her coverage in the L.A. Times in the 1960s and early 1970s: "Food Journalism and Culinary Anthropology: Jeanne Voltz and the Food Section in the Los Angeles Times."

Here is the abstract:
As society was changing in the 1960s, food editor Jeanne Voltz guided one of the most significant food sections in the country – at the Los Angeles Times. An analysis of her work at the Times, during the heyday of the sections, show she was laying the foundation for food journalism years before the supposed surge in the topic. This study looks at the food section of the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s and early 1970s – Voltz’s tenure. It was a significant period to be covering the food industry with an increase in governmental regulation and studies, as well as a change in the role of women in society. A review of her articles revealed numerous topics and trends told through food. Because little is known about how women typically became food journalists, a brief biographical sketch precedes the analysis of her section’s content.