Letitia Baldrige Dies

This morning I found this obituary for Letitia Baldrige who was known for being the social secretary to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

This was interesting as just last week I was writing about Baldrige in my chapter on women's page editors and gossip. In the chapter I describe the work of Vera Glaser who covered politics (and gossip) for the women's pages. It was in her column that she scooped everyone else in learning what was in Baldrige's tell-all book about her experiences in the White House.

According to her obituary: "As Jacqueline Kennedy’s social secretary, Ms. Baldrige oversaw the glamorous social gatherings and state dinners for which the administration was known.

Ms. Baldrige was credited with helping arrange for a portable stage in the White House East Room where the Kennedys hosted jazz concerts, Shakespeare performances, ballets, musicals and opera. Ms. Baldrige issued many of the invitations to those events.

Sometimes her role called for apologies. The first official White House party, she wrote in her memoir “Of Diamonds & Diplomats” (1968), got her “into the hottest of water with our President.” Without alerting him, she broke precedent by arranging for hard liquor to be served at the Sunday evening event."

After she left Washington, she worked in public relations for the Merchandise Mart in Chicago where she would have interacted with the furnishings reporters of the women's pages. She went on to open her own P.R. firm.

A Story on Storify About Cecily Brownstone

Visual Recipes

I came across this visual recipe from a 1940's newspaper women's section. Doesn't it look like something you would see in a food blog today?

Happy Birthday to Curtis

Today Curtis turns three years old - this is a photo of him at EPCOT taken last weekend. He is named for the husband of Dallas women's page editor Vivian Castleberry - Curtis Castleberry - and the husband of Arizona women's page editor Maggie Savoy - Jim Bellows. Jim was also a great champion for women in the newsroom.

Happy Birthday to Curtis!

Society Coverage

I am finishing the revisions on my book chapter on women and gossip - focusing on the content of the women's pages. Today I wrote about Kathryn Robinette.

Kathryn Robinette won Penney-Missouri Awards for her women’s section of the Palm Beach Post in 1966 and 1968. She earned an undergraduate degree and then a master’s degree in English from the University of Chicago before trying women’s page journalism in 1960 in Georgia.

She wrote in a letter: “I typed weddings and all that tiresome stuff but managed to fall in love with the work anyway. I also formed firm opinions about what type of story best served the reader’s interest – having been one for so long.” Unlike many women's page editor, she married and had children. While she reported from the many galas of Palm Beach, she covered social issues, too.

In the chapter I am writing, I document the change in society coverage to be more inclusive of people in all social classes. As Robinette's obituary noted: "High social status was not a prerequisite for coverage. If your cause was legitimate, she would scoop you up and off she went."

Talk at Urban Rethink

I enjoyed speaking about Florida women's page editors and their role in building community at Urban ReThink on Tuesday night. I spoke about Marie Anderson and Roberta Applegate from the Miami Herald; Anne Rowe from the St. Petersburg Times and Edee Greene from the Fort Lauderdale News. A highlight of the experience was speaking with Edee's grandson Patrick.

Here is a link to my PowerPoint from the talk.

Another The Feminist Kitchen Post

Here is my latest post on the blog The Feminist Kitchen. It is about feminism and Pinterest and includes information about the women's pages. It was inspired by this blog post.

EPCOT Food & Wine Festival

We went to the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT today. This is the kind of food news that would have been covered in the women's pages of newspapers.

Gloria Steinem Talk

I heard a great speech by Gloria Steinem at UCF today. Many feminists, including Steinem, initially fought for elimination of the women's pages and several later changed their minds. For example, Steinem said in 1972, “I have come back full circle in that I now feel the value of the women’s pages.” The problem was that by the time Steinem and others had reversed course, most women’s page editors had been demoted or left the newspaper.

Professor, Researcher, Mother

Today I spoke on a panel about balancing motherhood with being an academic. The key to what Lance & I try to do is incorporate much of our women's page work with our family.

It was a tradition we had before we had children as we traveled to archives and went through papers together. We would then try to add on a mini-vacation. In the photo above I am in the Dallas home of women's page editor Vivian Castleberry. Lance and I stayed with Vivian and her husband Curtis before we moved to Orlando.

When we discovered that we were having our first son, we decided that Curtis was a great role model and that became our son's name. His middle name is James - named for the great editor James Bellows. Jim was a champion for women at the newspapers he edited.

After Curtis was born, we traveled back to Dallas to see Vivian honored and so that our Curtis could meet his namesake.

Parenting & Research

On Thursday, I am speaking on a panel about combining a career in academia and parenting.

One of the questions involved keeping up your research agenda post-baby.

I will speak about the wonderful book Searching for Tamsen Donner.

Like the book's author, Gabrielle Burton, I have incorporated my research with my family. Many of our weekend activities and trip have some connection to the women's pages.

A Visit to the Kennedy Space Center

We visited the Kennedy Space Center this weekend.

When the space work in Cape Canaveral first started, Miami Herald women's page reporter Roberta Applegate wrote a 5-part series on the women who worked for NASA.

Chili Cook-offs

Last night we went to the Avalon Park Oktoberfest where Mr. Toddler - pictured above - had a blast.

Today, the Oktoberfest continues with a chili cook-off. I have been looking into these cook-offs for the food journalism book that I am writing. These competitions followed the beginning of the Pillsbury Bake-Offs - covered by the women's pages.

Here is a link to a history of the chili cook-off. In it, the author notes that food history had recently been corrected to show that the first such cook-off was in 1950. It was learned in a newspaper clipping.

It is these bake-offs and cook-offs that were the initial culinary competitions - creating the foundation for shows like Top Chef and the Cupcake Wars of today.

History of the Cookbook

I was excited to see this announcement about this new cookbook and this accompanying talk. Here is a review of the cookbook.

The cookbook comes from the cookbook collection at the Fales Library at NYU. Much of the collection is the result of the donation from Associated Press food editor Cecily Brownstone - whose recipe column ran in the women's pages for decades.

Brownstone's work was often overshadowed by hew fellow food writers: James Beard (a close friend) and Craig Claiborne. I am presenting a paper about Brownstone at the National Communication Association convention in November.

Women of the Washington Press

This new book about women journalists in Washington by Maurine Beasley is in a word - amazing. (Dr. Beasley was my dissertation adviser and introduced me to the women's pages.)

It is rich storytelling - with strong anecdotes - grounded in significant research. Washington D.C. with its mix of politics and society has been a special place for women reporters. Dr. Beasley tells their stories well.

Two of the women I write about are mentioned in the book - Vera Glaser and Eleni Epstein. The work of both women ran in the women's pages.

Vera Glaser was the longtime political columnist for a national wire service. Her work often ran in the Knight papers so she became friendly with Miami Herald women's page editor Marie Anderson. I presented a paper about Vera at the winter meeting of AJHA-AEJMC a few years ago. It was published here. I am presenting a paper about Vera's friendship with Washington feminist Catherine East next fall. I have gone through both of East and Glaser's papers.

Eleni Epstein is also mentioned - she was the longtime fashion editor at the Washington Star. My article about Eleni will be coming out in a future issue of Media History Monographs.

I also enjoyed the sections of Dr. Beasley's book that describe the role of society coverage in Washington. I have included a section on women's pages and society coverage in the chapter I am revising on women and gossip.

Dr. Beasley also did a wonderful job of explaining the transition of the women's pages to the lifestyle sections - and the loss of much of the news about women. This is an area that I continue to work on.

Orlando Home & Garden Show

Today we attended the Orlando Home & Garden Show. It reminded me of the trade shows that furnishing editors used to cover for the women's pages - such as Lois Hagen at the Milwaukee Journal or Jo Werne at the Miami Herald.

We heard the gardening writer for the Orlando Sentinel speak. Many women's pages included columns on gardening. I am curious if there was a connection between those columns and the gardening clubs that existed in most communities.

Happy Archive Month!

October is National Archive Month. I love archives - which we visit as often as we can. Our favorite is the National Women & Media Collection in Missouri. I am writing an article about my discoveries there for the 25th anniversary of the Collection.

The NWMC was started by women's page editor turned publisher Marjorie Paxson. Other women's page journalists whose papers are at the NWMC include Marie Anderson, Roberta Applegate, Gloria Biggs, Eleni Epstein and Dorothy Jurney. And, most helpful of all are the papers of the Penney-Missouri Awards - the top recognition for women's pages in the 1960s.

Jeanne Voltz reference

I was reading through the Recipe Writer's Handbook when I came across a quote by Miami Herald and L.A. Times food editor Jeanne Voltz: "A good recipe suits the reader to the time, the place and the ingredients; it suits the reader's skill or will to cook; and its taste meets acceptance by his or her family and guests. A good recipe is a commonsense solution to a reader's need for food and sustenance." (p. 190)

I plan to interview one of the authors of this book for my work on newspaper food editors.