Henrietta Poynter and the St. Petersburg Times/Poynter Institute
On Thursday, we are traveling to St. Petersburg for a three-day workshop at Poynter. It is named for St. Petersburg Times Publisher Nelson Poynter – although I always think that it should also be named for his second wife, Henrietta, who wrote editorials for the newspaper with her husband. Together, they created Congressional Quarterly. She had an impressive background with a 1922 journalism degree from Columbia University and then an editor for Vogue and Vanity Fair before marrying Nelson. She was the first woman to serve on the American Committee of the International Press Institute. A friend described her as “an earthy highbrow … the most unboring person I ever knew.” Nelson said of Henrietta to a friend: “You knowe, that woman scares me.” The friend noted that the quote was said with pride. That is a photo of her above.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the St. Petersburg Times had one of the most progressive women’s pages in the country. In the 1950s and into the early 1960s, its editor was Gloria Biggs who was mentored by both Nelson and Henrietta Poynter. She won an early Penney-Missouri Award – the top recognition for women’s pages. She was forced out of the position when Don Baldwin became managing editor of the newspaper and wanted his own young staff. This may have worked out for the best as Gloria went on to Gannett newspapers and eventually became the chain’s first female publisher. (I presented a biographical paper about Gloria Biggs at this year’s Florida Historical Quarterly Meeting in Jacksonville. I am presenting a paper about her role as publisher, along with two other female newspaper executives, at this year’s AEJMC Convention in St. Louis.)
Anne Rowe Goldman took over for Biggs as part of Baldwin’s Kiddy Corps. In the book about the newspaper, A Sacred Trust, it was noted that Rowe became Henrietta’s protégé. (pg 235) Rowe also won Penney-Missouri Awards and was part of the team that redesigned into in a DAY section. My paper on Rowe Goldman was published in this year’s FCH Annals: Journal of the Florida Conference of Historians.) She went on to be an ombudsman at the newspaper – likely one of the first women in that position in the country.
Baldwin went on to head what is now the Poynter Center – initially known as the Modern Media Institute.
