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Eleni Epstein: Revise & Resubmit
Lance & I got great news this week about our article about Washington Star fashion editor Eleni Epstein. It was a positive and helpful revise-and-resubmit that we should be able to complete in the next few weeks. Fashion journalism often gets marginalized as unimportant because it is “women’s news.” Yet, as we proved, it is an important business with significant social and political meanings – especially in Washington, DC. We spent several visits going through Eleni’s papers at the University of Missouri in 2006 and 2007. It has taken many years to put her story together. We are so pleased to see her story closer to publication.
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Mitt Romney’s Father George Romney
With GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in the news, I have been reminded of his father George Romney. He was a governor of Michigan in the 1960s and also worked at HUD. Women’s page journalist Roberta “Bobbi” Applegate’s brother Albert Applegate worked for George Romney. (Bobbi Applegate was the first woman to work as a governor’s press secretary – for Michigan Governor Kim Sigler – before moving on to become the club reporter for the women’s pages of the Miami Herald. My article about her appeared in a 2008 issue of Michigan History Magazine.) Also in 2008, I nominated and helped to induct Roberta into the Michigan Journalism Hall of…
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Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl
In honor of the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl this year, here is a women’s page reference from a previous Badger Rose Bowl appearance – from a former Wisconsin women’s page journalist Dorothy Kincaid. Dorothy was the longtime food journalist at the Milwaukee Sentinel. (The cookbook that she edited is pictured above – I found it on eBay.) When she retired, she shared this memory of banned from the press box during the 1963 Rose Bowl she traveled to California with the University of Wisconsin Badgers football team. Her assignment was to write a color piece about the parade and game. Shehad tried to make advance plans to cover…
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End of the St. Petersburg Times
Today was the first day that the St. Petersburg Times officially became the Tampa Bay Times. After a long and significant history, the St. Petersburg Times now longer exists – at least by name. Here is the story. For many years, the St. Petersburg Times had one of the top women’s pages in the country. The newspaper was one of the first to transition into a lifestyle section – although the Washington Post usually gets all the credit. (At the Times, it was known as the “Day” section.) For many years, the women’s page editor (and later the Day editor) was Anne Rowe – later Goldman. That is a photo…
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Anniversary of the Death of the Miami News
The last issue of the Miami News was published on December 31 in 1988. In the 1960s, it had one of the best women’s pages around – headed by the wonderful Billie O’Day, who was also an accomplished musician and conductor. I hope to write more about Billie in 2012.
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Happy 8th Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband and research partner Lance who knows as much about women’s page history as I do. It has been a wonderful eight years. Lance, Curtis & I are celebrating our anniversary and my birthday (tomorrow) in Boca Raton. The Penney-Missouri Award-winning women’s page editor from Boca was Sandra Wesley who I have been lucky enough to exchange a few emails with over the years. Above is a photo of Sandra – she is on the far left. Betty Preston (Glendale, CA, women’s page editor) is in the middle and Edee Greene (Fort Lauderdale women’s page editor) is on the right.
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
