In my research on NY Times and Lakeland Ledger food editor Jane Nickerson, I came across this in-house ad. It adds some new information about her work in her years between the newspapers while she was also raising her children. As I suspected, she continued to freelance and did not leave journalism completely.

In journalism history, there is always the question of whether a topic or subject is significant. This is my rationale for why Jane Nickerson is important to study. First, her role as first food editor at the NY Times, the nation’s newspaper of record is clearly significant. Unfortunately, her successor Craig Claiborne has widely overshadowed Jane’s role. (To his credit, he does note her accomplishments in his memoir.) Second, examining her overall career gives journalism history a richer understanding of women’s roles in the industry. If we are to believe the current story of Jane’s career, she left the NY Times to raise her children – it is almost as…