-
Women’s History Month: Day 18 & Ruth Gray
Day 18 of Women’s History Month features food editor Ruth Gray. Ruth Gray became the food editor in 1963 of the St. Petersburg Times and began reviewing restaurants in 1974. One restaurant that earned a negative review named their crab sandwich in her honor. She earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics from Kansas State University. She married and raised a daughter. When she was investigating a restaurant, Gray wore hats and scarves and ducked inside the ladies room to take notes and remain inconspicuous. The disguises were needed because some restaurants posted her photo on the wall in the kitchen—a common practice because restaurant owners looked to identify critics.…
- Florida food, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food journalism, Lowis Carlton, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Day 17 & Lowis Carlton
The day 17 post for Women’s History Month features Florida women’s page journalist Lowis Carlton. She was the food editor at the Miami Herald in the 1970s. This image is from her tenure at the Herald – Lowis Carlton. She had a background in both journalism and home economics. She also wrote several Florida cookbooks. I am including her in the book I am writing about Miami food history.
- Florida newspapers, Florida Women's Pages, Marjorie Paxson, Miami Herald, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Day 16 & Marjorie Paxson
Day 16 of Womn’s History Month features Marjorie Paxson who helped found the National Women and Media Collection. She was a longtime women’s page journalist in Texas and Florida who became the fourth female publisher at Gannett. She worked on the hard news side during World War II and then returned to the women’s pages in peacetime. She worked at women’s pages in Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania. She was a good friend of Marie Anderson and Dorothy Jurney. Here is a link to the finding guide for her papers. Here is a link to an article Lance & I wrote about Paxson.
- Florida food, Florida newspapers, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, Miami Herald, Virginia Heffington, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Day 15 & Virginia Heffington
Day 15 of Women’s History Month features Virginia Heffington – a food editor in Florida and later California. Recently, the Miami Herald cited a recipe from its 1960s food editor Virginia Heffington. This is the book that Heffington wrote in 1968 when she was the Homemaking Editor of the Miami Herald. At that point she had been at the Herald for five years and had won a Vesta Award – the top recognition for food journalism. In the introduction to the book, she mentioned that she was a graduate of Iowa State in home economic journalism. I also found an archive in Canada that had ten of Virginia’s clips in…
- Dorothy Jurney, Florida Women's Pages, Marie Anderson, women's history, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Day 14 & Women Politicking Politely Book
I am excited to share the cover of my upcoming book, Women Politicking Politely. It comes out next month. This book includes the relatively unknown stories of six important women who laid the foundation for improving women’s equality in the U.S. While they largely worked behind the scenes, they made a significant impact. In the group are two female political operatives who worked behind the scenes along with four female journalists who also occasionally worked within government to advance women’s rights during the 1950s through the 1970s. Much of it centers on Washington, D.C., as well as the more unlikely cities of Madison, Wisconsin and Miami, Florida. It includes the…
- Dorothy Clifford, Florida Women's Pages, women and journalism, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Day 14 & Dorothy Clifford
Day 14 of Women’s History Month features Tallahassee Democrat women’s page editor Dorothy Clifford. I had the opportunity to interview her several years ago. This is the wonderful material from her obituary:“Dorothy Clifford, doyenne of the Tallahassee Democrat newsroom and arbiter of the Tallahassee social scene for more than 40 years, died Sunday morning.” and “For decades, Clifford was the newspaper’s social historian. Most famously, she wrote the Democrat’s weekly “Capital Scene” column — a round-up of parties, gatherings and events laden with bold-faced names of those who attended. Though the term society column might make some wince — including Clifford — it was considered a badge of honor to…
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
