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Vivian Castleberry business book
Yesterday I received this book that Dallas women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry wrote. In it, she examines the business climate for women in her city. While a rather conservative community, there were several prominent business women. Take for example, Mary Kay Ash – creator of Mary Kay Cosmetics and and Bette Nesmith Graham – creator of Liquid Paper. (Her son became part of the band, the Monkees.) This from a 2004 Dallas Morning News article in the Vivian and her friend Louise Raggio (family law attorney): They “chose professions that were traditionally male-dominated – especially in conservative post-war Dallas – not terribly welcoming to the few women in their ranks.…
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Vivian Castleberry and Louise Raggio
Today I am writing about the relationship between Dallas women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry and groundbreaking Dallas attorney Louise Raggio. Vivian is included in the above video, as are several articles that Vivian ran about Louise over the years. The two women co-authored the book, Texas Tornado: The Autobiography of a Crusader for Women’s Rights and Family Justice. They were powerful advocates for women in Dallas.
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Vivian Castleberry and her staff
Today I am working on women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry’s years at the Dallas Times Herald. I am writing about the different women who worked for Vivian – including those in the photo above: Mary Ann Lane, Dorothy Fagg, Graydon Heartsill and Maggie Kennedy. The picture is from Vivian’s book, Daughters of Dallas. The above is an image of Dorothy Taylor Fagg when she was in college. She initially became a school teacher before coming to the Times Herald. She worked at the Dallas newspaper for 21 years – much of that time she was the furnishings editor.
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Fort Lauderdale
The New York Times just ran a great story about visiting Fort Lauderdale. We recently made plans to visit the Florida city this spring for a history conference. One of my favorite women’s page editors, Edee Greene, was at the Fort Lauderdale News. Unlike many of the forgotten women I study, Edee was recognized and celebrated for her impact in her community. This is from her obituary: Mrs. Greene is credited with founding Women in Distress, a social service agency that has helped 246,000 homeless and abused women and children since 1974. “She’ll be remembered as someone who uplifted the women of this county,” said Gretchen Thompson, a longtime friend…
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News and Feminism: A Historic Dialog
I just finished reading the Journalism & Communication Monograph, News and Feminism: A Historic Dialog by Bernadette Barker-Plummer. It is a broad analysis of an important topic. On pages 155-157, she addresses women’s pages and feminism and mentions my 2004 dissertation. I am glad to see the mentions of women’s pages editors Vivian Castleberry, Dorothy Jurney and Marjorie Paxson who were all outspoken feminists. I would also add Marie Anderson and Maggie Savoy to the list.
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Thanksgiving 2010
We spent Thanksgiving morning at Cocoa Beach – ot the beautiful beach of Senator Lori Wilson Park. (My article about Lori and the media’s coverage of her sponsored-E.R.A. legislation came out last year.) Curtis loved the water and playing in the sand. Now we are working on dinner. I am making a pomegranate glaze to go on the turkey that Lance is cooking – it’s a variation of the recipe in this month’s Whole Living magazine. My favorite women’s page-related Thanksgiving story is about food editor Jeanne Voltz while she worked at the Miami Herald in the 1950s. Jeanne’s daughter told me that their house phone would ring all day…
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A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
