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Vivian Castleberry reference in Thinking Big
In my research on Dallas Time Herald women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry, I came across the following reference in the book Thinking Big about the Los Angeles Times. (At one point, the L.A. Times owned the Dallas Times Herald.) “The major criticism of (editor Tom) Johnson was that his liberalism and commitment to new journalism was slick at best and superficial at worst. With all its changes, the Times Herald still remained a partial extension of its formal self. Certainly it had not become an anti-establishment paper. Editorial board member Vivian Castleberry was still the only woman appointed to a high-level position since the Johnson changes. When a board vacancy…
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Demise of Wisc. Commission on the Status of Women
In December 1978, Wisconsin Governor-Elect Lee Dreyfus announced to a room of journalists that he would allow the most powerful women’s organization in the state “to croak.” His coarse language led to lots of media coverage. It began a mediated discussion about women’s roles in Wisconsin after a decade of social change. In the end, Dreyfus followed through on his threat but it was not without a fight. Sparta native Katherine “Kay” Clarenbach, a powerful but behind-the-scenes figure, took on the governor. It was a more visible role than Clarenbach typically played. Lastly, unlike the national media which often mocked feminism, the state media took on a nuanced coverage of…
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Kalamazoo Gazette women’s page editor Marjorie Goldsmith
Kalamazoo Gazette women’s page editor Marjorie Goldsmith has died. Here is information from her obituary: The election of Dwight D. Eisenhower to the presidency in 1952 resulted, indirectly, in Kalamazoo gaining a first-rate journalist, according to Betty Upjohn Mason. Marjorie G. Goldsmith, who was working for the government in Washington, D.C., was relieved of her job along with many other Truman administration employees when Eisenhower took office in 1953, Mason said. Goldsmith is credited with modernizing the Gazette’s Women’s Section, which in the 1970s became the Family Living Section and covered a variety of topics from health to cooking, Mason said. “She was a very energetic … very charming, gregarious…
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Icons of American Cooking
It has been announced that The Icons of American Cooking will be published in January of 2011. I wrote a chapter about James Beard – who was a friend of 1960s L.A. Times food editor Jeanne Voltz. I had hoped to write a chapter about Jeanne but she did not make the cut. I am curious if any food editors – which often included the position of women’s editors – will be part of the book.
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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AJHA 2010 Convention Program
The AJHA 2010 Convention Program is now available. I am presenting my paper, “Food Journalism or Culinary Anthropology? Re-evaluating Soft News and the Influence of Jeanne Voltz’s Food Section in the Los Angeles Times,” will be part of the panel, Social Construction and Cultural Consequences.
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Political cartoonist Paul Conrad Died
Los Angeles Times political cartoonist Paul Conrad died yesterday at age 86. He was a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner. While he was at the Times, he was friends with women’s page editor Maggie Savoy and her husband Jim Bellows. When Maggie died in 1970 at age 50, Paul drew the above image for a memorial that Jim put together.
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
