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Society of Professional Journalists
Yesterday I moderated a panel about women and journalism at a regional Society of Professional Journalists conference. Some attendees seemed to be shocked that SPJ did not allow women to be members until 1969. It is important to recognize how many ways the industry discriminated against women and just how recent that it was the women were openly discriminated against. Here is an article Lance and I wrote about the fight to allow women to become members of the Milwaukee Press Club – the oldest press club in the country. Milwaukee women’s page journalists were part of that fight.
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Encyclopedia of the Sixties
Today I am working on three entries for the ABC-Clio Encyclopedia of the Sixties: the media-generated bra-burning myth, Washington Post Publisher Katherine Graham and N.O.W. Katherine Graham’s Washington Post is often given credit for transforming women’s pages into modern lifestyle sections. Yet, a closer examination of women’s page in the 1960s shows that numerous newspapers were ahead of the Post – most notably Carol Sutton’s section at the Louisville Courier-Journal.
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Journalism History Correction
I recently came across a reference to a photo of food editor Jeanne Voltz in the Los Angeles Times photo files at U.C.L.A. Here is the link. This information is incorrect. Jeanne wasn’t hired by the L.A. Times until 1960.
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New Research Subject: Ann Hamman
I just came across a new research subject – Ann Hamman, the food editor of the The Courier in Evansville, Indiana. She wrote a great letter to the editor of the Columbia Journalism Review in 1971. In it she defended the work of food editors and their roles at newspapers. In looking into that letter, I discovered Ann’s interesting background. Unlike some of the other fashion/food editors I have looked at, Ann was highly trained in home ec and consumer ec for her role as food editor. I hope to track down her son and start collecting some of Ann’s articles.
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Aileen Ryan information
I just received a wonderful email from the Special Collections folks at Mount Mary College – it included several images regarding Milwaukee Journal women’s editor/fashion editor Aileen Ryan. One of those images is featured above – it is announcement about the Aileen Ryan chair in fashion at the College. I wrote a biographical article about Ryan for the Milwaukee History journal in 2004 – focusing on her role as a fashion journalist. I am now planning on putting together an article that focuses more specifically on how she (and the Journal) represented fashion in Milwaukee in the 1950s and 1960s. During this time, Milwaukee was a big player in U.S.…
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Jim Bellows article
I came across this article about legendary editor Jim Bellows joining the L.A. Times. It notes that he will be overseeing the women’s section. He was married to wonderful women’s page editor Maggie Savoy, which is also noted in the article. Maggie would eventually become the women’s editor of the Times until her death in 1970. I am guessing that he also oversaw the food section. I am working on an article about L.A. Times food editor Jeanne Voltz. I am planning on writing an article about Jim Bellows at some point. He was a great supporter of women journalists.
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
