Chicago Tribune
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My Ruth Ellen Church Research
My research about longtime Chicago Tribune foo editor Ruth Ellen Church (pen name = Mary Meade) is coming together. My biography of Church was recently published in Middle West Review published by the University of Nebraska Press. I wrote an entry for Church that will be in the upcoming Chicago food and beverage encyclopedia published by the University of Illinois Press. In the fall, I will present a paper at the Food Studies conference about Church’s role as the first newspaper wine columnist in the country.
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Chicago Tribune Beauty Editor Eleanor Nagle
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Top Food Editors: Day One & Ruth Ellen Church
For the next 30 days, I will be blogging about a different newspaper food editor. Day one features Ruth Ellen Church, the longtime food editor at the Chicago Tribune. These food editors tested recipes, reviewed restaurants and explained new products. They wrote about rations, consumer news and nutrition research. As technology changed how food was prepared, the food editors evaluated the ease and quality for her readers. This is how Church described her job in a 1955 survey as she supervised a staff of five home economics, a secretary and a kitchen assistant: “We do most of our own food photographs, conduct a daily $5 favorite recipe competition, maintain a…
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Chicago Tribune Beauty Editor Eleanor Nagle
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Archival Material About Ruth Ellen Church
I was researching cookbooks and food editors when I came across the promotional material for two of Ruth Ellen Church’s cookbooks (including the one above) at the Lilly Library located at Indiana University. Here is a link to the finding aid. I just placed an order for the copies. Ruth Ellen Church (who often wrote under the byline Mary Meade) was the longtime food editor at the Chicago Tribune. She is known for being the first wine editor at a newspaper.
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Chicago Tribune Beauty Editor Eleanor Nagle
