jounalism history
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Jane Nickerson manuscript
I have been working on my manuscript about NYT food editor Jane Nickerson. The story of Nickerson’s resignation from the newspaper was explained in Craig Claiborne’s memoir, A Memoir with Recipes: A Feast Made for Laughter (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1982). He wrote that at the beginning of 1957, she told the Times that “for reasons for family” she would be resigning from the newspaper as of September 1. Claiborne, who became the NYT food editor following Nickerson, wrote: “I was a bit startled at the news because of my respect for Jane as a journalist and also because I knew of her devotion to the job. She was…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Women’s Page Editor Annie Lee Marshall Shelton Williams Terry
I just read about the death of Texas women’s page editor Annie Lee Marshall Shelton Williams Terry. Here is her obituary. According to the obituary: “She was a writer and journalist her entire life, and loved the hustle and bustle of the newspaper office. Annie Lee graduated from Graham High School and the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in journalism. She was a member of Girl Reserves while growing up, a member of Theta Sigma Phi (National Honorary Professional Journalistic Fraternity), honorary member of the former Woman’s Forum, and a member of P.E.O. for over forty years. She was Women’s Editor at the Wichita Falls Times and…
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Kay Clarenbach Presentation at AJHA
I presented my paper about my search of Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach at the AJHA Convention in Kansas City this past weekend. She had a longtime partnership with the women’s page editors of Milwaukee and Madison. In part, I showed Clarenbach’s role in the National Organization for Women, although she has largely been overshadowed on a national level by Betty Friedan. They are both pictured above. Clarenbach’s role in N.O.W. was recognized in her home state of Wisconsin as demonstrated by this above the fold, front page article. (Betty’s name is only mentioned in the last sentence of the story.)
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Article on the Forum’s Former Women’s Section
The North Dakota newspaper, The Forum, ran an interesting article about its old women’s section. There is a timeline at the end. Here is the article. Here is the beginning of the article: “When Syb Gullickson began working in The Forum’s “women’s section” in the late 1960s, she and other department staff had resigned themselves to several hard facts. They knew they would probably make less than anyone else in the newsroom. And they knew they would spend hours writing stories that male reporters wouldn’t touch, including society gossip, ladies’ club news and meticulously detailed accounts of local weddings. Yet Gullickson enjoyed writing about the people and families in these…
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Miami News’ Billie (Womack) O’Day Images
In going through my files I came across these great images of Billie O’Day, women’s page editor of the Miami News in the 1960s. (Her real last name was Womack but she used the pen name Billie O’Day in both her byline and her professional life at this time.) In the top photo, Billie is in the coat on the far left as she won a Penney-Missouri Award for top women’s page in her circulation size. The second photo is from a Columbia, Missouri hotel room. Billie is giving a thumbs-up and that is Miami Herald women’s page editor Marie Anderson nearest the camera. I love the smoke and the…
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Pioneering Journalist Jean Otto Dies
I recently learned that Milwaukee Journal reporter and editorial writer Jean Otto died. Here is her obituary. She started in the women’s pages of the Journal in 1968 and four years later, she became the first woman to serve as an editorial writer with The Milwaukee Journal. And one of the few women in that position in the country. She was later named editor of the newspaper’s expanding Op-Ed page. In 1979, she became the first female president of the Society for Professional Journalists. She wrote a book about her life: First Love: Memoirs of a First Amendment Freedom Fighter.
