journalism history
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The Job of a Newspaper Food Editor
I am working on a study of food sections in metropolitan newspapers in the World War II years through the 1970s that documents the intersection between gender, food and communities. What seemed at first to be exceptions to David Kamp’s “Jell-O abusing” women’s page journalists, it quickly became the norm. There was a clear community of women who took food seriously as a beat and as a public service. These newspaper food editors wrote for the home cook and the restaurant goers while keeping the advertisers at bay. Unlike the status of magazines where advertising and editorial share a friendly relationship, newspaper food editors were independent. As Dorothy Jurney, an…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Second Helping Cookbook
I recently received a copy of the Second Helping Cookbook – a publication of the Women’s National Press Club. It was a follow up to the group’s earlier book, Who Says We Can’t Cook! It was so popular that the initial 5,000 cookbooks were sold in the first week. Included in the Editorial Committee for the second cookbook (published in 1962) was Washington Post women’s page editor Marie Sauer.
- Al Neuharth, Florida Women's Pages, Jim Bellows, journalism history, Lee Hills, women's page history
The Men Behind the Golden Era of the Women’s Pages
My paper, “The Men Behind the Golden Era of the Florida Women’s Pages: Jim Bellows, Lee Hills & Al Neuharth,” has been accepted for presentation at the Florida Conference of Historians. It will be held in St. Augustine in January 2014. That is Jim pictured above. Here is more about the paper:For decades, the only place for women in journalism was in the women’s pages of newspapers. The “golden era” for the sections was in the 1950s and 1960s. And, the place to be during those decades was Florida. It was due to a mix of talented women journalists and male editors who were willing to change the definition of…
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Charlotte Curtis & Robin Morgan
Last week, Lance and I went to Duke University to go through the papers of feminist and writer Robin Morgan. I gave a talk about women’s pages and the women’s movement. One of the most interesting finds involved the relationship between Morgan and New York Times women’s page editor Charlotte Curtis. Curtis covered the protest of the 1968 protest of the Miss America contest. Here is a link to her story. In many accounts, Curtis is portrayed as not supporting the women’s liberation movement. Yet, the truth was more complicated. In this letter to the editor, Morgan explained that it was Curtis who paid the bail of the women who…
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Al Neuharth Has Died
Gannett executive and USA Today founder Al Neuharth died on Friday. He is pictured above with women’s page editor Dorothy Jurney. Neuharth was an advocate for women in journalism. He named women’s page editor Gloria Biggs as the first woman to be a Gannett publisher. Several years later, he named women’s page editor Marjorie Paxson to be a Gannett publisher. Neuharth was married to Florida Senator Lori Wilson in the 1970s. Here is a link to an article I wrote about Wilson and her fight to get the E.R.A. passed in her state.
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Billie O’Day Has Died
I learned yesterday that Billie O’Day has died. She was the longtime women’s page editor at the Miami News and won several Penney-Missouri Awards. The image above is from a hotel room in Missouri where she and the Miami Herald’s Marie Anderson came to speak at the workshops that were part of the Awards. She loved music and sports. Here is a link to a previous post about Billie’s music career. Here is a link to a post about her interest in football.
