women's page history
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Women’s History Month: Betty Ewing
Day 14 of Women’s History Month is another Texas women’s page journalist: Houston society writer Betty Ewing. Like many of her fellow female reporters during World War II, she got to cover hard news. (Other examples include Marjorie Paxson and Koky Dishon.) When the war ended, she was pushed into the women’s pages and she specialized in society coverage. She worked to broaden the definition of society to be more inclusive. Lance and I went through Betty’s papers several years ago at Texas Woman’s University. I included Betty in my recent book chapter about gossip and the women’s pages.
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Women’s History Month: Vivian Castleberry, Part 2
This is the second part of a post regarding Vivian Castleberry in honor of day 13 of Women’s History Month. In the 1950s, trailblazing Dallas women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry had to find her own way of balancing being a journalist with being the mother of five daughters. She told the male editors who she worked for to allow her some flexibility. She would do her job and meet her deadlines. But she would do it her own way and on her own schedule. As she said in her oral history: “When I went to work for the Times Herald I said, “I will do a great job for you.…
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Women’s History Month: Vivian Castleberry, Part 1
Day 13 of Women’s History Month features Dallas women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry. She was interviewed for the Washington Press Club Foundation’s Women in Journalism project. It is available here. This is how Vivian is described for the documentary Trailblazing Texas Women: “An extremely bright, articulate woman, her close-cropped gray hair, pearls and suit reminiscent of the Kennedy era, Vivian Castleberry sips her cup of tea and tells her stories with a sardonic sense of humor and the same dry wit she deployed in print to blast those that treated her as “the little woman” journalist. Vivian knew from day one that she wanted to be a writer. She attended…
- Carol McCready Hartley, food history, food journalism, journalism history, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Carol McCready Hartley
Day 12 of Women’s History Month features another Arizona food editor – Carol McCready Hartley. Hartley graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in home economics, focusing on textiles. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Her first job was in Chicago, at Carson Pirie Scott, the city’s second largest department store, as a member of the Fashion Board, staging style shows throughout Chicago and North Shore suburbs. She married Richard H. Voshall in 1955. The couple divorced in 1961. She moved from Chicago to Phoenix, Arizona in 1961, and went to work for Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., the following year. She became the first…
- Arizona Republic, Dorothee Polson, food history, food journalism, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Dorothee Polson
Day 11 of Women’s History Month features Arizona Republic food editor Dorothee Polson. She was a Vesta Award winner for top newspaper food writing and knew Arizona women’s page editor Maggie Savoy who I blogged about earlier this month. I came across an oral history with Dorothee. It is available here. In the history, Dorothee mentions Maggie and her experiences as a food journalist. Here is one of my favorite parts as she described coming to Phoenix in 1962:“I think it helped me that there had not been a food section, because there were no rules and regulations to follow. I could just do whatever I wanted to. And I…
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Women’s History Month: Betty Preston Oiler
Staying on the West Coast for day 10 of Women’s History Month – featuring Betty Preston. She was a women’s page editor at the Glendale News-Press in California. Betty Preston Oiler went from an award-winning women’s page editor to a top editor during her career in Glendale, California. A Michigan native, she graduated from Petoskey High School and attended Michigan State College (now Michigan State University). She graduated in 1941 with a degree in journalism. She was taught by the chair of the journalism program Albert A. Applegate who had a daughter, Roberta, near Preston’s age. Roberta Applegate (mentioned in an earlier post) would also go on to be a…
