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Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas from Curtis James, Paul Jacob, Lance & I! Curtis is named for Curtis Castleberry, the husband of legendary Dallas women’s page editor Vivian Castleberry and James Bellows, husband of groundbreaking women’s page editor Maggie Savoy. Paul is named for Paul Myhre – a champion for women’s page journalism as the director of the Penney-Missouri Awards.
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Wearing Pants: Fashion & Feminism
The New York Times published a story this week about women wearing pants as a protest to women’s roles in the Mormon Church. According to the article: “Wear Pants to Church,” an event on Sunday, was meant to draw attention to the role of women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, using attire as a symbolic first salvo in a larger struggle over gender inequalities. Though the Mormon Church has no official policy against women wearing pants to church, many say they feel peer pressure to wear a dress, particularly in the Western United States, organizers said.” This is not a new idea. Fort Lauderdale women’s page…
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Anniversary of Maggie Savoy’s Death
It was on this date in 1970 that women’s page editor Maggie Savoy died of cancer at age 50. Here is her final column. She was a groundbreaking women’s page editor in Arizona & California. She was an outspoken feminist and the wife of legendary editor Jim Bellows. Here is a link to my article about Maggie Savoy. I have always felt a special connection to Maggie as she died a few days before I was born. I am lucky to enjoy the rights that she fought for.
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Pinterest and Recipe Sharing
Today, the food section of The New York Times repinned my photo of the Beachy Christmas Cookies I made this year. (The sand in the photo is crushed graham crackers.) It is just one more example of how the food sections of newspapers have long had a social media voice that connects reporters and readers. It is common for newspapers to have Christmas cookie competitions or other best recipe contests. For many years in the 1940s, Chicago Tribune food editor Ruth Ellen Church (who wrote under the pen name Mary Meade) had a weekly recipe contest.
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
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Milwaukee Press Club & Carol Matusin
I week or so ago I received an email from journalist Carol Matusin. She was a reporter in Milwaukee when the Press Club began to accept women as members. She noted that the Milwaukee Press Club misspelled her name on the list of new female members. That list was included in the article that Lance & I wrote about the integration of the Press Club. The above letter can be found in the Special Collections at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Milwaukee Journal women’s pages editors who became initial members included Lois Hagen and Peggy Daum.
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Cecily Brownstone & James Beard
I was thrilled to get this Rolodex image in an email from Cecily Brownstone‘s nephew. Cecily was the longtime food editor at the Associated Press. She was a good friend of celebrity chef James Beard. I presented a paper about Cecily at the National Communication Association conference last month.
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
