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Washington Press Club Cookbook History
My proposal for research about the Washington Press Club cookbooks has been accepted for the 2017 Food Studies Conference. My paper is titled: “Who Says We Can’t Cook? Analysis of Gender, Labor and Recipes in the Cookbooks of the Women’s National Press Club.” For decades, numerous women’s clubs have produced cookbooks as fundraisers. Two Washington, D.C. cookbooks in particular exemplify the culture of power and prestige in the city and also the role of cookbooks as fundraisers. The first cookbook was the 1955 Who Says We Can’t Cook ? by the Women’s National Press Club. The members stressed the book was not a defense of their culinary talents but rather…
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Researching Kathryn Robinette
I am beginning a a potential new journal article about Palm Beach women’s page editor Kathryn Robinette who won two Penney-Missouri Awards, the top recognition for women’s pages in the 1960s. Robinette earned an undergraduate degree and then a master’s degree in English from the University of Chicago before trying women’s page journalism at the Georgia newspaper Morning News and Evening Press in 1960. She wrote of the experience: “I typed weddings and all that tiresome stuff but managed to fall in love with the work anyway. I also formed firm opinions about what type of story best served the reader’s interest – having been one for so long.” In…
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Pearl Harbor & Drue Lytle
Today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Hugh Lytle was the journalist whose teletype message provided Associated Press and the world with the first account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was married to award-winning Hawaii women’s page editor Drue Lytle. Here is Hugh’s obituary. Drue is mentioned in it. I have been collecting data about Drue for the past few years. I found the above clip which answered many questions and I also located some great letters in the National Women and Media Collection.
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Researching Women’s Page Editor Drue Lytle
Today I got back to writing about Drue Lytle – the women’s page editor of the Honolulu Advertiser. She won numerous Penney-Missouri Awards in the 1960s. Her letters back and forth with Awards’ director Paul Myhre can be found in the Penney-Missouri Awards papers at the NWMC. I also found some great articles about Drue. Clearly, women’s page editors like Drue – with help from Paul – were pushing to change the content of women’s pages. For example, Drue was working to add more medical and health news in her section. I am re-starting an article about Drue although the information gathering has been slow. I hired a researcher several…
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Politicking Politely Cover Photo
I have sent off my manuscript for my book, Politicking Politely. I am considering this image for the cover – it features Miami Herald women’s page journalists Marie Anderson and Dorothy Jurney.
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American Women on the Move: Book about IWY
I enjoyed reading this excellent book, American Women on the Move: The Inside Story of the National Women’s Conference, 1977. There is some overlap with my book, Politicking Politely. There are great stories about Catherine East, Dorothy Jurney and Kay Clarenbach.
A website devoted to the history of newspaper women's pages
