"SHE FLIES WITH HER OWN WINGS"

In this address, Scott Duniway discusses her principal trade–journalism–and the contributions of women thereto. ((This subject naturally was of longstanding personal interest to Abigail. More than twenty years earlier the New Northwest had printed a similar history of “Women in Journalism” on its front page (24 Dec. 1875).)) As she relates in closing, this was to have been a “practical” discussion of journalism as an occupation for women but, instead, her introductory remarks cataloging well-known women journalists expanded to fill her time. As a result, the speech is interesting primarily for historical reasons.

In part, the address is typically autobiographical. We learn something of the women who influenced Scott Duniway’s own career as a newspaperwoman, e.g., that the first woman’s paper to make her acquaintance was Amelia Jenks Bloomer’s Lily. She also discusses many others, some famous, some not, including Susan B. Anthony’s and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Revolution, and Lucy Stone’s Woman’s Journal. Often her descriptions are purely factual; evaluations, when offered, are uniformly praiseworthy. Thus, the speech also assumes an epideictic edge. Her lengthy catalogue (“absurdly incomplete” as it may be ((By 1886, approximately five hundred women were estimated to be working in some editorial capacity on American newspapers (Karolevitz 176-77). So Abigail’s catalogue eleven years later, lengthy as it is in mentioning some sixty-five women journalists, only scratched the surface. Notable omissions include Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893), African-American from Delaware who helped found and edit the Provincial Freeman in Ontario, Canada, in the mid-1850s (E. Lewis), and Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm (1815-1884), who edited and published a series of newspapers, first in Pittsburgh and then in St. Cloud, Minnesota (Tyler, “Swisshelm”; Ashley, 1690-1872 430-35; Endres, “Pittsburgh”).))) is an important testament to women’s contributions to journalism, and is further (perhaps unintentional) proof of her standard argument that women have earned equal rights. It also helps “create an audience of confident activists by filling its pages with female role models.” ((Huxman, “Woman’s Journal“ 104.))

Very little is known about this speech, although Scott Duniway delivered some version of a talk on this topic quite often. ((Leslie Roberts lists “Woman in Journalism” as one speech given at the June, 1896, Congress of Women in Portland, although she doesn’t identify Scott Duniway as the speaker and although the current text, which describes events that postdate the congress, would have to be a more recent version (139). Abigail also spoke on journalism before the Portland Woman’s Club on May 7, 1896 or 1897 (“Portland Woman’s Club–Directories and Yearbooks”, Mss 1084, OR Hist. Soc.). Given the period of a few months within which it must have been delivered (see infra, n. 118, n. 121), it is conceivable that this speech is the one given on the latter occasion (and that Mss 1084’s uncertain date can be resolved in favor of 1897); more probably, it closely approximates that speech but was given some months later. In any case, Abigail’s interest in this subject was personal but not idiosyncratic; for comparison, see Chapter II of History of Woman Suffrage 1: 43-49, and Susan E. Dickinson, “Woman in Journalism,” in Meyer 128-38.)) It is taken from a manuscript in Scrapbook #2 of the Abigail Scott Duniway Papers.

While I cannot hope, in the twenty minutes allotted for the presentation of this paper, to cover the whole ground of “journalism” I think I can give a pretty correct outline of what I know concerning women’s connection with the press, that mighty lever which, as the art preservative of all arts, has done, and is doing more to shape the destinies of men than war or peace or schools or churches.

The woman journalist is an evolution of the present century, and almost of the present generation. I can distinctly remember the first newspaper edited by a woman–and published by a woman–that ever fell into my hands. It was a little weekly, called the Lily ((Founded January, 1849, in Seneca Falls, New York, under the auspices of a temperance society, also advocating woman suffrage and dress reform; moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio, 1854, where, upon a strike by printers in protest of a female typesetter, Jenks Bloomer (infra, n. 6) fired them all and hired staff of women; moved to Richmond, Indiana, 1855, and entrusted to Mary B. Birdsall; discontinued, 1856, when the Bloomers went to Iowa (Mott 2: 50-51; Hinck; B. Smith).)) and was the product of the heart and brain of Mrs. Amelia Bloomer (( Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894): temperance reformer, editor and suffragist; began career as a journalist writing articles for husband’s newspaper, Seneca County Courier, of Seneca Falls, New York, and to local temperance journal, Water Bucket; officer in newly formed Ladies’ Temperance Society, 1848, which planned newspaper that became Lily in January, 1849; published articles by Elizabeth Cady Stanton on woman’s rights; began writing such articles herself, March, 1850; began lecturing for temperance, 1852; active in Good Templars; moved to Mount Vernon, Ohio, 1853, where she became assistant editor of Western Home Visitor, a reform weekly, and continued to edit Lily; settled in Council Bluffs, Iowa, April, 1855; active in relief work during Civil War; president, Iowa Woman Suffrage Society, 1871; worked for Iowa legal code of 1873, guaranteeing married women’s property rights (W. Lewis; Willard and Livermore 1: 99-100).)), one of the most thoroughly womanly women I have ever known. Her little paper’s title was characteristic of her tastes; and, though the Bloomer costume was named for her, it was one of the pet industries of her life to let the world know that she was not the author of the style that, by some caprice, became inseparably connected with her name. ((Jenks Bloomer’s connection with the famous pantaloon-style costume was not quite “capricious.” When Elizabeth Smith Miller visited Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls in the winter of 1850-51 wearing the new fashion, which Cady Stanton also adopted, Jenks Bloomer defended it in the Lily. As the New York Tribune and other newspapers picked up the story, “a fad of national proportions developed. Subscriptions to the Lily doubled almost overnight, and its editor was deluged with letters asking for patterns”; and Jenks Bloomer herself wore “no other costume” for “some six or eight years” subsequently (W. Lewis 180; Warbasse).))

During the years of my earlier womanhood, when the newspaper world was like a far off dream to me, the names of Grace Greenwood ((Sara Jane Clarke Lippincott (1823-1904): born Pompey, New York; daughter of Dr. Thaddeus C. Clarke and Deborah Baker Clarke; descendant of renowned preacher and theologian Rev. Jonathan Edwards; moved to New Brighton, Pennsylvania, 1842; graduate, Greenwood Institute; popular columnist and correspondent for leading newspapers and magazines of day, including antislavery National Era, Saturday Evening Post, Harper’s Monthly, New York Times, Lady’s Home Journal; pen name “Grace Greenwood”; published Greenwood Leaves: A Collection of Sketches and Letters, 1850; married Leander Lippincott, 1853 (later divorced); published Haps and Mishaps of a Tour in Europe and History of My Pets, 1854; supported abolition and woman’s rights; founded Little Pilgrim, one of the first children’s magazines, and wrote children’s books; living in Washington, D.C., raised money for North during Civil War; Lincoln called her “the little patriot”; lectured on peace, prison reform, and capital punishment on lyceum circuit; died New Rochelle, New York (Welter, “Lippincott”; Ashley, 1690-1872 303-09; “Sara Jane Clarke (Grace Greenwood)“).)) and Mary Clemmer ((Mary E. Clemmer Ames Hudson (1831-1884): journalist and author, born and raised in Utica, New York; married Daniel Ames, 1851; desperately unhappy, they separated, 1865, and divorced, 1874; began contributing letters to newspapers in 1859; best known for “Woman’s Letter From Washington” in the Independent, a New York religious weekly, eschewing “social gossip” in favor of pointed political commentary, 1866-84; no pen name; worked for Brooklyn Daily Union, 1869-72; resumed writing for Independent, 1872; also authored volume of poetry and three novels; thrown from carriage, 1878, never completely recovering from injuries; married journalist Edmund Hudson, 1883; believed that women had higher moral values than men and could comment on public affairs in the name of morality; supported woman suffrage but did not actively participate in woman’s rights movement (J. Andrews; Ashley, 1873-1900 3-7; Willard and Livermore 1: 400; “Mary Clemmer (Mrs. Hudson) Ames”).)) were household words. Then, there were the nom de plumes of “Bessie Beech,” ((Martha D. Lincoln (1838-?): born near Richfield Springs, New York; at 16, began contributing to Dover, New Hampshire, Morning Star; married H. M. Lincoln, 1858; moved to Washington, D.C., 1871; following financial crisis of 1871-72, took up journalism in earnest, contributing to numerous papers in and outside Washington, including New York Times, New York Tribune, and Cleveland Plain Dealer; helped organize Woman’s National Press Association, 1882; also authored verse, biographical sketches of famous women, and poems for children; delegate, International Peace Conference, 1891, 1892; president, American Society of Authors, 1892 (Willard and Livermore 2: 462-63).)) “Fanny Fern,” ((Sara Payson Willis Parton (1811-1872): author and columnist; born Portland, Maine; educated in Boston and at Catharine Esther Beecher’s seminary in Hartford, Connecticut; following a series of personal tragedies that left her a widow, and then a divorcee, she began writing witty material for small newspapers in Boston, 1851, soon reprinted, under the pseudonym “Fannie Fern”; collections of these writings, Fern Leaves From Fanny’s Port-Folio (1853, 1854), became best-selling parlor-table books; became one of America’s first woman columnists at the New York Ledger, 1855, earning an unheard-of $100 a week; she remained at the Ledger for the rest of her life, reaching half a million readers weekly; her columns dealt sympathetically with domestic issues, championing intellectual equality and condemning the double standard in morality, overly large families and excessive housework; came to support suffrage by 1858; helped found Sorosis, 1868 (Schlesinger, “Parton”; Ashley, 1690-1872 358-62).)) “Jennie June,” ((Jane Cunningham Croly (1829-1901): born Market-Harborough, Leicestershire, England; came to U.S. with family, 1841; pen name “Jennie June”; created first syndicated woman’s column, “Parlor and Side-walk Gossip,” 1857; managed woman’s department, New York World, 1862-72; chief staff writer, Demorests’ woman’s magazines, 1860-87; published Jennie June’s American Cookery Book, 1866; advocated woman’s financial independence and economic equality, insisting that women must earn their rights through work; instrumental in woman’s club movement; after she was refused entrance to New York Press Club’s “men-only” reception for Charles Dickens, founded “Sorosis,” first woman’s club, 1868; president, 1870, 1875-86; called national convention that resulted in formation of General Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1889; founded and became president, Women’s Press Club of New York, 1889; authored History of the Woman’s Club Movement in America, 1898; professor, journalism and literature, Rutgers University; died New York City (Schlesinger, “Croly”; Ashley, 1873-1900 67-69; “Jane Cunningham Croly”).)) and many others coming later, between whose mental auras and my own there was always a kinship, intensified when I had, myself, emerged into journalism by a personal acquaintance inducing a friendship that could only be ended by death. ((A reference to Emily Pitts Stevens, editor of the Pioneer, where Scott Duniway “emerged into journalism” as Oregon editor, shortly before launching the New Northwest. Emily A. Pitts Stevens (c. 1844-?): moved to San Francisco from New York, 1865, to teach at Miel Institute; purchased half-interest in California Weekly Mercury, 1869, and transformed it into West’s first suffrage paper, renamed Pioneer, “a woman’s paper produced entirely by women, on the basis of equal pay for equal work”; married August K. Stevens, c. 1870; conducted first meeting of California Woman’s State Suffrage Association, January, 1870; president, 1872; organized Woman Suffrage party of the Pacific Coast, 1872, and supported presidential candidacy of George Francis Train; a supporter of the liberal Anthony/Stanton wing of the suffrage movement; repeatedly accused of practicing free-love doctrines; vocal opponent of “Holland bill” that would have licensed prostitution in California; abandoned Pioneer, 1873, due to ill health; founded Seaman’s League, 1874; temperance advocate in later life, lecturing and serving as grand vice-templar for Good Templars, working and writing for W.C.T.U., joining Prohibition party in 1882, and leading 1888 effort to have W.C.T.U. endorse Prohibition party (Bennion, Equal 57-62; cf. Willard and Livermore 2: 686).))

Those women who take editorial and reportorial positions, stand side by side, if not shoulder to shoulder, with the men with whom they compete on daily newspapers and are an evolution of the present generation. Recent as is their debut into this world of power and responsibility, women are now a recognized factor in daily journalism; and, having won their place by honorable effort and filled it with consummate tact, there is no more likelihood of their being driven from it than there is of a mother chicken returning to her original shell.

Mrs. Jennie G. Croly, formerly known as Jennie June, was the originator of the syndicate system of journalism, through which the lucky holder of a place in a press syndicate can fill the columns of a dozen blanket dailies with the same matter at a price for each that would barely pay for making a type written copy of the original article, much to the disgruntlement of the dozen other aspirants for journalistic place and pay for whose fulminations even the great daily has now no room.

Mrs. Croly was, for a long time, together with her husband, connected with the editorial staff of the New York World ((Joseph Pulitzer’s paper (infra, n. 42).)). She was also for a time connected with the Graphic; was founder and editor of the New Cycle ((Begun in 1893, lasting three years; it was the successor to Home-Maker, which Cunningham Croly had taken over from Marion Harland, and was absorbed by Lotos, all being New York publications (Mott 4: 356).))–a Club magazine that was at one time the organ of the Federated Woman’s Clubs of the United States. She was president of Sorosis for 21 years, during which time she edited Demorest’s Magazine ((Published from January, 1865, to December, 1899, under four slightly varying titles; founded by William Jennings Demorest, a leading prohibitionist; popularized by tissue paper dress patterns stapled into the magazine; Cunningham Croly was an assistant editor, conducting the “Ladies’ Club” department of the wide-ranging magazine from its inception until about 1887 (Mott 3: 325-27; Gottlieb, “Demorest’s”).)) and for a season, Godey’s Lady’s Book (( The most prominent women’s magazine of its day, founded by Louis A. Godey in July, 1830, and published until August, 1898. Its circulation was extraordinary for its time, peaking at 150,000 just before the Civil War. Sarah Josepha Buell Hale was literary editor, 1837-46. All the popular writers of the time appeared, particularly during the magazine’s finest literary period, 1837-50. A highly sentimental magazine, it avoided social and political issues, including slavery; there even was a taboo against references to the war. Cunningham Croly’s association with it was brief (1887-88), a failed effort to revive a declining magazine that had been surpassed in popularity (Mott 1: 580-94; Cronin).)).

The first radical Equal Rights newspaper ever published in this, or any country, was owned and conducted by Susan B. Anthony ((Susan Brownell Anthony (1820-1906): born South Adams, Massachusetts; abolitionist; leader in woman’s rights reform; teacher, c. 1835-50; joined Daughters of Temperance, 1847; organized New York State Temperance Association, 1852; publisher, Revolution, 1868-70; co-founded National Woman Suffrage Association, 1869; vice president at large, 1869-92; president, National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1892-1900; arrested and tried for voting in 1872 Presidential election, refusing to pay $100 fine; initiated History of Woman Suffrage; helped found International Woman Suffrage Alliance, 1904 (Lutz, “Anthony”; Barry; Willard and Livermore 1: 30-31).)) with Elizabeth Cady Stanton (((1815-1902): abolitionist, suffragist; authored “Declaration of Sentiments” of 1848 Seneca Falls woman’s rights convention; publisher, Revolution, 1868-69; first president, National Woman Suffrage Association, 1869; first president, merged National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1890; co-authored first three volumes of History of Woman Suffrage, 1881-86, and Woman’s Bible (2 vols. 1895, 1898) (Lutz, “Stanton”; Campbell, “Elizabeth Cady Stanton”).)) as Editor. In looking over some old copies of The Revolution ((Published from January 8, 1868, to February 17, 1872. Anthony was owner and Cady Stanton and Parker Pillsbury editors from 1868 to 1870. Its original platform was broadly reform-minded, including “educated suffrage, irrespective of sex or color; the eight-hour day; abolition of standing armies; science, not superstition; personal purity, practical education; cold water versus alcohol and medicine; greenbacks, an American system of finance; organized labor,” etc. After the first year, it focused on “the woman question.” Never financially stable, it was undercut further by the founding of the Woman’s Journal in Boston in 1870, prompting Anthony in May to convey the paper to Laura Curtis Bullard, meanwhile absorbing a debt of approximately $10,000. “The paper immediately became less bellicose” until, in October, 1871, it was finally disposed of to J. N. Hallock, publisher of a Unitarian weekly called the Liberal Christian, who turned it into a home journal devoted to “‘women’s rights and duties,’ with the emphasis on ‘duties’” (Mott 3: 391-95; Gottlieb, “Revolution”; Dow, “Revolution“).)), as this remarkable publication of the early sixties, was named, one cannot but be charmed with the moderation, good taste, common sense and general excellence of the editorials, nor can she cease to marvel that sentiments of such value to the world should have so long been obscured by the clouds of ridicule and misrepresentation, to become at last the recognized power that blossoms in tens of thousands of free and happy homes and bears the sweet fruitage of womanly graces in many hundreds of women’s Clubs.

The Woman’s Journal ((Published 1870-1931. Edited, 1870-73, by Mary Ashton Rice Livermore, who merged her Chicago Agitator, begun a year earlier, into it. After Rice Livermore’s retirement, it was conducted for more than twenty years by Lucy Stone and husband Henry Browne Blackwell, and then by Alice Stone Blackwell after her mother’s death in 1893. It became the Woman Citizen in 1917, the year in which it was moved to New York and Virginia Roderick became editor, but later resumed the old name (Mott 3: 94, 4: 355-56; Spencer; Huxman, “Woman’s Journal“).)), another, and today the leading paper devoted to the interests of women, was founded by Lucy Stone (((1818-1893): first Massachusetts woman to earn college degree (at Oberlin, 1847); lecturer for American Anti-Slavery Society; instrumental in calling national woman’s rights convention in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1850; presided over seventh national woman’s rights convention in New York, 1856; instrumental in organizing American Equal Rights Association to agitate for both woman and Negro suffrage, 1866; co-founder, American Woman Suffrage Association, 1869; founder, chief financier and, after 1872, editor of Woman’s Journal (Filler, “Stone”; Lord passim).)), whose gifted daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell (((1857-1950): born Orange, New Jersey; graduated Boston University, 1881; for 35 years, editor of Woman’s Journal; for almost 20 years, recording secretary, N.A.W.S.A.; championed Armenian refugees, Friends of Russian Freedom, W.C.T.U., Anti-Vivesection Society, Women’s Trade Union League, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, American Peace Society, and many other causes (Blodgett; Willard and Livermore 1: 90; Lord passim).)), is one of the present editors; as also are Florence M. Adkinson ((Florence Mary Burlingame Adkinson (1847-c. 1925): also known as “Mary” and “Lu”; born 1 Jan. 1847 in Noble, Ohio; daughter of Stephen W. Burlingame and Mary Gibbs; graduated Moores Hill College, Lawrenceburg, Indiana, 1867; first suffrage activity was to call a convention in Lawrenceburg; in 1871-72, lectured on suffrage and temperance in Ohio, and held meetings in southeast Indiana; officer in both Indianapolis and Indiana woman suffrage associations; secretary, Women’s Department, State Board of Agriculture, in Indianapolis, 1884; an “acceptable” speaker, she was better known as a writer; contributor, Indianapolis Journal; wrote for Sentinel, a temperance paper, and Chicago Inter-Ocean, 1880-84; began writing for Woman’s Journal in 1884, became associate editor with Vol. 21, No. 26 (28 June 1890), and began “Women in the Press” column, 1894; wrote for close friend Alice Stone Blackwell’s Woman’s Column, 1890-1904; contributor, Woman’s Standard, 1905; member, New England Woman’s Press Association and founding member, National Woman’s Press Association; married William Perry Adkinson (1845-1903), who also graduated Moores Hill College in 1867, 4 June 1873; one daughter, June (Burt xxi; History of Woman Suffrage 3: 551; National Citizen and Ballot Box Jan. 1881; Susan E. Dickinson, “Woman in Journalism,” in Meyer 135; “Adkinson, Florence Burlingame, 1847-1925?“; Chris McHenry, “A Brief History of Dearborn County”; “Ancestry 11137”; Indiana Genealogist Dec. 2009: 167; Lord passim).)) and Catherine Wilde ((Also “Catharine.” She became associate editor in March, 1891; joined New England Woman’s Press Association, 1890; lengthy service on executive committee and as auditor; contributor, Woman’s Column, 1892-96 (Lord passim).)).

Lilian Whiting (((1847-1942): born Niagara County, New York; as an infant, her family moved to northern Illinois, where she started her writing career as editor of a local paper; subsequent posts in St. Louis, 1876, on Cincinnati Commercial, 1879, as art critic, 1880, and then literary editor, 1885, of Boston Traveler, and as editor of Boston Budget, 1890; became freelance author, 1893, contributing to periodicals such as Harper’s, the Arena, the Independent; wrote idealized columns about Boston for New York Graphic, Chicago Inter-Ocean, and New Orleans Times-Democrat; wrote The World Beautiful, stressing homely philosophy and the spiritual life, 1894-96; From Dreamland Sent, a book of poems, 1895; A Study of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1899; three books on Spiritualist topics, precipitated by psychical experiences related to the death of Kate Field (infra, n. 68), and contributor to the National Spiritualist, Chicago; also interested in other new religious movements, including Bahaism, the Theosophical Society of Katherine Tingley, and especially the New Thought movement (Hoxie; Lord passim).)) is one of the editors of the Inter-Ocean ((Published in Chicago)), and is distinguished for her versatility and the readiness with which she takes up any work required of her, completing with quickness and dispatch any task, from writing heavy leaders to doing the fashion topics for the society column.

Miss Minna Caroline Smith (((1860-1929): journalist, translator, and author; contributor, Boston Daily Advertiser; authored The World and Its People, Book III: Our Own Country, a history for juveniles, 1894, and a book of poetry, Gold Stories of ’49, 1896; joined editorial desk, Boston Evening Transcript, c. 1890; translated George du Maurier’s second novel, Trilby, 1895; translated Benito Pérez Galdós’ Saragossa, 1899; contributed two poems and essay on José Maria de Heredia the Elder to Vol. 9 of the Bookman (Mar.-Aug. 1899); authored Mary Paget, a “slight and amateurish romance,” 1900; translated Armando Palacio Valdés’ The Joy of Captain Ribot, 1900; translation of Valdés’ José, 1902, was “wooden”; authored Saint Jeanne d’Arc, 1922 (M. Mansfield 33-34; Gilder and Gilder 39-40; Dial 1 July 1900: 23; New York Tribune 17 May 1902; Lord 29, 32). In his autobiography, Edwin Francis Edgett, who became the Transcript‘s literary and dramatic critic in 1894, commented: “The staff of editorial writers at that time was completed by a young woman, Minna Caroline Smith, who was as good a companion as the others. Her special duty was to write brightly and lightly on the odds and ends of topics that were supposed to be too trivial for the masculine brain” (102).)), who is one of the editors of the Boston Transcript ((Established 1830 (Scott, History of the Oregon Country 4: 244).)), was at one time on the staff of the Advertiser and at one time connected with the Outing Magazine ((Published, with three somewhat varying names, from May, 1882, to April, 1923. Founded in Albany, New York, by William Bailey Howland, and devoted to a variety, and constantly increasing list, of recreational pursuits. A gentleman’s outdoor magazine, Theodore Roosevelt was to become both subject and writer in its pages, and Jack London’s White Fang was serialized there in 1906 (Mott 4: 633-38).)).

Mrs. Lincoln ((Mary Johnson Bailey Lincoln (1844-1921): teacher, writer and lecturer on cookery; born South Attleboro, Massachusetts; in December, 1879, became teacher at Boston Cooking School, opened previous March under auspices of Woman’s Education Association of Boston, founded 1872; her first book, Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book, 1884, a bestseller that saw many editions, was more than collection of recipes, covering complete curriculum of the school including course plans, outlines of sample lectures, examination questions, and sections on chemistry, physiology and hygiene; later editions inaccurately identified her as school’s first principal; resigned January, 1885; taught at Lasell Seminary, Auburndale, Massachusetts 1885-89; thereafter devoted herself to writing and lecturing nationwide; active in New England Woman’s Press Association from 1889 until death (Wilson; Patricia B. Mitchell, “Mary J. B. Lincoln, Cook and Educator”; Lord passim).)), also of Boston, is editor and Mrs. E. M. H. Merrill ((Estelle Minerva Hatch Merrill (1858-?): born Jefferson, Maine; daughter of Gilman E. and Celenda S. Hatch; graduated Wheaton Seminary, Norton, Massachusetts; taught for two years in Jefferson, then three years in Hyde Park, Massachusetts; contributor to Boston Transcript as “Jean Kincaid”; first regular journalistic position was with Boston Globe; married Samuel Merrill, 1887; founder, Cantabrigia Club; charter member, New England Woman’s Press Association; active in other club work, including Wheaton Seminary Club, Fathers’ and Mothers’ Club, and Woman’s Charity Club; active in National Household Economic Association, organized 1893; edited Cambridge Sketches by Cambridge Authors, 1896; co-editor, with Mary Wood Allen, of American Motherhood, a Boston magazine (Howe 375-76; Willard 287, 291; Lord passim).)) is publisher and chief owner of the Kitchen Magazine ((New England Kitchen Magazine, 1894-1908, of Boston, established by Merrill and Anna Barrows. It became American Kitchen Magazine from 1895-1903; having absorbed Motherhood in 1903, it became Home Science Magazine until 1905; then Modern Housekeeping until 1906; and Everyday Housekeeping until 1908 (Mott 4: 363-64). Bailey Lincoln’s ten-year association began in 1894; a year later she became part owner and culinary editor.)), one of the most useful and attractive class publications extant.

Mrs. Elizabeth M. Gosse (( Elisabeth Sophia Merritt Gosse: born Salem, Massachusetts, to Henry and Elisabeth Hood Merritt; educated Chelsea High School, Salem Normal School, and Rockford [Illinois] Woman’s College; married Charles Harrison Gosse; society correspondent for Boston Transcript and others, Bar Harbor, Maine, 1888; joined Boston Herald, fall, 1888, working in five different departments; established “Among the Women’s Clubs” and “Colonial and Patriotic” departments; contributor, New York Mail and Express, New York Herald, North American Review, New England Magazine, Harper’s Bazar, Wide Awake, and Lippincott’s; corresponding editor, Club Woman’s Magazine; honorary vice-president for life, New England Woman’s Press Association; founder, Boston Woman’s Press Club; “an enthusiastic organizer of women’s clubs”; president, Boston Business League, 1903-05 (Howe 442-44; Lord passim).)) is the Woman’s Club editor of the New York Herald. ((Scott Duniway has confused the two Heralds here (supra n. 34).)) Helen Watterson ((Helen Watterson Moody (1860-1928): born Cleveland, Ohio; daughter, William R. and Sarah Ruggies Watterson; graduated University of Wooster, 1883; after graduation, worked for two years for Cleveland Leader and Sun; assistant professor, rhetoric and English, University of Wooster, 1885-89; wrote “Woman About Town” column, New York Evening Sun, 1889-91; married Winfield Scott Moody, Jr., 1891; editorial writer, Scribner’s Magazine, Century Magazine, Harper’s, McClure’s, others; first woman editor for McClure’s syndicate; author, The Unquiet Sex, 1898, and A Child’s Letters to Her Husband, 1903; opposed woman suffrage (Willard and Livermore 2: 513-14; Leonard 572).)) is employed in like manner upon The Sun ((The New York Sun, edited by Moses Y. Beach (Mott 1: 781).)), and Maria L. Pool ((Maria Louise Pool (1841-1898): author of numerous short stories and nineteen novels, frequently about dogs and New England life; born Rockland, Massachusetts; viewing of Uncle Tom’s Cabin at Boston Museum, at about age of ten, kindled her interest in dramatic writing; began writing stories for Waverly Magazine when about 16, then for Galaxy; moved to Brooklyn, 1870; returned to Massachusetts, 1877; wrote “Ransom Sketches” and series of stories later collected as “In Buncombe County” for New York Tribune; other works included “Boss and Other Dogs,” “A Vacation in a Buggy,” “Dally,” “Against Human Nature,” “Roweny in Boston,” “Mrs. Keats Bradford,” “Katharine North,” “The Two Salomes,” “Out of Step,” and “The Red Bridge Neighborhood”; “a woman suffragist in principle and a friend to all wise reforms, although she never espoused any of them publicly”; returned to Rockland, 1894; died of pneumonia; she and her “literary companion” of thirty-two years, Caroline M. Branson, are buried together in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Rockland (“Containing A Brief Sketch Of The Life Of Maria Louise Pool, By Dr. Amand M. Hale, Published in 1899“).)) on the Tribune ((The New York Tribune, founded and edited by Horace Greeley.)).

Isabel A. Mallon ((Isabel Allderdice Sloan Mallon (1859-1898): wrote gossip column in New York Star called “Bab’s Babble,” eventually syndicated by Edward William Bok; many thought that Bok wrote the column, and he was lampooned in the press; when he assumed editorship of the Ladies’ Home Journal in 1889, Bok began a department called “Side Talks With Girls,” a confidential advice column, using pseudonyms “Ruth Ashmead,” then “Ruth Ashmore”; confidential correspondence quickly became embarrassing to the young bachelor, who enlisted Mallon as Ruth; she ran the department for sixteen years, until her death, receiving 158,000 letters in that time; also wrote a dress department for several years; authored The Business Girl in Every Phase of Her Life, 1895; died of pneumonia (Mott 4: 539-41; I. Ross, Ladies 21; Endres, “Ladies’ Home”; Pittsburgh Press 27 Dec. 1898).)) is author of the well known “Bab” letters. Anne O’Hagan ((Joined New England Woman’s Press Association, 1891 (cf. I. Ross, Ladies 176; Lord 52.)) is on the staff of the New York World, as also is Miss Elizabeth G. Jordan ((Elizabeth Garver Jordan (1865-1947): journalist, editor, and novelist known for interviews and people features; born Milwaukee, Wisconsin; first major interview was Caroline Scott Harrison, wife of President Benjamin Harrison, 1890; covered Lizzie Borden trial for Joseph Pulitzer’s World; editor of Harper’s Bazar before it was taken over by William Randolph Hearst, 1900-13; novels included popular series featuring Mary Iverson; crafted plays, and was advisor/editorial director for Harper & Brothers and Goldwyn Motion Pictures; an active suffragist; autobiography is Three Rousing Cheers, 1938; never married; buried Florence, Massachusetts (I. Ross, “Jordan”; Irene Stuber, “Women of Achievement and Herstory“; “Jordan (Elizabeth Garver) Papers, 1891-1947“).)), who became famous as a “free lance” on the Milwaukee Sentinel, the St. Paul Globe, the Chicago Tribune and also several Southern papers.

Mrs. Whitaker ((Alice E. Winthrop Whitaker (1851-?): born Southbridge, Massachusetts: educated Southbridge High School, Nichols Academy (Dudley, Massachusetts); married George Mason Whitaker, 1871; twelve years assistant editor, New England Farmer; syndicated columnist; president, New England Woman’s Press Club; Professional Woman’s Club, Boston; Boston Business League; president, Winthrop (Massachusetts) Woman’s Club; president, Housekeepers’ Alliance, Washington, D.C.; League of American Pen Women; Daughters of the American Revolution (Leonard 873).)) of the Health Magazine and New England Farmer ((Begun in 1865 in a weekly edition (considered a continuation of Fessenden’s New England Farmer, 1822-46) and also, from 1867 to 1871, in a monthly (considered a continuation of the second New England Farmer, 1848-64); purchased by George M. Whitaker, 1885; ceased in 1913 (Mott 3: 152, 4: 339).)) is widely known as a practical thinker and writer.

Miss Cynthia Westover ((Cynthia M. Westover Alden (1858-?): born Afton, Iowa; father was a geologist/miner, and she accompanied him on prospecting tours from Mexico to Canada; graduated from State University of Colorado, then attended commercial college; went to New York City to pursue music education; became customs-house inspector; private secretary to commissioner, New York City street-cleaning department; invention of cart for carrying and dumping dirt earned her membership in Parisian Academy of Inventors; secretary, Woman’s Press Club of New York City (Willard and Livermore 2: 761-62; Burt xxii).)) has succeeded Mrs. Eliza Putnam Heaton ((Eliza Osborn Putnam Heaton (1860-?): born Danvers, Massachusetts; graduated Boston University, 1882, and married John L. Heaton, associate editor, Brooklyn Daily Times; an occasional contributor almost immediately, she joined editorial staff, 1886; started woman’s page of Recorder, first New York daily to focus on woman’s movements, 1891; became joint editor, Providence News, founded by her husband, September, 1891; member, Sorosis and other woman’s clubs (Willard and Livermore 1: 369-70; I. Ross, Ladies 238; Who was Who 543).)) as editor of the Woman’s Page of the New York Recorder. Miss Westover was only seven years old when her father took her, a motherless child, with him, across the Rocky Mountains. An early picture of her looks like a miniature cow-boy. She could ride like an Indian, handle a rifle like an expert and always carried in her belt a Colt’s revolver which she held across her left arm in shooting. She was an expert with the lasso, and was taught how to use the bow and arrow by the Ute Indian children. She was the first white child who was registered in the Colorado schools. She crossed the mountains 7 times with her father in those pioneer days, shot and killed an Indian who was tomahawking a boy belonging to her train, saved the life of a man who had been scalped and has even killed a bear and fought wolves. No one to meet this quiet, gentle, womanly lady, would imagine that such a past had been hers. She is as well-bred and handsome as any New York belle.

The names of Margaret Sangster ((Margaret Elizabeth Munson Sangster (1838-1912): magazine editor and author, born New Rochelle, New York; submitted first children’s story for publication at age 17; following Civil War, contributed prose and verse to several publications; editor, children’s page, Hearth and Home, 1873; editor, family page, Christian Intelligencer, 1876; edited “The Little Postmistress” department of Harper’s Young People, 1882-89; editor, Harper’s Bazar, 1889-99; contributor to Ladies’ Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Youth’s Companion, Christian Herald, and Woman’s Home Companion; focused on her Christian “mission to girlhood,” writing letters and short essays on themes such as “The Girl and Her Friends,” “Her Innocent Pleasures,” “The Girl in Business,” “When Her Prince Comes,” “The Little Home for Two,” “Shall Both Be Wage Earners?”, and “Waiting for the Angels”; opposed woman suffrage for most of her life as a threat to the family, but changed her mind c. 1910 (Mott 3: 327, 388 [n. 1], 390, 4: 45, 360, 542, 768, 769, 5: 246 [n. 1], 272; Who was Who 1078; Kindilien; Gribbin 138 [none mentions any association with St. Nicholas]).)) and Mrs. Margaret Welch ((Margaret Welles Hamilton Welch (?-1904): entered journalism c. 1890, first with New York Times; edited club department, Harper’s Bazar; “witty and incisive” lecturer; her “The Economy of Reserve” showed “the superior demands of home life over club life”– “Mrs. Welch thought women attempt to accomplish entirely too much at the present time. ‘We are too busy to be hospitable and sympathetic. We do not pay enough attention to the troubles of our friends. Women should, individually, know what they should best do with their spare time. Nearly all of us are trying to do too much.'”; criticized ostentation and the “insatiate pursuit of novel amusements” in society circles; married Philip Henry Welch; two sons and two daughters; daughter, Emily Hamilton Welch, chemist, teacher, social worker; in failing health for some time, died 21 July 1904 (Club Woman Aug. 1898: 147, July 1899: 130-31; Milwaukee Journal 10 June 1891; Leonard 865; Liberty Register 22 July 1904).)) are household words in tens of thousands of homes where happy children are permitted to read St. Nicholas ((Published, under three slightly varying names, from November, 1873, to at least 1934, it contained a wealth of children’s literature from all the leading writers, including serials such as Louisa May Alcott’s Eight Cousins, Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett’s Little Lord Fauntleroy, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer Abroad, Theodore Roosevelt’s Hero Tales From American History, Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards’ Captain January, and Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book stories. Edited for its first 30 years by Mary Mapes Dodge, author of Hans Brinker and His Silver Skates (Mott 3: 500-06).)) and other juvenile publications.

“Maud Andrews,” ((Maude Annulet Andrews Ohl (1862-?): born Taliaferro County, Georgia; grew up in Washington, Georgia; first work as journalist was a series of letters from New York City to the Atlanta Constitution; married Josiah Kingsley Ohl, also of Constitution, making home in Atlanta, 1887-96; one daughter; started woman’s department, authored society sketches, art and dramatic criticism, and essays on social topics, reforms, and charities; published poetry (Willard and Livermore 2: 545; I. Ross, Ladies 594; Who was Who 913).)) of the Atlanta Constitution is awakening the New South with her sparkling journalism. In private life she is known as Mrs. Joseph K. Ohl, and is the wife of one of the editorial staff of the Constitution.

Mrs. Caroline Hall Washburn of the Boston Herald, is the only woman in New England who does society work “from the inside.” She draws a munificent salary, and is a handsome, brilliant and dressy woman, who spends her summers in Europe. ((“A superb figure on the Herald, also, was Mrs. Carrie Washburn, member of an old Boston family. She went to Paris every year, and came back with gorgeous new attire. Her diamonds used to dazzle the men in the city room” (I. Ross, Ladies 454).))

Miss Mildred Aldrich (((1853-1928): born Providence, Rhode Island; twenty-year career on Boston papers, first as clerk, then editor of Home Journal; left in 1892 to publish the Mahogany Tree, a short-lived amateur “ephemeral bibelot” or “little magazine,” and to write for Boston Journal and Boston Herald, mostly on theatre; moved to Paris, 1898, where she eventually became a member of Gertrude Stein’s group; took a country house, 1914, where she witnessed the Battle of the Marne and wrote A Hill Top on the Marne about the experience; other works include Told in a French Garden, 1916, On the Edge of the War Zone, 1917, Peak of the Load, 1918, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, 1919 (Mott 4: 389; I. Ross, Ladies 484-85; Who was Who 13).)) was for twelve years connected with the Boston Home Journal. She is now on the staff of the Herald, where her personality is lost in the paper.

Miss Katherine Eleanor Conway (((1853-1927): born Rochester, New York; educated St. Mary’s Academy, Buffalo, New York; began journalism career on Rochester Daily Union and Advertiser; for five years, editor, West End Journal; assistant editor, Buffalo Catholic Union and Times, 1880-83; joined Boston Pilot as editorial assistant, fall, 1883; associate editor, 1890-1905; managing editor, 1905-08; managing editor, Boston Republic, 1908–; adjunct professor, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1911-15; decorated by U. of Notre Dame, 1907, and by Pope Pius X, 1912; active in New England Woman’s Press Association (Willard and Livermore 1: 202-03; Who was Who 253; Lord passim).)) of the Boston Pilot ((The leading Irish Catholic weekly in the U.S. (Purcell; Mott 4: 297).)) has been in the editorial field for nearly 20 years. Upon the death of Mr. John Boyle O’Reilly (((1844-1890): poet, editor; born Ireland; apprentice journalist in Ireland and England until enlisted, 1863; joined Fenian Order, for which court-martialed and sentenced to twenty years, 1866; deported to Australia, 1868; with help of priest and American sailing vessels, escaped, arriving Philadelphia, 1869; employed on Boston Pilot, which he and Archbishop of Boston purchased, 1876; exerted nationwide influence for fifteen years; Democrat, writing “vigorously” about politics; proponent of Home Rule and duties of American citizenship; widely popular poet, publishing four books, 1873-86; poet for O’Connell centenary, dedication of Crispus Attucks monument on Boston Common, and dedication of Pilgrim Monument at Plymouth, 1889 (Bullard).)), in 1890, Miss Conway became assistant editor and is now second only to Mr. Henry [sic] Roche ((James Jeffrey Roche (1847-1908): born Queen’s County, Ireland; removed to Prince Edward Island in infancy; St. Dunstan’s College, Charlottetown; commercial pursuits, Boston, 1866-83; assistant editor, Pilot, 1883-90; editor, 1890-05; Irish nationalist; appointed consul at Genoa by Theodore Roosevelt, 1904-07, at Berne, 1907-death (Purcell; Who was Who 1047).)) on the Pilot. ((Upon Roche’s appointment as consul to Genoa, Conway would complete the journal’s final four years (Mott 4: 297).))

Miss Mary H. Krout ((Mary Hannah Krout (1852-1927): born Crawfordsville, Indiana; published first verses when 10; teacher, 1872-87; associate editor, Crawfordsville Journal, 1881; subsequently worked on Peoria Saturday Evening Call, Interior, Chicago Journal, and Terre Haute Express; became correspondent for Chicago Inter-Ocean, April, 1888, writing from Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and London, then editor of its “Woman’s Kingdom” department (Willard and Livermore 2: 442; cf. Logan 828; Who was Who 694).)) is a journalist whose specialty is the political arena. Prior to the presidential campaign of 1888 ((The first contest between Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison, in which Harrison received almost 100,000 fewer popular votes but carried the Electoral College, 233 to 168.)) she went to Chicago, and through the influence of Gen. Lew Wallace ((Lewis Wallace (1827-1905): soldier, lawyer, diplomat, author; served in Mexican War, 1846-47; admitted to Indiana bar, 1848; attained rank of major general of volunteers for Union in Civil War; prevented Confederate capture of Washington, D.C., at Battle of Manocacy, July 9, 1864; governor, New Mexico, 1878-81; minister to Turkey, 1881-85; wrote three historical novels, The Fair God, 1873, The Prince of India, 1893, and especially Ben-Hur, 1880, which was made into a motion picture in 1925 and then again, in spectacular fashion, by Cecil B. de Mille in 1959.)) secured a position on the Inter-Ocean, which sent her to Indianapolis in July and gave her unlimited power during the campaign. She arrived in the city at half past 8 one morning and at once secured an interview with Mr. Harrison ((Benjamin Harrison (1833-1901): Twenty-third President of the United States, 1889-93; grandson of ninth President, William Henry Harrison; born North Bend, Ohio; three years as Union officer during Civil War; strongly supported Reconstruction; lost election as Indiana governor, 1876; U.S. Senate, 1881; moderate Republican; nominated for Presidency, 1888, losing popular vote by more than 90,000 to Democrat Grover Cleveland, but winning electoral majority; renominated, 1892, but growing labor strikes and Populist discontent over economic depression gave election to Cleveland.)) who armed her with a letter of introduction to the Republican headquarters. For 108 consecutive days Miss Krout sent from 1 to 2 columns of reliable matter to her paper every day, besides numerous private letters and telegrams which had much to do with shaping the editorial policy. Helen M. Winslow ((Helen Maria Winslow (1851-1938): born Westfield, Vermont; moved to Boston, 1883, helped found New England Woman’s Press Association, 1885; wrote on woman’s topics for several Boston area papers including Transcript and Beacon; editor, Club Woman, 1897-1904, the organ of General Federation of Women’s Clubs during those years; wrote twenty-one books between 1899 and 1923 (Mott 4: 356; I. Ross, Ladies 483-84; Who was Who 1366-67; Gottlieb, “GFWC”; Lord passim).)), herself an excellent all-round newspaper woman, says of her in the Arena ((Published 1889-1909; founded and edited, for most of its run, by Benjamin Orange Flower of Illinois; devoted chiefly to religion and its relation to various social reforms; exposés on Boston slums; discussed prostitution and openly advocated birth control; favored free silver, agrarian reform, the single tax, trust-busting, and populism; only journal of national import to support William Jennings Bryan, 1896; advocated penal reform and opposed capital punishment; interested in psychic phenomena; favored didactic literature and printed considerable criticism; women wrote a quarter of the contents during its first twenty volumes (Mott 4: 401-16).)), “One of her great feats was the sending of General Wallace’s 3 column speech by telegraph. No one else had thought it worth while to report the speech entire, but Miss Krout rode 10 miles to the nearest telegraph office and dispatched it to the Inter-Ocean. The edition containing it was quickly exhausted and other editions were called for. The other daily papers copied it and it was finally used as a campaign document. On the day of Harrison’s election she sat at her desk from 9 in the morning until 2 the next, sending all the specials for office bulletins herself. No more arduous or brilliant piece of newspaper work was ever done by any woman.” During the trouble at the Sandwich Islands in 1893 ((During Harrison’s term, American settlers had upset the royal house of Kamehameha, concluding a treaty of annexation with the U.S. Cleveland, who began his second term in 1893, discovered that the American minister to Hawaii had participated actively in these events and withdrew the treaty from the Senate (Morison 3: 113).)), Miss Krout was sent by the Inter-Ocean to Honolulu, from whence she furnished daily editorials on the situation, being the sole representative of her paper there for 3 months. Since that time she has been in Australia, New Zealand, and again in Honolulu for the Inter-Ocean. At present she is back at her desk in Chicago!

Miss Adeline Knapp ((Adeline E. Knapp (1860-1909): born Buffalo, New York; editor, Alameda County Express, 1889-1890; reported for San Francisco Call during Hawaiian unrest, “probably the 1^st woman ever to represent a great daily newspaper in such a crisis”; when Charlotte Perkins Stetson moved to northern California in 1891, a year after her separation from Charles Walter Stetson, she, her daughter and her ailing mother lived with Knapp; traveled Philippines for six months researching books on Philippine history, published 1901, and hygiene, 1902; editor, Household Magazine, New York, 1902-03; author, The Boy and the Baron, 1902, Well in the Desert, 1908, Iron Pirate, 1911; “writes well and strongly”; instrumental in Pacific Coast Woman’s Press Association (Who was Who 685; Bennion, Equal 150, 168; Eagle 188; Burt 193; Willard 288, 291).)) of San Francisco was another woman journalist to go to Hawaii in 1893. She went to represent the Call and her value to her paper is no less than that of Miss Krout to hers.

Mary Allen West (((1837-1892): born Galesburg, Illinois; parents helped found Knox College; graduated at 17 and began teaching; twice elected Knox county superintendent of schools; after nine years, resigned to become president, Illinois W.C.T.U.; became editor-in-chief, Union Signal, chief organ of W.C.T.U. worldwide, with circulation of almost 100,000; president, Illinois Woman’s Press Association; member, Chicago Woman’s Club; director, Protective Agency for Women and Children; traveled to California, Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Japan in temperance work, 1892, dying in Japan (Willard and Livermore 2: 760-61).)), first President of the Illinois Woman’s Press Association, was for a long time editor in chief of the Union Signal ((A leading temperance journal from Chicago; began as Woman’s Temperance Union, edited by Jennie F. Willing, 1874; name later shortened to Our Union, and merged, 1883, with Signal, founded 1880 by Mrs. Matilda B. Carse and edited by Mary B. Willard, sister-in-law of Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard of W.C.T.U. fame; purchased by W.C.T.U., 1910 (Mott 3: 310; T. N. Lewis).)). Of her Miss Winslow says: “Her editorial judgment, judicious generalship and utter lack of self seeking, her courage, integrity and sound, cogent common sense, not only won for her the highest respect of contemporary journalists but brought the Union Signal into high repute. She died in Tokio, Japan, in 1892.”

Kate Field (( Mary Katherine Keemle Field (1838-1896): successful journalist and lyceum lecturer who also aspired to be singer, actress, playwright, and literary critic; born St. Louis; launched thirty-five-year career in journalism by writing travel letters from Italy to Boston Courier, 1859; contributed especially to Springfield Republican and New York Tribune; launched her own weekly, Kate Field’s Washington, 1890-95; her two favorite lyceum lectures concerned Dickens and what she called “Musical Monologue,” incorporating her parody of a London society dinner party and a Spanish song and dance; made stage debut, 1874, acting in minor plays in America and England for several years; publicized commercial and reform causes ranging from telephone, California wines, and glass manufacture to purchase of John Brown’s farm as national shrine, cremation, international copyright, a national music conservatory, spiritualism, and anti-polygamy; founder of Sorosis, first woman’s club; lukewarm advocate of woman’s rights, not endorsing suffrage until 1893 (Baldwin; I. Ross, Ladies 36-37).)) was another distinguished woman journalist who died abroad. Miss Field was a natural patriot. She took a vivid interest in the governmental questions of the day. Her paper, Kate Field’s Washington ((Published weekly, 1890-95; favored “justice to the Indians, free trade in art objects, the preservation of the Yosemite as a national park, and better manners in Congress”; opposed “prohibition, excessive tariffs, and Grover Cleveland”; typically contained a short story; covered the Columbian Exposition extensively (per Scott Duniway’s comment that Field spent the summer of 1893 in Chicago), and theatre and books decently; contained many observations on American life derived from Field’s travels as a lecturer (Mott 4: 62).)) was quoted far and wide for its fearless, comprehensive and sensible judgment. Her fund of wit and humor has never been surpassed by any woman of the old or new time. She was the woman who persuaded Queen Victoria ((Alexandrina Victoria (1819-1901): Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1837-1901; also became Empress of India, 1876.)) to investigate the merits of the telephone. She spent the summer of 1893 in Chicago, bringing her Washington with her, and publishing it in the White City. While in Chicago she made the acquaintance of Mr. Kohlsaat ((Herman Henry Kohlsaat (1853-1924): editor; born Albion, Illinois; educated common schools, Galena, Illinois, and Skinner School, Chicago; built large bakery business; part owner, Inter-Ocean, 1891-93; editor and publisher, Chicago Times-Herald, 1894, Evening Post, 1894-1901; editor, Chicago Record-Herald, 1910-12, Inter-Ocean, 1913 (Who was Who 690).)) of the Times-Herald ((Amalgamated with Chicago Record, becoming Record-Herald, 1901 (Who was Who 690).)), at whose instigation she gave up her Washington in 1895, and became a member of the Times-Herald staff. The incidents of her sudden death, in Honolulu last summer ((Of pneumonia, on May 19, 1896.)), are too fresh in the minds of her many admirers to need recapitulation here. She was under a verbal contract with the writer to visit Oregon at our next annual Congress ((The second Woman’s Congress in Portland would occur on April 11-13, 1898. It would be eclipsed by news of the Alaskan gold rush, including an avalanche near Skagway that killed 150, and the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine and the onset of the Spanish-American War (Pacific Empire 5 May 1898; McKern 95-96).)); and it is a sad coincidence that our beloved coworker, and friend, also a journalist of distinction, Mrs. Sarah B. Cooper ((Sarah Brown Ingersoll Cooper (1835-1896): kindergarten educator, author, and Bible teacher; born Cazenovia, New York; wrote book reviews and articles (often on woman’s role in society) for Overland Monthly, San Francisco Examiner, and evangelical press; married Halsey F. Cooper, editor, Chattanooga Advertiser, 1855; two daughters; cousin of Robert G. Ingersoll, “the great agnostic”; tried for heresy by Presbyterians for disavowing doctrines of infant damnation and everlasting punishment, 1881, she left denomination, becoming Congregationalist; instrumental in establishing and administering system of forty kindergartens among San Francisco’s poor, unsupervised, preschool children, 1879-95, which was model for 287 others across U.S. and abroad; first president, International Kindergarten Union, 1892; charter member, Associated Charities of San Francisco; active in Pacific Coast Women’s Press Association, Century Club (San Francisco’s first woman’s club), and General Federation of Women’s Clubs (treasurer, 1894-96); spoke at World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893; one-time opponent of woman suffrage, vice-chair of almost-successful California suffrage campaign, 1896; suffered from depression following husband’s suicide, 1885; died of asphyxia, with daughter Harriet, in their San Francisco apartment, December 11, 1896 (Jacklin; Willard and Livermore 1: 206-07; “Sarah Brown Ingersoll Cooper“; “Guide to the Sarah Brown Cooper Ingersoll Papers, 1813-1921“).)), had agreed to accompany her at the same time.

Martha R. Field (((1856-?): native of Lexington, Missouri; educated in New Orleans at Macé Lefranc Institute; first joined the Picayune, where her father was an editor; married Charles W. Field, San Francisco stock broker, and worked on San Francisco Post; following his death, returned to New Orleans and joined the Times and then, for ten years, the Picayune, until failing health compelled her retirement, c. 1890; “the best known newspaper woman in the South”; pen name “Catherine Cole”; also founded first circulating library in New Orleans (Eagle 776-81; cf. Willard and Livermore 1:  288-89).)), known to the newspaper world as “Catherine Cole,” of New Orleans, was the first woman reporter on the Southern Press. She remained for two years with the New Orleans Times; then went from the Times to the Picayune ((Where she was employed by Eliza Jane Poitevent Holbrook Nicholson (infra, n. 79) as a special correspondent to Washington and elsewhere, both in the U.S. and abroad.)), in whose interest she walked across all England as a correspondent.

Hon. E. J. [sic] Nicholson ((George Nicholson (1820-1896): born Leeds, England; immigrated to New Orleans, 1842; began career with Picayune shortly thereafter, as carrier; promoted to business manager shortly before Civil War; during war, argued with Gen. Nathaniel Banks over Federal censorship policies; two daughters and one son with first wife, in England; married Eliza Jane Poitevent Holbrook, 1878; two sons; member, numerous city exchanges and commercial bodies; member, Krewes of Rex and Proteus; supporter, Louisiana State Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; member, Pickwick Club (“Dictionary of Louisiana Biography“).)), former proprietor of the Picayune, died some years ago, leaving the paper badly in debt. Mrs. Nicholson (( Eliza Jane Poitevent Holbrook Nicholson (1849-1896): first woman publisher of a daily newspaper in Deep South; born Hancock County, Mississippi; as young woman, gained reputation as poetess, writing under pen name “Pearl Rivers”; became literary editor of New Orleans Picayune, c. 1870; married Alva Morris Holbrook, its former editor and owner, forty-one years her senior, 1872; the paper’s new owners failed and it reverted to her husband, who died, 1876, leaving her with $80,000 debt; rather than declaring bankruptcy, she became its active publisher; married business manager George Nicholson, 1878; together they made the paper solvent, tripling circulation; she made it a family paper, adding women’s and children’s departments and, in 1879, a column of society news; president, Women’s National Press Association, 1884; supported civic and reform causes, e.g., Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and public education; though not an advocate of woman suffrage, believed that women should be capable of supporting themselves (Wiegand).)), contrary to the advice of her friends, then stepped to the front, took personal charge of the paper and made it one of the leading journals of the South. She died last summer, leaving the Picayune as a wellpaying property. ((Scott Duniway’s brief account is mistaken in three respects: “E. J.” were Eliza’s initials, not George’s; Holbrook was the husband who “died some years ago” and left the papers in arrears–Eliza and George died ten days apart during an influenza epidemic; and they died in February, not the “summer,” of 1896. Apparently, Abigail was not the first to mistake “E. J.” for her husband (“Pearl Rivers“).))

Frank Leslie ((Miriam Florence Folline Leslie (1836-1914): born New Orleans; rather salacious private life that included multiple marriages and romances; by virtue of her marriage to Ephraim George Squier (1857), who became editor of Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1861, was introduced to the flamboyant publishing magnate; editor, Leslie’s Lady’s Magazine, 1863; inaugurated and edited Frank Leslie’s Chimney Corner, a family magazine, 1865; editor, Frank Leslie’s Lady’s Journal, a fashion periodical, 1871; divorced Squier, 1873, and married Leslie, 1874; devoted to lavish social life and frequent trips to Europe; Leslie’s death in 1880 left her with bankrupt business; she reorganized and revitalized it, reigning for fifteen years until leasing it to a syndicate, 1895; would return, 1898, when syndicate failed, temporarily rejuvenating Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly; “The Empress of Journalism” would begin to fail by 1900, and publishing house would cease to exist by 1905; would leave almost $1 million of her estate to Carrie Lane Chapman Catt for “the furtherance of the cause of Woman’s Suffrage” (Stern; Ashley, 1690-1872 299-303).)) is another shining example of what women can do in journalism. A good many years ago her husband died, leaving his large publishing house deeply in debt. Mrs. Leslie promptly assumed her husband’s Christian name, Frank, took charge of his insolvent business, borrowed $50,000 on the “plant” and went to work. In less than two years she had cleared the “plant” of debt. Then she bought a set of the largest diamonds she could find in New York and went to Europe, where she goes every summer for rest and recreation.

Middy Morgan ((Maria Morgan (1828-1892): known as “Middy”or “Midy”; born Cork, Ireland; expert horsewoman, supervised stables of King Victor Emanuel of Italy, c. 1865-70; came to America, c. 1870, and reported especially livestock news for New York Tribune, Herald, and Times; also contributed to Turf, Field and Farm and Live-Stock Reporter; wrote pedigrees and racing articles for American Agriculturalist; known for series of articles that helped improve treatment of cattle on ocean steamers; one adopted and estranged son; “proud and self-contained” (Willard and Livermore 2: 520-21; cf. I. Ross, Ladies 145-49).)), the famous live stock reporter, who died some years ago, while still a reporter on the New York Times, was as refined, kind-hearted and generous as she was eccentric in dress and manners. She won the respect of men in the stock yards as well as in the reportorial field, and when she died was honestly mourned by the newspaper world.

Sarah Josepha Hale ((Sarah Josepha Buell Hale (1788-1879): magazine editor; born Newport, New Hampshire; teacher, c. 1806-13; married attorney David Hale, 1813; 5 children; widowed in 1822, compelled by circumstances to open millinery and turned seriously to writing verse and fiction; became editor, Rev. John Lauris Blake’s Ladies’ Magazine, 1828, and moved to Boston; accepted most prevailing beliefs about “women’s sphere” but championed greater educational opportunities such as the female seminary movement and state normal schools for women; became editor, Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1837, when Godey bought Ladies’ Magazine, combining it with his Lady’s Book, and moved to Philadelphia, where she continued to warn against militant woman’s rights ideas such as equality with men and suffrage, and tended to avoid controversial topics altogether; gradually came to accept some careers outside the home, including charity, missionary work, and medicine; supported property rights for married women; built Godey’s circulation to a record-breaking 150,000 by 1860; wrote “Mary had a little lamb” and other poems; her agitation responsible for Lincoln’s proclamation of a national Thanksgiving Day, October, 1864; fifty or so books attributed to her; announced retirement in December, 1877, issue, at age 90; died following April (Boyer, “Hale”; Mott 1: 583-84).)) was for many years editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book. ((Supra, n. 17.)) To Mrs. Hale belongs the credit of raising the fund to purchase the home and tomb of Washington at Mt. Vernon, and preserve them as monuments of the Nation’s early history.

Clara Bewick Colby ((Clara Dorothy Bewick Colby (1846-1916): born Gloucester, England; raised in Wisconsin; graduated valedictorian, University of Wisconsin, Madison, having followed regular men’s curriculum in philosophy and Latin; moved to Beatrice, Nebraska, 1872; helped organize Nebraska Woman Suffrage Association, 1881; president, 1885-98; editor, Woman’s Tribune, 1883-1909, which came to be regarded as official organ of National Woman Suffrage Association; moved to Washington, D.C., after 1888; worked to achieve “Minor plan” for suffrage, devised by husband of Virginia Louisa Minor (losing plaintiff of Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162, 1875; Pinkney), who argued that women, as “people,” possessed Constitutional right to vote for members of House of Representatives, which Congress could effectuate by simple majority vote; declining subscriptions to Woman’s Tribune and divorce encouraged her to make fresh start in Portland, 1904, eventuating in power struggle for O.S.W.S.A. leadership; entry in Notable American Women ignores this conflict, saying only that Bewick Colby “participated in several state suffrage campaigns led by” Scott Duniway (Green; Jerry, “Clara Bewick Colby”).)) is editor of The Woman’s Tribune ((Endres, “Woman’s Tribune”; Jerry, “Woman’s Tribune“.)), now published at Washington D.C. Mrs. Colby is an able writer and speaker, as also is Mrs. Lillie G. Harper ((This appears doubly wrong. The manuscript originally read “Frances”; perhaps Scott Duniway was confusing this Harper with Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, the African-American lecturer, author, and temperance advocate (Filler, “Harper”). “Frances” then was replaced by “Lillie G.” But the Harper who fits this description is Ida A. Husted Harper (1851-1931): born Fairfield, Indiana; educated in Muncie, and one year at Indiana University; high school principal, Peru, Indiana, 1869; married Thomas Winans Harper, 1871, making home in Terra Haute; wrote for Terra Haute Saturday Evening Mail for twelve years; edited “Woman’s Department,” Locomotive Fireman’s Magazine, 1884-93; divorced, 1890; briefly editor-in-chief, Terra Haute Daily News; moved to Indianapolis, May, 1890, and joined editorial staff, Indianapolis News; in charge of press relations, California suffrage amendment campaign, 1896; became Anthony’s biographer, 1897, publishing first two volumes in 1898 and a third in 1908; collaborated on History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, 1902, and wrote vols. 5-6, 1922; chair, press committee, International Council of Women, 1899-1902; in charge of publicity, final N.A.W.S.A. campaign for federal suffrage amendment, 1916-19 (Phillips, “Harper”).)), for a long time connected with the press of Indianapolis, and now in the personal employ of Susan B. Anthony on whose life’s history she is at work.

Mrs. S. E. A. Higgins ((Sarah Evelina Austin Higgins (1834-?): officer, Santa Barbara Grange, 1874; Superintendent of Press Work, and president, Santa Barbara County, W.C.T.U. of Southern California, 1888-89; active in Pacific Coast Woman’s Press Association, 1892; coauthored booklet of verse, Flowers of the Sea, 1895, and historical La Casa de Aguirre of Santa Barbara, 1841-1884, 1896 (History of Woman Suffrage 4: 496; Pacific Rural Press 19 Dec. 1874; Los Angeles Herald 6 Oct. 1888, 11 July 1889, 25 Sept. 1889, 28 Sept. 1892, 2 Nov. 1897).)) was for 15 years reporter for the Santa Barbara Independent ((First issued as a daily newspaper in 1884 (“City of Santa Barbara Chronology“).)) She is descended from the first publisher of the Hartford Courant, whose wife, after his death conducted that paper, being one [of] its first woman editors. ((The Courant, the oldest newspaper in continuous publication in the U.S., was started as a weekly paper in 1764 by printer Thomas Green, who sold the newspaper to his assistant, Ebenezer Watson. When Watson died of smallpox in 1777, his widow, Hannah, took over, becoming one of the first women publishers in America (“Older Than the Nation“).))

Mrs. Laura Young Pinney ((Laura Ann Young Pinney (1849-?): active, Pacific Coast Woman’s Press Association, and president, 1903-04; authored Within the Golden Gate, 1893, and A Brief History of Thomas Young and His Descendants, 1904;contributor, La copa de oro, 1905; contributor, Woman’s Work, organ of Women’s Foreign Missionary Societies of Presbyterian Church, 1911-22; authoredGenealogy of the Pinney Family in America, 1924 (Los Angeles Herald 7 Dec. 1897, 6 Mar. 1898; San Francisco Call 29 Dec. 1896, 24 Nov. 1903, 14 Mar. 1904, 10 Feb. 1909, 23 May 1911).)) edits a department in the San Francisco Occident. ((One of the three most prominent Presbyterian weeklies begun after the Civil War; published 1868-1900 (Mott 3: 74).))

Mrs. Emmeline B. Wells ((Emmeline Blanche Woodward Wells (1828-1921): Mormon feminist; born Petersham, Massachusetts; following her mother, converted from Congregationalism to Mormonism, 1842; married James Harvey Harris, 1843, and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, 1844, meeting Joseph Smith before his murder; deserted by her husband, became the second wife of Bishop Newel K. Whitney in ceremony performed by Brigham Young, 1845; took part in Mormon exodus from Nauvoo to Salt Lake Valley, 1846-48; widowed with two daughters, 1850, became seventh wife of Young’s close friend Daniel Hanmer Wells, with whom she had three more daughters; began periodic contributions to Woman’s Exponent, organ of the Relief Society, 1873; associate editor, 1875; editor, 1877-1914; promoted woman suffrage and woman’s rights, first in defense of suffrage first granted by territorial legislature, 1870, in face of Congressional attempts to repeal suffrage as part of effort to ban polygamy (attempts that reached fruition, 1877), and thereafter for restoration (succeeding when Utah achieved statehood, 1896); vice-president for Utah, N.W.S.A., 1874, and regular participant in national conventions, 1879-onward; died of heart failure at 93; eulogized as a “veritable mother in Israel,” flags flew at half-staff for first time for a woman in Utah during her funeral (De Pillis; History of Woman Suffrage 4: 936-56).)) is editor of the Woman’s Exponent ((Founded by 23-year-old Louise Lula Greene as a mission given to her by Brigham Young (Bennion, “Woman’s Exponent”; Bennion, Equal 75-77; T. Peterson).)) of Salt Lake City. She is a hard worker and a noble specimen of border womanhood.

Mrs. Alice Moore McComas (((1850-?): born Paris, Illinois; known as “peculiar,” “self-willed and headstrong” as youth for strong opinions on social and religious questions; educated at Convent of St. Mary, Terre Haute, Indiana; married Charles C. McComas, who later would be state senator, 1871; following financial disaster in 1876 panic, moved to Kansas, 1877, where began writing under pen-name; moved to Los Angeles, 1887, writing under own name; editor, woman’s department, Los Angeles Evening Express, 1887-90; vice president, California Woman Suffrage Association, first vice president, Ladies’ Annex, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and board of directors, Woman’s Industrial Union, 1891-92; would attend second Oregon Woman’s Congress in Portland, April, 1898, and deliver suffrage address at Willamette Valley Chautauqua that July (Willard and Livermore 2: 483-84; Pacific Empire 5 May 1898; History of Woman Suffrage 4: 484, 488, 494-502, 893).)) of Los Angeles, editor of the Household magazine of that city and correspondent of the Toledo Blade and New Orleans Spectator is a lady of many accomplishments, an unflinching patriot and an successful Equal Rights campaigner, whose own home, like that of every distinguished Equal Rights worker, is her chief delight.

Mrs. M. E. Cramer ((Malinda Elliott Cramer (1844-1907): “New Thought” proponent and founder, Church of Divine Science; born Greensboro, Indiana; daughter of Obediah and Mary Henshaw Elliott; persistent ill health motivated move to San Francisco, 1870, but she remained an invalid; married photographer Charles Lake Cramer, 1872; turning to prayer, she experienced a revelation, 1885, and was healed by 1887, at which time she studied with Emma Curtis Hopkins and began faith-healing; established Harmony, October, 1887; cofounded Home College of Divine Science, 1888, and second college, Oakland, 1893; authored Divine Science and Healing, first published 1890; cofounder, International Divine Science Association, 1892, and president, 1899; congresses in Chicago, San Francisco, Kansas City, and St. Louis, 1893-97, gradually differentiated Divine Science from Christian Science; taught classes at Colorado College of Divine Science, Denver, 1898, and at Charles and Myrtle Fillmore’s “Unity Village,” in Missouri; died possibly of injuries related to San Francisco earthquake (Satter 97-99, 108; Dresser 137, 192-93, 237-38; “Malinda Cramer“; Tyner 317, 319; Woman’s Tribune 19 Oct. 1907; Bennion, Equal 166).)) of San Francisco is the editor and publisher of Harmony ((Mott describes it as a “theosophical” periodical, published 1888-1906 (4: 286-87). Theosophy, based on the Vedic and Brahman scriptures of India, but also incorporating occult elements from Egypt and elsewhere, had been founded by Helena Petrovna Hahn Blavatsky (Boyer, “Blavatsky”). Although related “metaphysical” movements that posited that the world is primarily spiritual rather than material, and that the mind’s power can change reality, New Thought and Theosophy (and, for that matter, a third, related movement: Spiritualism) were not identical. Tellingly, Satter’s history of New Thought does not mention Theosophy. For a period treatment of their similarities and differences, see Sheldon.)), a monthly magazine devoted to “mental healing.”

Mrs. Camilla Turley Hanna ((Born Council Bluffs, Iowa; daughter of prominent inventor; married Judge Septimus James Hanna (1844-1921), a lawyer who practiced in Iowa, Chicago, and Colorado, 1869; believed she was healed of incurable disease after reading Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health, 1886; moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, 1887, practicing healing; moved to Boston, 1892, where he became editor, and she assistant editor, Christian Science Journal, 1892, and Christian Science Sentinel, 1898; he was first reader in Mother Church, Boston, 1894-1902; earned CSD degree, 1898; later moved to Pasadena, California (Who was Who 516; “A Biographical Sketch of Judge Hanna”).)) is editor of the Scientist ((By the Scientist, Scott Duniway probably means the Christian Science Journal, a monthly founded in 1883 (Mott 4: 285).)), published in Boston under the tutelage of Mrs. Eddy ((Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910): founder, Church of Christ, Scientist; born Bow, New Hampshire; tormented by various physical and emotional ailments for much of her life, she sought out Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, a traveling mesmerist, for treatment, 1862, and came to accept his views that the cause and cure of disease were mental (disease, which was false “belief,” thus had a religious dimension) and that “absent treatment” could be given over long distances by telepathy; later would date the founding of Christian Science to February, 1866, when, following a severe back injury caused by slipping on ice, she defied predictions of death and arose healed “on the third day”; opened Christian Scientists’ Home in Lynn, Massachusetts, and held first Christian Science service, 1875; published Science and Health that fall; became obsessed with Malicious Animal Magnetism, the doctrine that minds could send out destructive telepathic signals; Church of Christ, Scientist, formally chartered, 1879; opened Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston, 1882; founded Christian Science Monitor, 1908; died at 89, probably of pneumonia (Ahlstrom; Lord passim).)).

Mrs. Madge Morris Wagner ((Madge Hilyard Morris Wagner (?-1924): journalist and poet; born on wagon train to California, arriving perhaps in 1850s; had two daughters with first husband, the elder of whom died of consumption, c. 1882; settled in San Jose, reporting and writing features for Mercury; first volume of poetry called Carmel; Debris followed, 1881; Harr Wagner’s publishing company published Poems, 1885; married Wagner, 1887; moved to San Diego, becoming editor of Golden Era, 1891-93, contributing poetry and regular “Youth Department” until its demise; continued writing both poetry and prose as late as 1921, largely of highly sentimental variety; “shy, retiring, and self- effacing”; “Liberty’s Bell,” written for San Jose’s July 4 celebration in 1882, became stimulus for construction of new bell at World’s Columbian Exposition, 1893–traveled to Chicago where she was honored and her daughter read the poem; small and frail, sought health in Colorado, where she wrote well-known “To the Colorado Desert,” extravagantly praised by Joaquin Miller; died San Mateo County (Bennion, Equal 126-30, 171; Eagle 186; Who was Who 1285).)) of San Diego is editor of the Golden Era ((First distinctly literary publication on Pacific coast, founded 1852 in San Francisco by J. MacDonough Foard, 21, and Rollin M. Daggett, 19, who “pooled their liking for racy journalism”; it was “strong on racy sketches of mining life and a kind a gay and reckless dramatic criticism”; contributors included Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Joaquin Miller; first sold 1860 and subsequently ruined, according to one founder, by “namby-pamby schoolgirl trash”; moved to San Diego by editor Harr Wagner, 1887; ended 1893 (Mott 2: 117, 3: 56, 4: 105-06; Bennion, Equal 120, 127-28).)) of the city. Mrs. Ada Henry Van Pelt (((1838-1923): born Princeton, Kentucky; daughter of Maj. C. B. Henry; married Capt. Charles E. Van Pelt (1844-?), 1864; moved to Nebraska, 1868; came to California, 1889, settling first in Oakland; editor, Pacific Ensign, 1891-97; prominent in Pacific Coast Woman’s Press Association (president, 1895) and California state W.C.T.U. for many years; California Woman’s Congresses, 1894-98; recording secretary, California Suffrage Constitutional Amendment Campaign Association, 1895; first woman to serve on executive board of Christian Churches of California; famed Red Cross worker during Spanish-American War and World War I; helped form Ladies’ Auxiliary, Y.M.C.A., 1904; moved to Los Angeles, c. 1905; inventor, holding patents for locks (“Ada Henry Van Pelt“; “Charles E. Van Pelt“; American Woman’s Magazine Aug. 1895, Oct. 1895; Woman’s Journal 15 June 1895; San Francisco Call 18 Aug. 1896, 3 Aug. 1898, 2 Feb. 1901, 21 May 1904; Bennion, Equal 171; History of Woman Suffrage 4: 482).)) of Oakland, Cal, is editor of the Pacific Ensign ((An eight-page weekly, incorporated November, 1890, that, “with more reliable funding,” succeeded The Pharos (earlier known as The Bulletin), the original publication of the California state W.C.T.U., which had been founded in 1885 by its president, Mary Frank Browne (Bennion, Equal 48; Sacramento Daily Union, 30 Nov. 1890).)), organ of the California W.C.T.U.

Mrs. Anna R. Riggs ((Anna Rankin Riggs (1835-1908): born Cynthiana, Kentucky; daughter of Richard Montgomery Rankin and Louisa E. Eads Rankin; six brothers, five sisters; moved to farm in Menard County, 1837, then to farm in McLean County, Illinois, near Saybrook; came to Portland with husband Captain H. M. Riggs (?-1903), 1882; president, state W.C.T.U. “and gained more than local fame as a public speaker,” 1882-90; founding editor, White Ribboner, 1891; founded and directed Refuge Home for fallen girls for sixteen years; founded Florence Crittenton home in Portland, superintendent of homes in Idaho and Montana; died Butte, Montana, at 73, of angina pectoris or pneumonia (Pacific Empire 10 Mar. 1898; Morning Oregonian 9 May 1908; Gaston, Portland 3: 548-51; Eagle 813-15; Crawford 4).)) of Portland Oregon edits The White Ribbon, also an organ of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

Mrs. Homer Hill ((Mrs. Homer M. Hill: President, Washington Equal Suffrage Association, 1898 (later Mary [May] Arkwright Hutton’s choice in struggle with Emma Smith DeVoe); founder, Woman’s Industrial Club of Seattle (Croly 1143-44, 1149; P. Horner 31; program for forty-first N.A.W.S.A. convention in Seattle, 1909, in folder “Politics and Miscellaneous–Political Groups and Issues-Women,” Mss 1534, OR Hist. Soc.; History of Woman Suffrage 4: 970-71, 976).)) of Seattle edits and publishes “Washington Women.” ((“Washington Women” began being reprinted, seemingly excerpted, in vol. 5, no. 2 of the Pacific Empire (March 24, 1898), until the end of the latter’s run on July 7.))

Mrs. Eva Oliver ((Eva Colwell Brooks Oliver: second wife of Willard N. Oliver, who divorced his first wife in March, 1893, and remarried in June (Sausalito News 31 Mar. 1893; San Francisco Call 12 June 1893). Why she generally is identified as “Mrs. E. R. Oliver” is unknown.)) of San Francisco assists her husband in the management of the Pacific Churchman (( An Episcopal weekly from San Francisco, 1866-at least 1934; became a biweekly under new management, 1891; Willard N. Oliver, who had been connected with the Commercial News, became manager, c. 1894; Eva Oliver edited and managed following her husband’s death (on 3 April, 1897), until 1904 (Bennion, Equal 73, 169; Mott 3: 75; San Francisco Call 18 June 1891, 2 Aug. 1891, 18 Sept. 1894; 4 Apr. 1897, 26 May 1901; Los Angeles Herald, 21 May 1897; Sausalito News 3 June 1892).)).

Mrs. Catharine Scott Coburn ((Catharine Amanda Scott Coburn (1839-1913): Abigail’s younger (by five years) sister; she was 13 when the Scott family journeyed overland to Oregon; married John R. Coburn, carpenter, 1857, moving to Canemah; after husband was killed in steamboat explosion, July, 1868, began teaching in Canemah, then Forest Grove, to support four daughters; associate editor, New Northwest, 1874-79; Portland Daily Bee, 1879; Oregonian, 1880-82; editor, Portland Evening Telegram, 1883-88; associate editor, Oregonian, 1888 and a quarter century thereafter; a “kindhearted and extraordinarily gifted woman” who was a “more disciplined writer” than Abigail; equally devoted to woman’s rights, suffrage, and equal pay for equal work, but without Abigail’s notoriety; worked at Portland Baby Home; president, Portland Woman’s Union; long-time Secretary, O.S.E.S.A. (Moynihan, Rebel 81, 96; Turnbull 177-80; H. Spalding; Bennion, Equal 141-42).)), of Portland Oregon, who began her literary career as assistant editor of The New Northwest, on which she worked with marked success for a number of years, has long been a member of the Oregonian’s staff, and is known as one of its most trenchant ready and versatile writers.

Mrs. Eugenie M. Scherer (((c. 1863-?): born California; father born England, mother born Massachusetts; married Charles W. Scherer (c. 1845-?), born Indiana (U.S. Census: 1900: Oregon Series T623, Roll 1351, Page 170, Subpage A; U.S. Census: 1920: Oregon Series T625, Roll 1501, Page 24, Subpage A; not listed in the 1890 Oregon census, they may have arrived relatively recently). In late 1894, the Scherers’ 15-year-old daughter, Gladys, was suspended for leaving school with her mother, but without permission. Eugenie objected that her rights as a parent superceded the school’s rules, and would not let Gladys sign the apology that its principal demanded as a condition of reinstatement. At a school board meeting, at which both sides made their cases, the Scherers were accompanied by their attorney, and by one Abigail Scott Duniway: “Mrs. Duniway believed that the daughter should be reinstated, and that, to avoid any unpleasantness, a slight reprimand should be passed on the mother for her action. She did not believe Gladys should be compelled to make an apology for following the instructions of her mother.” In the end, the Scherers relented, the apology was accepted, and Gladys was reinstated (Morning Oregonian 19 Dec. 1894).)) is noted as a newspaper writer of merit. Miss Edith Train (((c. 1857-?): born Illinois; daughter of Leonard R. and Sarah Train; family moved to Iowa, c. 1868; worked for father, editor, Fort Dodge Times; secretary and treasurer, Upper Des Moines Editorial Association, 1891-95; active in Webster County Woman Suffrage Association, 1891; elected to Fort Dodge school board, 1893; elected Iowa delegate to N.A.W.S.A. convention, 1893; earned teaching certificate, Multnomah County, 1900; active in Methodist Episcopal Church (U.S. Census: 1870: Iowa Series M593, Roll 394, Page 264, Subpage B; Woman’s Tribune 25 Oct. 1890, 15 Aug. 1891; Woman’s Standard Nov. 1891, Apr. 1893, Dec. 1893; Morning Oregonian 21 Apr. 1900; Sunday Oregonian 3 Apr. 1904; Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette 19 July 1895). Train probably moved to Portland late in 1895 or sometime in 1896; her first letter to the Morning Oregonian, “[i]n behalf of the women of East Portland,” appeared on February 11, 1897–not long before this speech probably was given.)) of this city is also a trained newspaper woman.

Mrs. Lucy A. Mallory ((Lucy A. Rose Mallory (1846-1920): daughter of Aaron Rose and Minerva Kelley (or Kellogg); mother died at Lucy’s birth; father remarried fifteen months later and family emigrated to Oregon from Michigan, 1851, settling on donation claim that became Roseburg, named after family; married Rufus Mallory (1831-1914), prominent attorney and politician, who arrived in Jacksonville from Iowa, 1859, on June 24, 1860, when 14, in Roseburg, where he had taught school for fifteen months and she had been his pupil; he was state attorney, 1860, 1862-66, in state legislature, 1862, U.S. Congress, 1867-69, Speaker of Oregon House, 1872, U.S. District Attorney for Oregon, 1874-82, twice delegate to Republican National Convention, 1868, 1888, twice president of Republican state conventions; she founded, edited and published (for more than thirty years) “Companion-Papers,” World’s Advance Thought and Universal Republic, advocating universal equality of the sexes, vegetarianism, universal language and money, universal peace, cooperation and love; firm believer in spiritualism, gave psychic readings in rear of Mallory Hotel, where she also published her magazine; moved to San Jose, California, following 1917 death of only son, Elmer E. Mallory; died in San Jose in September (Corning 156; History of the Pacific Northwest 2: 541-42; Hines 273-74; Gaston, Portland 2: 5-7; Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon 97-98; Portrait and Biographical Record of the Willamette 98; Fred Lockley, “In the Early Days,” Oregon Journal 12 Jan. 1915; Bennion, Equal 142-45; Morning Oregonian 8 Apr. 1919, 4 Sept. 1920; Scott, History of the Oregon Country 4: 45).)), also of Portland, is editor and publisher of The World’s Advance Thought ((The World’s Advance-Thought and the Universal Republic (1876-1918); advocated a host of progressive ideas, including spiritualism, anti-vivisection, vegetarianism, anti-vaccination, universal equality of sexes including equal suffrage, proportional representation, initiative and referendum, Australian ballot, language, money, peace, love, cooperation, and league of nations. Two childhood experiences probably contributed to Rose Mallory’s interest in these causes. First, her stepmother treated her and her older sister, Emily, with “unbelievable cruelty,” threatening to kill their father if they told; perhaps in compensation, she often dreamed of her mother, whose presence “was as real to me as if she had been in the flesh.” Second, her childhood playmate, Solomon, an Umqua Indian boy, “a mystic and a philosopher,” taught her that “the animals and trees and flowers had personalities like people”; “as a child . . . I used to talk to and with the birds and wild flowers” (Fred Lockley, “In the Early Days”, Oregon Journal 11 Jan. 1915; Bennion, Equal 143-45; Mott 3: 82; Morning Oregonian 8 Apr. 1919).)), an able, aptly named literary and reform magazine, for which she does all the work of desk and composing room herself and does it in first class style.

Miss Frances E. Gotshall ((Frances E. Gotshall Robinson: founder and publisher of Pacific Empire, one enterprise of family business, Gotshall Printing Co., whose “senior member” was father, John F. Gotshall, and included (brothers?) Jeremiah F. and Lucius E.; longtime member, O.S.E.S.A.; member of Portland W.C.T.U., wrote memorial tribute to Frances Willard in February 24, 1898, issue; founding member, Portland Woman’s Club; active in Oregon Women’s Press Club, serving as treasurer, 1915-17 (Pacific Empire 4 Nov. 1897, 24 Feb. 1898; Portland City Directory, 1897; Writer’s Project; Mss 1511, Box 11, OR Hist. Soc.).)), founder and for a year and a half the publisher of The Pacific Empire ((Inaugural issue August 16, 1895, with Scott Duniway as editor; last issue July 7, 1898. It merged into the art and literary magazine, Drift, in August and September, which in turn was consolidated with the well-known Pacific Monthly that October, which eventually merged with Sunset magazine of San Francisco after the June, 1911, issue (Powers 720-21).)), is a facile and ready writer, whose regular usefulness is compelled to succumb to delicate health.

Miss Alix Josephine Muller (((c. 1875-1904): born St. Paul, Minnesota; daughter of John B. Muller; sister Jessie; moved to Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, as child; after completing education, returned to St. Paul, engaging in newspaper work; Pioneer Press, 1895; associate editor, Spring Valley, Minnesota, Vidette; later worked for Western newspapers for five years, including in Los Angeles, then Salt Lake City; coauthor, History of the Police and Fire Departments of the Twin Cities, 1899; moved to Oklahoma City, February, 1904, where she died of tuberculosis, April 6; completing another book, Lives of Great Men and Women, at death (Pioneer Press 9 Apr. 1904; Upham and Dunlap 532).)), formerly of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, who recently purchased The Pacific Empire, has been suddenly compelled to renounce journalism for the same reason. (( The preceding two paragraphs fix this address between February and the late fall of 1897. Gotshall launched the Pacific Empire on August 16, 1895, and remained its publisher through February 11, 1897 (vol. 3, no. 20), exactly the “year and a half” to which Scott Duniway refers; the latter issue announces the transfer to Muller and indicates that Scott Duniway will remain as editor. (It also attributes the transfer to “the growing demands of my publishing business consuming so much of my time,” and does not mention health problems. The Woman’s Tribune of February 20, 1897, also reports these events, in the same manner.) By September 2, 1897 (vol. 3, no. 25), however, the paper had changed hands again: Scott Duniway announces her relinquishment of editorial control “to the bright young women who comprise its new management,” Lischen Maud Cogswell Konoff Miller* and Catherine C. Cogswell**, both of Eugene.

The sequence of Muller’s journalistic career is unclear. Her acquisition of the Pacific Empire probably occurred late, and may well have been her final newspaper venture (before turning to books and, possibly, returning to St. Paul). But whether Muller had “renounced journalism” or only the Pacific Empire by September, that evidently only four issues of what had been a weekly publication appeared in a space of almost seven months speaks to her longstanding battle with consumption, which would claim her life seven years later. (These issues also did not survive: They are missing from the Oregon Historical Society, University of Oregon, Multnomah County Central Library, and Library of Congress collections.)

*Lischen Maud Cogswell Konoff Miller (1858-1915): writer, poet, editor and publisher, the daughter of John Cogswell and Mary Frances Gay Cogswell, pioneers of 1846, was born on a farm between Leaburg and Thurston, on the McKenzie River in Lane county, known as Lizzie Cogswell, and grew up in Coburg. In 1885, she became the wife (her second marriage, the first being to James Konoff) of George Melvin Miller of Eugene and sister-in-law of poet Joaquin Miller and his wife, Theresa Dyer (“Minnie Myrtle”) Miller. Her brother-in-law’s success inspired her to take up writing as a career, and she became “one of the best-know literary women on the Pacific Coast.” She edited the Woman’s Club Journal and contributed to the Oregonian. She stayed with the Pacific Empire through its metamorphosis into Drift and merger with Pacific Monthly, which she founded, edited (1898-1901), and for which she was assistant manager, although arguably not as responsible for the latter’s success as manager William Bittle Wells. Later, she also contributed to Sunset and headed the woman’s department of a Eugene paper until an illness in the spring of 1915. She was active in the Fortnightly Club. Not in full health after the death of her only daughter, Mary, in 1902, and noticeably ill for seven years, she died in September after a four-month struggle (Corning 166; Who’s Who in Oregon 151; Fred Lockley, “Men and Institutions of the Oregon Country,” 11 May 1919, in Scrapbook #76: 181, OR Hist. Soc.; Powers 720-21; Scrapbook #53: 158, OR Hist. Soc.; cf. Pioneer Index, OR Hist. Soc., which records that the Cogswells came to California in 1845 and Oregon in 1853).

**Catherine C. Cogswell Thorne (?-1928): born Milwaukee, Wisconsin, daughter of French/Russian mother and English father, attorney; reared by mother, mostly abroad, educated in convents and private tutors; at 17, left a widow with two small sons, both of whom died tragically at 7 and 9; became actress following their deaths, leading lady for Frohman for many years and playing in many European countries; came to Eugene, 1894; married J. Frederick Thorne, writer/engineer, editor, Pacific Ports of Seattle; went to Porcupine, Alaska, during gold rush, 1911, and assisted him in editing Porcupine Bulletin; died in Eugene; buried in Mary Gay Cogswell Cemetery (Morning Oregonian 28 Nov. 1928; Powers 721; Mitchell).

Gotshall would return as a third editor in vol. 4, no. 25 (March 3, 1898) until the end of the publication’s run. Following the September, 1897, transfer to Miller and Cogswell, Scott Duniway briefly contributed a column called “Mrs. Duniway’s Headquarters” but, undoubtedly, was sorely disappointed with a marked change in editorial direction. Powers comments: “This had been a woman’s suffrage paper. ‘The Pacific Empire, however, was at no time after passing under Mrs. Miller’s control, the organ of the suffragists. . .’” (720). Abigail’s final column appeared on December 30, 1897, together with the final chapter of her serialized novel, “The Old and the New,” although she contributed a sort of letter to the editor in the “Open Court” column in the following issue (6 Jan. 1898).))

Helen H. Gardener ((Alice Chenoweth Smart Day (1853-1925): born Winchester, Virginia; father abandoned Episcopalianism to become Methodist circuit rider in Indiana; graduated Cincinnati, Ohio, Normal School, 1873; married Charles Selden Smart, 1875; moved to New York City, c. 1880, and became friends with famed agnostic Col. Robert G. Ingersoll, publishing freethinking Men, Women and Gods, and Other Lectures, 1885, under pseudonym “Helen Hamilton Gardener”; well-known “Sex in Brain,” 1888, refuted theories of former Surgeon General Dr. William A. Hammond that brain size proved women’s inferiority; contributed to Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Woman’s Bible, 1895; famous novel, Is This Your Son, My Lord?, 1890, targeted double standard in campaign to legalize prostitution and in shockingly low age of consent laws; contributor of articles on social ills to Harper’s, Popular Science Monthly, Belford’s Magazine, Free Thought Magazine, Arena (where she was briefly co-editor, 1897); following Smart’s death, 1901, remarried to Col. Selden Allen Day, 1902; at urging of Anna Howard Shaw and others, joined campaign for federal suffrage amendment; following N.A.W.S.A. defections to Alice Paul’s militant Congressional Union, appointed to reorganized Congressional Committee, 1913; vice-chair, 1919; N.A.W.S.A. vice-president, 1917, she was its chief lobbyist with Wilson administration, wielding crucial behind-the-scenes influence that came to fruition with ratification, 1920; appointed to U.S. Civil Service Commission, 1920; died of chronic myocarditis (Washburn).)), of social purity fame, until recently one of the editors of the Arena, is one of the first women to enjoy the distinction of an editorial chair on any of the great Reviews.

Mrs. Isgrigg ((Elizabeth Rose Donnelly Isgrigg (1861-1927): born Indianapolis; married Daniel Lynn Isgrigg (1856-1932), train dispatcher, member, Dunsmuir Improvement Club and school trustee, c. 1883; delegate from Siskiyou County to first Northern Californian Teachers’ Association convention, 1897; opposed compulsory vaccinations in Berkeley schools; member, Dunsmuir Progressive Euchre Club; died Los Angeles; daughters Anna Corinne (1885-1903), Jean Malese (1890-1966), and Esther Elizabeth (1887-1962), and son Francis Lynn (1884-1969) (“Family Group Record“; “Elizabeth Rose Donnelly“; “Siskiyou County Great Register 1894“; Bennion, Equal 168; Dunsmuir Herald 2 July 1897, 9 July 1897; San Francisco Call 24 Aug. 1897, 10 Sept. 1904; New York Times 12 Jan. 1913).)) of California is editor and publisher of the Dunsmuir Herald (( A weekly, first published in July, 1896, a printer named Savage may have had a hand in its launch; early on, it was edited by Henry Malcolm Calkins; it folded in 1899 (Bennion, Equal 168; Dunsmuir News 25 July 1896). One year after its debut, on July 16, 1897 (vol. 2, no. 2), the Herald carried this odd notice: “Hereafter no one but the undersigned is authorized to transact any business for this paper. H. M. CALKINS”. This notice was repeated for two months. Then, on September 24 (vol. 2, no. 11), a new notice appeared: “With this week’s issue, I assume full charge of the HERALD, Henry M. Calkins [sic] relations with the paper have been severed and hereafter the business will be conducted in my name. ELIZABETH ISGRIGG”. A second notice informed readers: “The Former [sic] editor of this paper left taking the subscristion [sic] book with him and last week the mail was made up under difficulties. Any subscriber not receiving their paper please notify us and thereby confer a favor.” Together, these suggest that Elizabeth already was associated with the paper, and that there was a struggle for control, the details of which are unknown. While Calkins had been “Editor, Publisher, and Lessee,” Elizabeth was “Editor and Proprietor.” So it is possible that the Isgriggs owned the paper, even from the beginning, and found cause to terminate Calkins’ lease.

Further, if oblique, evidence for this scenario is provided by the rival Dunsmuir News. The senior paper in town (founded c. 1890 by G. D. Cummings), the News was contemptuous of the upstart Herald and, as rule, studiously ignored it. But there were exceptions. Commenting on the Herald’s launch, the News editorialized: “The sheet was started for spite and is encouraged by knaves” (25 July 1896). Elsewhere in the same issue, and more to the point, an attack on its publication of a legal notice regarding a school bond issue identifies Elizabeth’s husband, Daniel, as the Herald’s publisher. Two months later, alluding to Elizabeth’s prominence, the News spat: “It down the street says that its henpecked sheet is a newspaper. No one else ever considered it a newspaper” (5 Sept. 1896). Another year later, noting Calkins’ demise, it commented simply: “We see that sister Isgrigg is back running her old sheet” (25 Sept. 1897).

In any event, Elizabeth officially published only five issues: Beginning on October 29 (vol. 2, no. 17), Daniel is identified editor and proprietor. If Scott Duniway is referring only to Elizabeth’s official tenure, then the date of this speech is fixed more precisely (cf. supra, n. 118) as late September or October, 1897.)).

Charlotte Fowler Wells (((1814-1901): phrenologist, publisher; born Cohocton, New York; took up phrenology, study of physiological, especially cranial, determinants of character and its modification, in 1830s; brothers Orson Squire and Lorenzo Niles Fowler were first and most important popularizers of “practical phrenology” for treatment of insanity, education, personal adjustment, marriage, and sex; she joined their permanent center in New York City, 1837, remaining in family business for more than sixty years, including publishing activities; married Dr. Samuel Robert Wells, vegetarian and hydrotherapist, 1844; they obtained her brothers’ interests in business, 1855, helped found American Institute of Phrenology, and were “the mainstays of phrenology in America”; she carried on as sole proprietor and later president of firm following Wells’ death, 1875; still writing articles for Phrenological Journal and lecturing at Institute in her eighties; proponent of equal rights, assisted New York Medical College for Women; early believer in spiritualism, medium for New York Circle in 1850s (Isaacs).)) has been connected with the Phrenological Journal ((Established by Nathan Allen, a young medical student, in Philadelphia, 1838; sold to Fowler brothers of New York, 1841; joined in 1852 by Wells, their colleague in publishing the Water-Cure Journal; publication ceased, 1911; “phrenology” meaning craniology, the journal specialized in “analyses of the mental characteristics of famous persons, illustrating its articles by portraits”; it absorbed Life Illustrated, another Fowler and Wells publication begun in 1854, in 1861, and American Kindergarten Magazine of New York in 1887 (Mott 1: 447-48, 2: 42, 3: 163).

Scott Duniway may have met Fowler Wells during a ten-month trip east in 1876, to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. While in New York she searched for a publisher for her recently completed epic poem, David and Anna Matson. The publisher she found was the Wells’ company; that December she was the subject of a profile in “the Phrenological”; and she contracted for a serial entitled “Why Mar the Image,” to begin in January, 1877. Abigail’s profile, eerily accurate, noted that: her brain measured 22 1/4 inches; her weight, 160 pounds, gave “ample” support, enabling the brain to work “long and hard without exhaustion”; her temperament revealed “zeal, enthusiasm, and earnestness in work,” and “the power to think, gather knowledge, to know its meaning and its use”; the breadth of her head, side to side, showed “executiveness and courage”; she “does not let up, or excuse, or palliate the truth”; she has “large Constructiveness,” so that complicated matters seem clear to her; she possesses “much poetic fancy and aesthetic taste”; she “would prefer to win people to be good rather than to scare or frighten them to right ways”; she has “strong Spirituality,” yearning for “something higher and better than this mere worldly state”; and her “large Language makes her a good talker” (“Mrs. Abigail Scott Duniway”; Moynihan, Rebel 92; “Constitutional Liberty and the Aristocracy of Sex“).)) of New York, for nearly half a century.

Mrs. Sara A. Underwood is widely known as associate editor with her husband in liberal, or secular magazines. ((Sara A. Francis Underwood: wife (married 1862) of Benjamin Franklin Underwood (1839-1914), for thirty years a lecturer widely known especially for espousing liberal religious thought, co-editor of Boston Index (organ of Free Religious Association), 1880-86, editor of Philosophic Journal (organ of Psychical Science Congress), 1893-95, and chair, Congress of Evolutionists (Who was Who 1263).))

I am painfully aware that my list of women in journalism, long as it is, is absurdly incomplete; and I sincerely hope that in the discussion that is to follow we shall hear of many that I have overlooked or forgotten.

It was my intention when I took up my pen, only yesterday afternoon, to make my first move toward preparing this paper, to confine it, chiefly, to “journalism as a business for women”; but the pages grew to the prescribed limit of 20 minutes before I was aware that I had not gone beyond these “introductory remarks.”

Sometime, since there can no longer be any doubt that women are in journalism to stay, I will, if this august body sees fit in its wisdom to grant me the opportunity, take pleasure in presenting a practical discourse of which I have merely given you a text.

NOTES