Newswomen's Club of New York

Last updated
Members of the Newspaper Women's Club of New York in 1927. Front row, left-to-right: Helen Rowland, Emma Bugbee, Josephine Ober, and Martha Coman; back row, left-to-right: Charlotte McLevedge, Rose Therese Nagel, Marie L. Darrach, Madeline Riordan, and Olive Hurlbut. Newspaper Women's Club of New York 1927.png
Members of the Newspaper Women's Club of New York in 1927. Front row, left-to-right: Helen Rowland, Emma Bugbee, Josephine Ober, and Martha Coman; back row, left-to-right: Charlotte McLevedge, Rose Therese Nagel, Marie L. Darrach, Madeline Riordan, and Olive Hurlbut.

The Newswomen's Club of New York is a nonprofit organization that focuses on women working in the media in the New York City metropolitan area. [1] Founded in 1922 as the New York Newspaper Woman's Club, [2] it included Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Rogers Reid and Anne O'Hare McCormick among its membership; it changed its name in 1971 [2] to include members working in magazines and broadcast media. [3] The organization presents its Front Page Award annually to honor the most prominent achievements by women in journalism. [4]

Contents

History

American newspapers hired large numbers of female journalists in 1919–1920 to cover the women's suffrage movement, but after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, many were demoted to the society pages or let go. [5] This led several women to plan a group that would fight for the rights of female journalists. [5]

The New York Newspaper Women's Club was started by 32 women who met at the Hotel Vanderbilt on March 8, 1922, and formally began two weeks later with the swearing in of officers and the adoption of a constitution. [5] [6] The founding officers were Martha Coman of The New York Herald as president, Jane Dixon of the New York Telegram as vice president, Theodora Bean of The Morning Telegraph as treasurer, Emma Bugbee of The New York Tribune as recording secretary, Ann Dunlap of the New York American as corresponding secretary, Josephine Ober of the New York World as chair of the membership committee, Jane Grant of The New York Times as chair of the house committee, and Louella Parsons of The Morning Telegraph as chair of the publicity committee. [6] The first board of directors consisted of Parsons, Grant, and Esther Coster of the Brooklyn Eagle . [5] The annual membership dues were $25, which was a week's salary for many of the members. [5]

Two years later, the club was incorporated in the state of New York with the stated purpose

...to inculcate a spirit of mutual aid in the newspaper profession, to provide club facilities for its members, to exert proper influences, and to foster and advance the best ideals and standards in the profession of journalism.

— articles of incorporation filed April 18, 1924 [7]

Scholarships

The club established a scholarship fund for female students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1945. [8] It awarded the first $200 scholarship to Laura Hoyle Davis at its annual town hall meeting in 1946. [9] $200 scholarships were awarded in subsequent years until 1954, when no scholarship was awarded. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

In 1954, the club created the Anne O'Hare McCormick Journalism Scholarship in honor of the late foreign correspondent and editorial board member of The New York Times who served as a vice president of the club for nine years. [16] [17] The New York Times provided $10,000 of the $15,000 needed to establish the annual scholarship. [17] The first $500 scholarship was awarded to Mary Kay Johnson of Wakefield, Rhode Island in 1955 at the club's annual Front Page dinner and dance. [18] [19]

The Mary E. Watts Award was named in honor of the club member and former women's editor of The Sun . [20] The initial $100 scholarship was given in 1962 to Jeanne Heffernan of Troy, New York. [21]

The Eleanor Roosevelt Newspaper Women's Memorial Fund was established in 1964 in honor of the club member and former first lady. [22] The fund provided a fellowship exchange program for two newspaperwomen, one from the United States and the other from Latin America, covering three months of travel, work, and study in the exchange country, including round-trip transportation and a $500 tuition allowance. [22] The club provided the $10,000 seed money for the fund. [22] The first fellowships were awarded in 1965 to Jennie Graciela Vasquez-Solis of La Prensa (es) in Lima, Peru, and Elvira J. Valenzuela of The Wichita Eagle and The Wichita Beacon in Kansas. [23]

The Joan O'Sullivan Scholarship was created in 2008 in honor of the columnist and editor for King Features Syndicate who was also a former president of both the club and the Anne O’Hare McCormick Memorial Fund. [24] Former club president Roslind Massow provided the seed money to establish the scholarship. [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Press Club (United States)</span> Professional organization and social club for journalists in Washington, D.C.

The National Press Club is a professional organization and social community in Washington, D.C. for journalists and communications professionals. It hosts public and private gatherings with invited speakers from public life. The club also offers event space to outside groups to host business meetings, news conferences, industry gatherings, and social events. It was founded in 1908.

Farnaz Fassihi is an Iranian-American journalist who has worked for The New York Times since 2019. She is the United Nations bureau chief and also writes about Iranian news. Previously she was a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal for 17 years and a conflict reporter based in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerald Loeb Award</span> American journalism award

The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of E.F. Hutton & Co. Loeb's intention in creating the award was to encourage reporters to inform and protect private investors as well as the general public in the areas of business, finance and the economy.

Joan Riddell Cook was an American newspaper journalist and editor, a trade union leader, and a founding director of the Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS).

The Scripps Howard Awards, formerly the National Journalism Awards, are $10,000 awards in American journalism given by the Scripps Howard Foundation.

The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism is a journalism award named after Robert F. Kennedy and awarded by the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights. The annual awards are issued in several categories and were established in December 1968 by a group of reporters who covered Kennedy's campaigns. Winners are judged by more than 50 journalists each year, led by a committee of six independent journalists. The awards honor reporting "on issues that reflect Robert F. Kennedy's concerns, including human rights, social justice and the power of individual action in the United States and around the world. Entries include insights into the causes, conditions and remedies of injustice and critical analysis of relevant public policies, programs, attitudes and private endeavors." The awards are known as the "poor people's Pulitzers" in media circles.

Nan C. Robertson was an American journalist, author and instructor in journalism. Her awards included a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne O'Hare McCormick</span> American journalist

Anne O'Hare McCormick was an English-American journalist who worked as a foreign news correspondent for The New York Times. In an era where the field was almost exclusively "a man's world", she became the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in a major journalism category, winning in 1937 for correspondence. Her husband's job led to frequent travels abroad, and her career as a journalist became more specialized.

Carol Sutton was an American journalist. She got her journalism degree from the University of Missouri. In 1974 she became the first female managing editor of a major U.S. daily newspaper, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. She was cited as the example of female achievement in journalism when Time named American Women as the 1975 People of the Year. During her tenure at the paper, it was awarded the 1971 Penney-Missouri Award for General Excellence and in 1976 the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for its coverage of school desegregation in Louisville. She is also credited with significantly raising the number of minority reporters on staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Association for Women in Communications</span> American professional organization

The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theo Wilson</span> American journalist

Theo Wilson was an American reporter best known for her coverage of high-profile court cases for the Daily News of New York. She reported on the trials of Sam Sheppard, Patty Hearst, Sirhan Sirhan, Charles Manson, Jack Ruby, Angela Davis, David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz and Claus von Bulow.

The Front Page Award is an award given by the Newswomen's Club of New York to honor journalistic achievement by women. It has been given annually since 1937.

Joyce Purnick is an American columnist and journalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thelma Berlack Boozer</span>

Thelma Edna Berlack Boozer was an American journalist, publicist, and city official in New York.

The Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards were first awarded in 1960 as the Penney-Missouri Awards to recognize women's pages that covered topics other than society, club, and fashion news, and that also covered such topics as lifestyle and consumer affairs. The Penney-Missouri Awards were often described as the "Pulitzer Prize of feature writing". They were the only nationwide recognition specifically for women's page journalists, at a time when few women had other opportunities to write or edit for newspapers. The annual awards appear to have been last given in 2008.

Juliet Macur is an American journalist.

The American News Women's Club (ANWC) is one of the oldest women's press clubs in America. Its Club headquarters are located on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. Membership includes a diverse group of journalists, independent authors and professional communicators representing newspapers, radio and television stations, new media, publishing companies, public relations firms, corporations, academic institutions and government.

Rashida Jones is the president of the cable news network MSNBC. She is the first Black woman to lead a major cable news network.

David Rhodes Jones Jr. is an American journalist. He reported for and edited The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He received two Gerald Loeb Awards for excellence in business and financial journalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Coman</span> American journalist

Martha Day Coman was an American journalist. She was one of the first women reporters at the New York Herald, and the first president of the Newswomen's Club of New York.

References

  1. ↑ Merrick, Beverly G. (2000). "Newswomen's Club of New York, 1922–Present". In Burt, Elizabeth V. (ed.). Women's Press Organizations, 1881-1999. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 171–178. ISBN   978-0-313-30661-7.
  2. 1 2 "History". The Newswomen's Club of New York. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ Maurine Hoffman Beasley; Holly Cowan Shulman; Henry R. Beasley (2000). The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing. pp. 379–380. ISBN   978-0313301810.
  4. ↑ Bill Hutchinson (October 9, 2013). "Five Newsers win journalism honors from the Newswomen's Club of New York". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2015-08-04.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Barbas, Samantha (2005). First Lady of Hollywood: A Biography of Louella Parsons. University of California Press. pp. 69–70. ISBN   0-520-24213-0.
  6. 1 2 "Newspaper Woman's Club". The New York Times . Vol. LXXI, no. 23437. March 26, 1922. p. 20. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Newspaper Women's Club Chartered". The New York Times . Vol. LXXIII, no. 24192. April 19, 1924. p. 13. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Create Scholarship". Daily News . Vol. 27, no. 139. New York. December 4, 1945. p. 35. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  9. ↑ "'4 Fears' Charged In Cancellation of A. P. Govt. Service". Brooklyn Eagle . Vol. 105, no. 90 (Late News ed.). April 1, 1946. p. 3. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Columbia Students Will Take Over Times Hearald". Middletown Times Herald . Vol. XCVI, no. 99. April 28, 1947. p. 1. Retrieved November 24, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "5 Women Honored for Press Writing". The New York Times . Vol. XCVII, no. 32894 (Late City ed.). February 15, 1948. p. 53. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Newspaper Women Get Club's Awards". The New York Times . Vol. XCVII, no. 33279 (Late City ed.). March 6, 1949. p. 51. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Five Awards Made For News Writing". The New York Times . Vol. XCIX, no. 33650 (Late City ed.). March 12, 1950. p. 74. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ "News Club Honors 5 Women Writers". The New York Times . Vol. C, no. 33993 (Late City ed.). February 18, 1951. p. 42. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Five News Women Get Awards Here". The New York Times . Vol. CIV, no. 35378 (Late City ed.). December 4, 1954. p. 15. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  16. ↑ "M'Cormick Fund Planned". The New York Times . Vol. CIV, no. 35373 (Late City ed.). November 29, 1954. p. 16. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  17. 1 2 "M'Cormick Fund Aided". The New York Times . Vol. CIV, no. 35543 (Late City ed.). May 18, 1955. p. 24. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Five Women Here Get Awards for Newspaper Work". The New York Times . Vol. CV, no. 35742 (Late City ed.). December 3, 1955. p. 38. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  19. ↑ "News Women's Fete". The New York Times . Vol. CV, no. 35722 (Late City ed.). November 13, 1955. p. 82. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  20. ↑ "3 News Students Get Scholarships". The Hartford Courant . Vol. CXXXIII, no. 340 (2nd ed.). United Press International. December 6, 1970. p. 47. Retrieved November 24, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "Five News Women Honored At Dinner". The New York Times . Vol. CXII, no. 38297 (Late City ed.). December 1, 1962. p. 10. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  22. 1 2 3 "Newspaperwomen Establish Eleanor Roosevelt Awards". The New York Times . Vol. CXIII, no. 38889 (Late City ed.). July 15, 1964. p. 29. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Newswomen Receive Fellowships". The New York Times . Vol. CXIV, no. 39145 (Late City ed.). March 28, 1965. p. 69. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  24. 1 2 "Activities". The Newswomen's Club of New York. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.