Newswomen's Club of New York

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]

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]

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. "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. 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. "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. "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. "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. "Activities". The Newswomen's Club of New York. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
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