Edith Evans Asbury (née Snyder; June 30, 1910 – October 30, 2008) was an American journalist who spent nearly 30 years as a reporter with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Biography

Born Edith Snyder on June 30, 1910, in

New Boston, Ohio New Boston is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Scioto County, Ohio, Scioto County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,272 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Apart from its southern boundary on the ...

, she was the eldest of 16 children. After a summer job at the ''

Cincinnati Times-Star ''The Cincinnati Times-Star'' was an afternoon daily newspaper in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1880 to 1958. The Northern Kentucky edition was known as ''The Kentucky Times-Star'', and a Sunday edition was known as ''The Sunday Times-St ...

'' at age 19, she left

Western College for Women Western College for Women, known at other times as Western Female Seminary, The Western and simply Western College, was a women's and later coed liberal arts college in Oxford, Ohio, between 1855 and 1974. Initially a seminary, it was the host of ...

with a passion for journalism that would last most of her life. She married Joe Evans when she was 20 and the couple moved to

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

, where she attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in American history in 1932 and 1933 respectively. She took a job as a reporter with the ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

'' from 1933 to 1937.Fox, Margalit
"Edith Evans Asbury, 98, Veteran Times Reporter, Is Dead"
''

'', October 30, 2008, with correction added November 5, 2008. Accessed November 5, 2008. In 1937, at the height of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, she left Knoxville and her husband (whom she later divorced) and headed to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

despite the lack of any pre-planned prospects for work and wired her editor that she was quitting her job. In New York, she found a sequence of jobs with the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', the

New York City Housing Authority The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is a public development corporation which provides public housing in New York City, and is the largest public housing authority in North America. Created in 1934 as the first agency of its kind in the U ...

, the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

'' and the ''

New York World-Telegram and Sun The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

'', where she served as assistant editor for women's news. While at the World-Telegram in 1952, Asbury was elected President of the

New York Newspaper Women's Club 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. Founded in 1922 as the New York Newspaper Woman's Club, it included Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Rogers Reid ...

. She married journalist

Herbert Asbury Herbert Asbury (September 1, 1891 – February 24, 1963) was an American journalist and writer best known for his books detailing crime during the 19th and early-20th centuries, such as ''Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago U ...

in 1945; the two divorced in 1958. It was the second marriage for both. Her husband was best known for his 1928 book ''

The Gangs of New York ''The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld'' is an American non-fiction book by Herbert Asbury, first published in 1927 by Garden City Publishing Company. It was the basis for Martin Scorsese's 2002 film ''Gangs of New York' ...

'', which was later adapted as a screenplay for the 2002

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

film. Her 1971 marriage to ''Times'' assistant managing editor Robert E. Garst ended with his death in 1980.

''The New York Times''

She accepted a position with ''The New York Times'' in 1952 with the proviso that she be assigned to the city room and not the women's department of the paper. Her first byline in the paper was a story from December 5, 1952, on a ceremony welcoming

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

held in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

. Others among her earliest stories with the paper included items about holiday shopping on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

, a lost canary, and the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade. More serious work followed, including a 1955 series on the problems of the elderly. She was one of several reporters sent by the ''Times'' in 1956 to write about desegregation in the South following the Supreme Court's 1954 decision ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

'', which was summarized in a special eight-page section published in March 1956 and made available to the public as a reprint. Her reporting in 1958 about an unwritten ban on counseling and prescription of birth control in New York City hospitals was credited with helping overturn the ban. Asbury was known for her tenacity;

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

was said to have been so angered by her that he smashed his telephone after slamming down the receiver. Even after her retirement from the ''Times'' in 1981, Asbury continued to write for the paper, including items about travel to Europe and China. Into her 90s, Asbury would call reporters at the paper, offering suggestions on potential stories that had been overlooked.

Awards and recognition

The Women's Press Club of New York City gave Asbury its Newspaper Award of Merit for "outstanding achievement in the field of journalism of benefit to the City of New York in 1964". Asbury was recognized in 1967 with the Page One Award from the Newspaper Guild of New York for a series about a family's successful battle to adopt a blind foster child. Asbury was also one of the first women allowed to join the Inner Circle Show in 1973. Her health had deteriorated for two years, and she died at her home in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

at age 98, on October 30, 2008. A specific cause of death was not disclosed. Asbury's papers and correspondence are available at the

La Guardia and Wagner Archives The La Guardia and Wagner Archives was established in 1982 at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens, New York, to collect, preserve, and make available primary materials documenting the social and political history of New York Ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asbury, Edith Evans 1910 births 2008 deaths The New York Times writers Miami University alumni People from Greenwich Village People from Knoxville, Tennessee People from New Boston, Ohio University of Tennessee alumni Journalists from Ohio 20th-century American journalists