The Newswomen's Club of New York is a

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that focuses on women working in the media in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

metropolitan area. Founded in 1922 as the New York Newspaper Woman's Club, it included

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

Helen Rogers Reid Helen Miles Rogers Reid (November 23, 1882 – July 27, 1970) was an American newspaper publisher. She was president of the ''New York Herald Tribune''. Early life Reid was born Helen Miles Rogers in Appleton, Wisconsin on November 23, 1882. ...

and

Anne O'Hare McCormick Anne O'Hare McCormick (16 May 1880 – 29 May 1954) 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 w ...

among its membership; it changed its name in 1971 to include members working in magazines and

broadcast media Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began w ...

. The organization presents its

Front Page Award The Front Page Award is an award given by the 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. Founded in 1922 as the New Yor ...

annually to honor the most prominent achievements by

women in journalism Women in journalism are individuals who participate in journalism. As journalism became a profession, women were restricted by custom from access to journalism occupations, and faced significant discrimination within the profession. Neverthe ...

History

American newspapers hired large numbers of female journalists in 1919–1920 to cover the

women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...

, but after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, many were demoted to the society pages or let go. This led several women to plan a group that would fight for the rights of female journalists. 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. The founding officers were Martha Coman of ''

The New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' as president,

Jane Dixon Jane Holmes Dixon (born Jane Hart Holmes; July 24, 1937 – December 25, 2012) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. She was a suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and served as Bishop of Washington ''pro tempore ...

of the ''

New York Telegram 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 ...

'' as vice president, Theodora Bean of ''

The Morning Telegraph ''The Morning Telegraph'' (1839 – April 10, 1972) (sometimes referred to as the ''New York Morning Telegraph'') was a New York City broadsheet newspaper owned by Moe Annenberg's Cecelia Corporation. It was first published as the '' Sunday ...

'' as treasurer,

Emma Bugbee Emma Bugbee (May 19, 1888 – October 6, 1981) was an American suffragist and journalist. She participated in and reported on the 1912 Suffrage Hike from New York City to Albany, New York. Biography She was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Sh ...

of ''

The New York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the dom ...

'' as recording secretary, Ann Dunlap of the ''

New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'' as corresponding secretary, Josephine Ober of the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...

'' as chair of the membership committee,

Jane Grant Jane Grant (May 29, 1892 – March 16, 1972) was a New York City journalist who co-founded ''The New Yorker'' with her first husband, Harold Ross. Life and career Jane Grant was born Jeanette Cole Grant in Joplin, Missouri, and grew up and w ...

of ''The New York Times'' as chair of the house committee, and

Louella Parsons Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies and su ...

of ''The Morning Telegraph'' as chair of the publicity committee. The first board of directors consisted of Parsons, Grant, and Esther Coster of the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

''. The annual membership dues were $25, which was a week's salary for many of the members. Two years later, the club was incorporated in the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with the stated purpose

Scholarships

The club established a scholarship fund for female students at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

in 1945. It awarded the first $200 scholarship to Laura Hoyle Davis at its annual

town hall meeting Town hall meetings, also referred to as town halls or town hall forums, are a way for local and national politicians to meet with their constituents either to hear from them on topics of interest or to discuss specific upcoming legislation or ...

in 1946. $200 scholarships were awarded in subsequent years until 1954, when no scholarship was awarded. In 1954, the club created the Anne O'Hare McCormick Journalism Scholarship in honor of the late

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

and

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...

member of ''

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 ...

'' who served as a vice president of the club for nine years. ''The New York Times'' provided $10,000 of the $15,000 needed to establish the annual scholarship. The first $500 scholarship was awarded to Mary Kay Johnson of

Wakefield, Rhode Island Wakefield is a village in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, and the commercial center of South Kingstown. Together with the village of Peace Dale, it is treated by the U.S. Census as a component of the census-designated ...

in 1955 at the club's annual Front Page dinner and dance. The Mary E. Watts Award was named in honor of the club member and former women's editor of '' The Sun''. The initial $100 scholarship was given in 1962 to Jeanne Heffernan of

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. The Eleanor Roosevelt Newspaper Women's Memorial Fund was established in 1964 in honor of the club member and former

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

. The fund provided a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

exchange program for two newspaperwomen, one from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and the other from

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, covering three months of travel, work, and study in the exchange country, including round-trip transportation and a $500

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

allowance. The club provided the $10,000 seed money for the fund. The first fellowships were awarded in 1965 to Jennie Graciela Vasquez-Solis of ''

La Prensa ''La Prensa'' ("The Press") is a frequently used name for newspapers in the Spanish-speaking world. It may refer to: Argentina * ''La Prensa'' (Buenos Aires) * , a current publication of Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz Bolivia * ''La Prensa'' (La Paz ...

'' (es) in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru, and Elvira J. Valenzuela of ''

The Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area. History Origins In 1870, ''The Vidette'' was the fi ...

'' and '' The Wichita Beacon'' in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. The Joan O'Sullivan Scholarship was created in 2008 in honor of the columnist and editor for

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

who was also a former president of both the club and the Anne O’Hare McCormick Memorial Fund. Former club president Roslind Massow provided the seed money to establish the scholarship.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1922 establishments in New York (state) American press clubs Organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 1922 Women in New York City Organizations for women writers