Women in Journalism

Image
Annotation

Forty-four "full-life" interviews with American women journalists are available on this website. Interviewees include women who began their careers in the 1920s through the present. Print, radio, and television journalism all are represented.

Interviews address difficulties women have encountered entering the profession and how their presence has changed the field. They also discuss political life, famous people interviewed, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, and social, ethical, and technological changes of the 20th century.

A preface and an explanation of methodology introduce the site. Each interview is linked to a photograph and brief biographical sketch of the interviewee. Interviews range from one to 12 sessions and each session is about 20 pages long. Interviews are indexed but not searchable.

Photographs from the Chicago Daily News: 1902-1933

Image
Annotation

More than 55,000 photographs taken by staff photographers of the Chicago Daily News during the first decades of the 20th century are available on this website. Roughly 20 percent of the photos were published in the paper. The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon paper, sold at a cost of one cent for many years, with stories that tried to appeal to the city's large working-class audience.

The website provides subject access to the photographs, which include street scenes, buildings, prominent people, labor violence, political campaigns and conventions, criminals, ethnic groups, workers, children, actors, and disasters. Many photographs of athletes and political leaders are also featured. While most of the images were taken in Chicago and nearby areas, some were taken elsewhere, including at presidential inaugurations. The images provide a glimpse into varied aspects of urban life and document the use of photography by the press during early 20th century.

The Stars and Stripes, 1918-1919

Image
Annotation

This collection presents the complete run—from February 8, 1918 to June 13, 1919—of the "official newspaper" of the U.S. Army fighting forces during World War I. The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were formed in May 1917 following U.S. entrance into the war. Stars and Stripes was created by order of the AEF supreme commander, General John J. Pershing, to strengthen morale and promote unity among soldiers. Professionals from the newspaper industry joined the staff, including a few well-known journalists. At its peak, the weekly newspaper reached more than half a million soldiers, providing news of the war, sports reports, cartoons, news from home, and poetry.

A special presentation includes essays on the newspaper's contents, staff, advertising, military censorship, the American Expeditionary Forces, and the role women played in the war effort. Search the full text or browse individual issues.