Existing comment:
1840
Breakthrough for Women:
Margaret Fuller was the first female journalist hired by a major US daily, the New York Tribune. Her book "Woman in the 19th Century" started a national drive for women's rights. In 1846, she reported from Europe as America's first female foreign correspondent.
Women's Advocate:
In her newspaper The Lily, Amelia Bloomer pushed for a women's right to wear pantaloons. Later, the pants were dubbed "bloomers." She gave up her fashion crusade when it overshadowed the more serious issues of women's suffrage, relaxed divorce laws and women's property rights.
1850
No Giving In:
Reporting for the New York Tribune in 1850, Jane Grey Swisshelm became the first woman from a major newspaper to cover the US Senate. Later, she started an anti-slavery newspaper in Minnesota, and a pro-slavery mob smashed her press. Her reaction? To start a new newspaper. "Dying is not difficult," Swisshelm said. "Yielding is impossible." |