WOMEN IN JOURNALISM IS AN AWARD-WINNING,
NATIONWIDE ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INITIATED BY THE
NATIONAL WOMEN’S PRESS CLUB AND NOW UNDER THE
STEWARDSHIP OF THE WASHINGTON PRESS CLUB FOUNDATION.
Fran Harris became the first woman newscaster in Michigan in 1943. In addition to reading the news, Harris also had her own radio talk show. Three years later she became the first woman on television in Michigan.
WOMEN IN JOURNALISM ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
The project includes comprehensive, full-life interviews with women journalists—from pioneers of early women’s journalism, to champions of civil rights, to celebrities in the world of broadcast television—who have made significant contributions to society through careers in journalism since the 1920s. Their stories bring to life seminal historic events such as Women’s Suffrage, the New Deal and the influence of Eleanor Roosevelt, World War II, the Cold War, Segregation and the Civil Rights Act, the fight for women’s rights and The New York Times lawsuit of the 1970s, and much more.
For more about the history of the project and guidance on using the interviews, please read the project overview.
PROJECT GOALS AND IMPACT
With over 60 interviews in its archive, the Women in Journalism project provides an important documentary record of the experiences of women in seeking acceptance in journalism and the impact that this development has had on the reporting and editing of the nation's news. The interviews also document changes in the roles, expectations, opportunities, and obstacles for women in American society during this century.
The oral history project provides a large body of primary source material for scholars, students, teachers, and those who hope to make journalism a career. While most transcripts are available online, others are available only in print via library repositories, which also house videotapes of some of the interviews.