The Library of Congress exhibition "Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers and Broadcasters During World War II" will travel from Central Michigan University to St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., and remain on view until May 7 (see below for complete schedule).
The exhibition, which ended its successful run at the Library on Dec. 9, highlights the accomplishments of eight women who broke down barriers during World War II to become respected members of the press in newsrooms and in the field.
The display offers a snapshot of the women journalists' stories, told through their papers and photographs, held in the Library's collections. While featuring their achievements, the exhibition also commemorates the anniversary of the end of World War II, the 75th anniversary of women's suffrage and the founding of the Women's National Press Club in 1919 by Washington newswomen.
The Interpretive Programs Office sponsored the panel discussion "Coming to the Front: Women Journalists in World War II and Beyond," on Nov. 9, while the exhibition was still on display in the Library's Madison Building.
The four women panelists captivated the audience with their personal accounts of how they broke into journalism during World War II. All remain active journalists.
Lyn Crost, author of Honor by Fire: Japanese Americans at War in Europe and the Pacific, recalled the first job she held: at a newspaper in Providence, R.I., which went bankrupt while she was there. "I was paid 10 cents an inch for my stories, which I thought was a lot of money at the time," she recalled.
Ms. Crost moved to Hawaii to work for the Honolulu Advertiser, a job that later, at the start of World War II, set the stage for another professional break. Just a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor she moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the Associated Press. When the United States entered the war, her Hawaiian experience qualified her to become the European correspondent for the Honolulu Star Bulletin, covering the Japanese-American 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team.
In Paris, however, at the headquarters of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe (SHAPE), Ms. Crost learned that male reporters were briefed on the latest troop movements while she was not.
"Females were quite unique in the press corps," said Ms. Crost. "They didn't think women knew enough to report on military matters."
The Japanese-American soldiers from Hawaii, on the other hand, were happy to have her tell their story. Some of them had just come from fierce fighting at the front, which they readily recounted to her.
For veteran reporter Sarah McClendon, now of McClendon News Service, the break into the male-dominated bastions of journalism came when she became a pioneering member of the newly formed Women's Army Corps (WAC). With $21 in her pocket -- all the money she had at the time -- she set out for basic training, then was assigned to a public affairs office in Georgia.
Ms. McClendon and her female colleagues were in demand to fill reporting jobs so men could leave for the front lines. She was ordered to Washington to help recruit more women for the WACs. Eventually she was allowed to cover two subjects that previously had been off-limits for female reporters: the White House and Congress.
"We were pioneers who had to push back the frontier and establish a role for women," Ms. McClendon told the audience.
Her military days came to an end when she became pregnant. "Back in those times, you had to get out," said Ms. McClendon. "However, I would still recommend the military for a career because of the discipline it teaches you."
When Frances Murphy, now publisher of the Washington Afro- American, came of working age, her family had already started her on the road to a journalism career. Four older sisters -- and a father who longed for sons but had to settle for treating his daughter like boys -- had paved the way.
Like her older sisters, Ms. Murphy graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in journalism. She returned to the family publishing business as the war was raging and found her niche writing stories based on the letters her sister -- a WAC -- sent back from Europe.
Ms. Murphy's account of her sister's experience covering the Afro-American troops on the front lines contrasted sharply with the experience of the other women journalists, who were not given this type of access. "In our experience, women were treated like men," said Ms. Murphy. "Once we broke down the barriers, there was no turning back."
Frances Lewine, assignment editor for Cable News Network, graduated from Hunter College just after the attack on Pearl Harbor and landed her first job at the New York Daily News, replacing a columnist who was drafted. "Before, all we could hope for was to become a copy girl," said Ms. Lewine.
After receiving personal insults from male journalists because of her gender, Ms. Lewine searched for a job with another paper and was hired by the Plainfield (N.J.) Courier-News. Her report at a Navy plane crash site earned her her first byline, she said.
"Eventually, I came to Washington and was most fortunate to cover the first ladies," said Ms. Lewine. "Evening social events provided easy access for the press, and later on I was able to parlay this experience into a full-fledged White House correspondent's job."
Ms. Lewine recounted the 20-year battle women fought to join the National Press Club. The walls came down when Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev refused to go to the Press Club unless women could cover the event. According to Ms. Lewine, President Kennedy knocked down the barriers at the Gridiron Club by declaring that he would not go unless women were welcome.
All of the panelists agreed that getting their foot in the door during World War II proved to everyone that women could do just as well as men in journalism.
"Women Come to the Front: Journalists, Photographers and Broadcasters During World War II" will be on view at the Elmhurst Historical Museum in Illinois Aug. 19-Oct. 18; at the Duluth Public Library in Minnesota, Nov. 9, 1996-Jan. 3, 1997; at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historcial Museum in Wichita, Kan., February through mid-April 1997; at the Gateway National Recreation Area in Brooklyn, N.Y., April 26-June 27, 1997; at the Florida Center for the Book in Fort Lauderdale, July 21-Sept. 22, 1997; and at the East Tennessee Historical Society in Knoxville, Oct. 8-Dec.8, 1997.
