Women's Press Organizations, 1881-1999

Abstract

"Women's Press Organizations, 1881-1999" edited by Elizabeth V. Burt is reviewed.

Burt, Elizabeth V., ed. Women's Press Organizations, 1881-1999. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. 348 pp. $85.

Women's Press 1881-1999 is not so much a book as it is a valuable source for researchers who want to focus on women in the media.

It is clear from the introduction that the authors had a difficult time finding records from many of the women's press associations. Some of the records have simply disappeared. However, this publication carefully documents forty organizations that have served women-- and eventually many of them included men-- in the media. Thirty-two authors, generally professors in journalism or communications departments around the United States, wrote the chapters.

This book does not pretend to offer an in-depth look at each of the press organizations it identifies. Instead, the authors and other researchers have identified the women who organized these press associations and tried to discover the reasons why each organization was started. In many cases, the organizations were formed because women could not belong to the "official" press organizations in their states because women were not editors or publishers. Some women used their organizations to pursue professional goals, but others also took stands on social and political issues. In general, the organizations also provided a support group for and the empowerment of other women in journalism. Many of the organizations have established scholarships-generally in honor of their founders-for women in the communications field.

Each chapter follows a similar format with an identification of the women who began the organization, the activities in which the organization was engaged, and how the organization changed over the years in membership and in mission. Although the index does not include the names of all of the women who are mentioned in the book, each chapter and the bibliography provide helpful listings of resources for potential researchers. Included is a comprehensive listing of sources where the papers of a number of the women and press organizations discussed in the book can be found.

With chapters that generally ranged from six to ten pages, the authors were not able to provide more than basic documentation of the organizations. But other researchers could develop any number of topics raised by the authors of this book from the reasons why the various organizations began and how those reasons may have-or not have-- changed over more than a century.

The authors indicated many organizations faced a number of controversies ranging from whether to admit women in public relations, advertising and other communication areas, whether to admit men and whether to become activists in social and political areas. For example, after World War II, the Colorado Press Women sought a secretary of peace. Organizations that were formed nearly a century ago had to decide whether or how to become involved in the suffrage movement. Those still around when the Equal Rights Amendment was proposed had to make similar decisions. Incidents of racism, some fairly recent, are also part of this documentation.

This is an excellent resource forthose who want to research women in the media, both because it provides research ideas and outlines numerous sources of information.