Anne O'Hare McCormick

Anne O'Hare McCormick
Portrait of Anne O'Hare McCormick
Anne O'Hare McCormick
Born Anne O'Hare
(1880-05-16)May 16, 1880
Wakefield, Yorkshire, England
Died May 29, 1954(1954-05-29) (aged 74)
New York
Nationality British, American
Occupation Journalist
Years active 1910-1954
Known for First woman recipient of a major Pulitzer Prize in journalism, first woman to join the editorial board of the New York Times
Anne O'Hare McCormick on right, about 10 years old, with sisters Mabel and Florence

Anne O'Hare McCormick (16 May 1880 – 29 May 1954) was an English-American journalist who worked as a foreign news correspondent for The New York Times. In an era where the field was almost exclusively "a man's world", she became the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in a major journalism category, winning in 1937 for correspondence. Her husband's job led to frequent travels abroad, and her career as a journalist became more specialized.

In 1921, she approached The New York Times about the prospect of becoming a freelance contributor from Europe. In 1936, she became the first woman to be appointed to the editorial board of the Times. Her dispatches from Europe that year were recognized with the Pulitzer Prize in 1937.

In 1939, with World War II imminent, McCormick spent five months in 13 different nations, speaking with both political leaders and ordinary citizens in reporting the growing crisis. She was reported to have spent time with President Franklin D. Roosevelt discussing policy. For her reporting during World War II, the War Department honored McCormick in 1946 with a campaign medal in recognition of "outstanding and conspicuous service with the armed forces under difficult and hazardous combat conditions."[1] Also in 1946, McCormick was selected to represent the US as a member of the first delegation to the UNESCO conference at the United Nations.

Early life

McCormick was born in Wakefield, England on 16 May 1880, to parents Thomas J. O'Hare and Theresa Beatrice (née Berry), the first of three children.[2] She moved to the United States shortly after birth, and lived in Massachusetts before settling in Columbus, Ohio. Her father deserted the family in 1897. She was educated at the College of Saint Mary of the Springs. After graduating, McCormick became an associate editor for the Catholic Universe Bulletin (where her mother worked). She married Dayton businessman Francis J. McCormick, Jr. (1872–1954), an importer and executive of the Dayton Plumbing Supply Company, on 14 September 1910.[3][4]

Journalism career

After marrying Francis, McCormick moved to Dayton, Ohio, and began freelance writing. Her work was first published by the Catholic World, The Reader Magazine, The Smart Set, The Bookman and The New York Times Magazine. As her husband traveled, she accompanied him, and in 1921 asked Carr Van Anda if she could contribute articles to the New York Times, to cover stories not already investigated by the Times' foreign reporters. The Times accepted, and McCormick provided the first in-depth reports of the rise of Benito Mussolini and the Fascist movement in Italy.[3] As described in a Current Biography article in 1940, "she was perhaps the first reporter to see that a young Milanese newspaper editor, lantern-jawed, hungry and insignificant, would attain world importance".[5]

Prior to the start of World War II, McCormick obtained interviews with Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, German leader Adolf Hitler, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill, President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt, Popes Pius XI and XII, and other world leaders.[3] McCormick died in New York on May 29, 1954 and is buried at Gate of Heaven cemetery in Hawthorne, NY.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Edy, Carolyn M. (2016). The Woman War Correspondent, The U.S Military, and The Press, 1846–1947. Lanham, MD. ISBN 9781498539272. OCLC 958798216.
  2. ↑ Notable American women: the modern period : a biographical dictionary, Volume 4, by Barbara Sicherman, Carol Hurd Green
  3. 1 2 3 Sicherman, Barbara; Green, Carol Hurd (1980). Notable American Women: The Modern Period : a Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674627338.
  4. ↑ "Ann O'Hare McKormick - Great American Biographies". Constitutional Law Reporter. Retrieved 2018-05-29.
  5. ↑ Fischer, Heinz Dietrich (1987). The Pulitzer Prize Archive: International reporting, 1928-1985. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783598301711.
  6. ↑ "MCCORMICK, ANNE (O'HARE) | Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved 2018-05-29.

Sources

  • "Anne O'Hare McCormick and the Changing Times" chapter in Women of the World, the Great Foreign Correspondents, Julia Edwards, Ivy Books, 1988.
  • Current Biography 1940 Yearbook, 530–531.
  • "Elizabeth A. McCormick", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005.
  • "Anne O'Hare McCormick Is Dead; Member of Times Editorial Board; Pulitzer Prize Winner in 1937 Interpreted News in Her Column, 'Abroad'," The New York Times 30 May 1954, 1.
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