A Woman to Know: Alice Dunnigan
“The white reporters began to notice the snub, and one day one of them asked, ‘Do you realize how many times you were on your feet today asking for recognition?’ When I replied that I hadn’t counted, he replied, ‘Fifteen times.’” – Alice Dunnigan
(image via Columbia Journalism Review)
Hey! This post is written by Kelcey Caulder, an intern with Active Voice, the Student Press Law Center campaign dedicated to empowering female student journalists who are disproportionately censored in schools. It's a super awesome thing — see more on Tumblr and at theactivevoice.org.
Born to a family of Kentucky sharecroppers, Alice Dunnigan fought her way up the ladder in the white-male-dominated world of journalism. As the first black woman to receive press credentials to the White House, she drew attention to civil rights issue (and drew the ire of President Eisenhower). For three years in the White House, Eisenhower blacklisted Alice's questions, refusing to acknowledge her as a member of the press corps.
Add to your reading list:
Alone Atop the Hill: The Autiobiography of Alice Dunnigan (Alice Dunnigan)
Read more:
Remembering Alice Dunnigan, a Pioneering Black Journalist (Neiman Reports)
Meet the first two African American women in the White House press corps (Columbia Journalism Review)
Notable Kentucky African Americans: Alice A. Dunnigan (University of Kentucky Libraries)
Alone atop the Hill: The Autobiography of Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press (Alice Dunnigan, Edited by Carol Booker)
Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps (Donald A. Ritchie)
Watch/Listen more:
Inside Media: Alice Dunnigan, Pioneer of the National Black Press (Newseum)
On Second Thought Radio – How Alice Dunnigan Made History “Alone Atop the Hill” (Georgia Public Broadcasting)
Writers LIVE: Alone Atop the Hill (Pratt Library)
Julia Ward Howe trivia: What is the name of Howe's literary journal she founded?
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