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In fall 1907, Paxton heard that the journalist [[Walter Williams (journalist)|Walter Williams]] had convinced colleagues at the University of Missouri to establish the [[Missouri School of Journalism]]. She moved to [[Columbia, Missouri]], the following January, although the program would not open until September 14, 1908.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Truman|1986|p=23}} It was the first journalism school in the world, comprised of three professors – Williams, [[Charlie Ross (journalist)|Charles Ross]] and [[Silas Bent]] – and 53 students, including six women.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Weinberg|2008|pp=20-22}} Only weeks into the academic year, the University of Missouri Journalism Students' Association was founded and Paxton was elected as the first vice president.{{Sfn|Lockwood Williams|1929|p=313}} Paxton brought a Remington typewriter to campus, which her father had given her.{{Sfn|Burnes|2003|p=42}} |
In fall 1907, Paxton heard that the journalist [[Walter Williams (journalist)|Walter Williams]] had convinced colleagues at the University of Missouri to establish the [[Missouri School of Journalism]]. She moved to [[Columbia, Missouri]], the following January, although the program would not open until September 14, 1908.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Truman|1986|p=23}} It was the first journalism school in the world, comprised of three professors – Williams, [[Charlie Ross (journalist)|Charles Ross]] and [[Silas Bent]] – and 53 students, including six women.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Weinberg|2008|pp=20-22}} Only weeks into the academic year, the University of Missouri Journalism Students' Association was founded and Paxton was elected as the first vice president.{{Sfn|Lockwood Williams|1929|p=313}} Paxton brought a Remington typewriter to campus, which her father had given her.{{Sfn|Burnes|2003|p=42}} |
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While a student, she lived at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She began dating Ross in spring 1909. They knew each other from their hometown and had gone on a date the year prior, beginning a correspondence that would produce 400 letters in two years.{{Sfn|Farrar|1969|pp=50-52}} The couple made plans that summer to eventually marry.{{Sfn|Farrar|1969|pp=50-52}}{{Sfn|Truman|1986|p=23}}{{efn|[[Margaret Truman]] indicates in her book that Paxton had fallen in love with Ross in the summer of 1907 and her early move to Columbia was influenced by her feelings.{{Sfn|Truman|1986|p=23}} |
While a student, she lived at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She began dating Ross in spring 1909. They knew each other from their hometown and had gone on a date the year prior, beginning a correspondence that would produce 400 letters in two years.{{Sfn|Farrar|1969|pp=50-52}} The couple made plans that summer to eventually marry.{{Sfn|Farrar|1969|pp=50-52}}{{Sfn|Truman|1986|p=23}}{{efn|[[Margaret Truman]] indicates in her book that Paxton had fallen in love with Ross in the summer of 1907 and her early move to Columbia was influenced by her feelings.{{Sfn|Truman|1986|p=23}}|group=note}} As a member of the first cohort, Paxton was given some unusual assignments, including being asked by Bent to interview the mascot of a rival college, which turned out to be a live bear cub. Williams asked her to chose the color of the graduation tassel. She chose red, which has been maintained throughout the program’s history.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Paxton became the school's first female graduate in 1910, one of six students graduating with a bachelors of journalism degree.{{Sfn|Dains|1989|p=147}}{{Sfn|Weinberg|2008|p=28}} Following her graduation, Williams often introduced her as "the first woman in all the world to hold a degree in journalism".{{Sfn|Beasley|2008|p=172}} |
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== Career == |
== Career == |
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Paxton met [[Winifred Bonfils]], wife of the manager of the ''[[Kansas City Journal-Post|Kansas City Post]]'', during the college’s journalism week and was offered a job. ''[[The Kansas City Star]]'' refused to take a female reporter so Paxton accepted the position, although she described it as "the [[Yellow journalism|yellowest newspaper]] in the country, next to the [[Hearst Communications|Hearst]] publications."{{Sfn|Burnes|2003|p=42}}{{Sfn|Weinberg|2008|p=29}} A week after her graduation, she began working for the ''Post'' as a reporter for $8 a week.<ref name=":0" /> The job made her one of the first female journalists in Kansas City and she later said that her male colleagues would stare at her in the office.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Winfield|2008|p=172}} She was asked to report on a demonstration by US Army Officers of a "man-carrying kite" at [[Fort Leavenworth]] in Kansas. She went up on the kite and a photo was published in the ''Post''.<ref name=":0" /> In one story, she reported on her experiences in the city's [[red-light district]]. She investigated the State Training School for Girls in [[Chillicothe, Missouri]], between 1910 and 1911 as the superintendent of the school was alleged to be training the girls to be prostitutes.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Firkus|2019|p=63}} |
Paxton met [[Winifred Bonfils]], wife of the manager of the ''[[Kansas City Journal-Post|Kansas City Post]]'', during the college’s journalism week and was offered a job. ''[[The Kansas City Star]]'' refused to take a female reporter so Paxton accepted the position, although she described it as "the [[Yellow journalism|yellowest newspaper]] in the country, next to the [[Hearst Communications|Hearst]] publications."{{Sfn|Burnes|2003|p=42}}{{Sfn|Weinberg|2008|p=29}} A week after her graduation, she began working for the ''Post'' as a reporter for $8 a week.<ref name=":0" /> The job made her one of the first female journalists in Kansas City and she later said that her male colleagues would stare at her in the office.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Winfield|2008|p=172}} She was asked to report on a demonstration by US Army Officers of a "man-carrying kite" at [[Fort Leavenworth]] in Kansas. She went up on the kite and a photo was published in the ''Post''.<ref name=":0" /> In one story, she reported on her experiences in the city's [[red-light district]]. She investigated the State Training School for Girls in [[Chillicothe, Missouri]], between 1910 and 1911 as the superintendent of the school was alleged to be training the girls to be prostitutes.<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Firkus|2019|p=63}} |
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Her choice to work for the paper caused tension in her relationship with Ross, as he disapproved of her job and the stories she was covering.{{Sfn|Truman|1986|pp=24-28}}{{Sfn|Winfield|2008|p=172}} She suffered from a bout of appendicitis which brought the couple closer together when she left the job but when he told his mother of the planned wedding, she was strongly opposed due to Paxton's career. The couple broke up and Paxton began a two-year period of extreme distress.{{Sfn|Truman|1986|pp=24-28}}<ref name=":1" />{{Efn|Paxton and Ross remained close throughout their lives, meeting infrequently but carrying on a regular correspondence.{{sfn|Farrar|1998|p=166}}|name= |
Her choice to work for the paper caused tension in her relationship with Ross, as he disapproved of her job and the stories she was covering.{{Sfn|Truman|1986|pp=24-28}}{{Sfn|Winfield|2008|p=172}} She suffered from a bout of appendicitis which brought the couple closer together when she left the job but when he told his mother of the planned wedding, she was strongly opposed due to Paxton's career. The couple broke up and Paxton began a two-year period of extreme distress.{{Sfn|Truman|1986|pp=24-28}}<ref name=":1" />{{Efn|Paxton and Ross remained close throughout their lives, meeting infrequently but carrying on a regular correspondence.{{sfn|Farrar|1998|p=166}}|name=|group=note}} Around the same time, Paxton's father remarried and she began to lose weight, causing her family to worry that she had developed tuberculosis. Ross married Florence Griffin in 1913 and Paxton's father convinced her to stay with cousins at a plantation near [[Greenville, Mississippi]].<ref name=":0" />{{Sfn|Truman|1986|pp=24-28}} |
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== Notes == |
== Notes == |
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{{notelist}} |
{{notelist|group=note}} |
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== References == |
== References == |
Revision as of 20:40, 31 August 2023
Mary Gentry Paxton Keeley (June 2, 1886 – December 6, 1986) was an American journalist.
Early life
Paxton was born Mary Gentry Paxton on June 2, 1886, in Independence, Missouri. Her father was John Gallatin Paxton, a lawyer, and her mother was Mary Neil Gentry, a teacher.[1][2] Her paternal grandfather was Elisha F. Paxton and her maternal great grandparents were Ann Hawkins Gentry and Richard Gentry.[3][4] Her mother was an early graduate of the University of Missouri who established the Mary Paxton Study Class in 1895, where local women gathered to study languages, history and literature.[5][6] Paxton was the eldest of five children, including her sister Elizabeth Paxton Forsling, and the childhood friend of Bess Wallace, future wife of President Harry S. Truman.[7][8] Paxton grew up at 614 North Delaware Street, next door to Wallace, and the friends attended dance classes with other local girls.[9]
While Paxton was in grammar school, her mother fell ill with tuberculosis and moved to Colorado for three years to recover, leaving the family in Independence. Despite the shadow of her mother's illness, Paxton and Wallace created the all-girls Cadiz Club, where they performed plays written and directed by Paxton.[10] Her mother died on May 15, 1903. A month later, Wallace's father died by suicide and Paxton was woken in the night by her own father to comfort her friend.[11][12]
Education
Paxton graduated from Manual High School in Kansas City, Missouri, although her studies were delayed by two years due to a childhood illness.[1][13][14] Due to her mother's death and her father's unwillingness to pay, she chose to wait to attend university. She studied intermittently at Hollins College in Virginia for a year and spent a summer semester at the University of Chicago, although she dropped out when she decided to study journalism as the institution had no journalism program.[1][7][15]
In fall 1907, Paxton heard that the journalist Walter Williams had convinced colleagues at the University of Missouri to establish the Missouri School of Journalism. She moved to Columbia, Missouri, the following January, although the program would not open until September 14, 1908.[1][16] It was the first journalism school in the world, comprised of three professors – Williams, Charles Ross and Silas Bent – and 53 students, including six women.[1][17] Only weeks into the academic year, the University of Missouri Journalism Students' Association was founded and Paxton was elected as the first vice president.[18] Paxton brought a Remington typewriter to campus, which her father had given her.[19]
While a student, she lived at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She began dating Ross in spring 1909. They knew each other from their hometown and had gone on a date the year prior, beginning a correspondence that would produce 400 letters in two years.[20] The couple made plans that summer to eventually marry.[20][16][note 1] As a member of the first cohort, Paxton was given some unusual assignments, including being asked by Bent to interview the mascot of a rival college, which turned out to be a live bear cub. Williams asked her to chose the color of the graduation tassel. She chose red, which has been maintained throughout the program’s history.[1][7] Paxton became the school's first female graduate in 1910, one of six students graduating with a bachelors of journalism degree.[2][15] Following her graduation, Williams often introduced her as "the first woman in all the world to hold a degree in journalism".[21]
Career
Paxton met Winifred Bonfils, wife of the manager of the Kansas City Post, during the college’s journalism week and was offered a job. The Kansas City Star refused to take a female reporter so Paxton accepted the position, although she described it as "the yellowest newspaper in the country, next to the Hearst publications."[19][22] A week after her graduation, she began working for the Post as a reporter for $8 a week.[1] The job made her one of the first female journalists in Kansas City and she later said that her male colleagues would stare at her in the office.[1][23] She was asked to report on a demonstration by US Army Officers of a "man-carrying kite" at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. She went up on the kite and a photo was published in the Post.[1] In one story, she reported on her experiences in the city's red-light district. She investigated the State Training School for Girls in Chillicothe, Missouri, between 1910 and 1911 as the superintendent of the school was alleged to be training the girls to be prostitutes.[1][24]
Her choice to work for the paper caused tension in her relationship with Ross, as he disapproved of her job and the stories she was covering.[25][23] She suffered from a bout of appendicitis which brought the couple closer together when she left the job but when he told his mother of the planned wedding, she was strongly opposed due to Paxton's career. The couple broke up and Paxton began a two-year period of extreme distress.[25][7][note 2] Around the same time, Paxton's father remarried and she began to lose weight, causing her family to worry that she had developed tuberculosis. Ross married Florence Griffin in 1913 and Paxton's father convinced her to stay with cousins at a plantation near Greenville, Mississippi.[1][25]
She then taught at an orphanage in Missouri for a year. While back in Columbia, Williams encouraged her to specialize in her career by studying home economics journalism at the University of Chicago. She failed to graduate, having one semester of coursework left, and moved to Alabama and Virgina to work with 4-H clubs for the next three and a half years.[1] She worked as a home demonstration agent in Virginia.[21]
[Virginia - Truman pg 53-54]
While in Virginia, she met Edmund Burke Keeley, a farm manager.[21]
[End of 1917 - Truman pg 66] [Marriage - Truman pg 83/84]
[Encouragement to appoint a press secretary] Paxton wrote to Wallace, advising that Truman – by then president of the United States – would benefit from appointing a press secretary. Her former love Ross was ultimately given the post.[27]
When the United States entered World War I, Paxton decided to get involved. She was engaged to Edmund Burke Keeley, who was the first man in Halifax County, Virginia, to volunteer for military service but he was rejected for his hearing. Paxton was sent to France, where she worked for the YMCA doing canteen work for a year and a half. She went to see President Woodrow Wilson at Humes. She moved back to the United States in 1918 and married Keeley at the Little Church Around the Corner in New York City. The couple moved back to Virginia, where Keeley was the manager of Curles Neck Farm, and had their only child, John Gallatin Paxton Keeley, in 1921.[1]
[Husband's illness - Truman pg 93 /104-5]
Her husband fell ill and was transferred to the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. Paxton had planned to take up employment with a railroad magazine but her brother asked her to return to Missouri and she worked briefly in Holt County as a home extension agent before working as a reporter for the Atchison County Mail. When Keeley recovered, he returned to Virginia, where he died in 1928.[1][19]
Christian College (1929 – 1952)
She found the job difficult and after contracting pneumonia, she took her father's advice and decided to become a teacher. She studied at the University of Missouri for her master's degree in journalism, graduating in 1928.[1][28] She became the journalism instructor at Christian College (now Columbia College) the following year, a women's liberal arts college.[1][2][29] While there, she also taught creative writing and founded the student newspaper, The Microphone.[1][2] The publication, under her supervision, was awarded many prizes in publication competitions for state junior colleges.[30][31]
She wrote several plays, including The River Rat, Wind in the Stars, Vinnie Ream and The Kettle Singing, some of which were performed locally, and published a children's book, River Gold, in 1928.[1][2] She lived on 1111 Porter Street in Columbia.[2]
[WWII - Truman pg 213]
Later life
Paxton retired from teaching in June 1952 but continued as a writer for The Kansas City Star and an editor of the Missouri Alumnus.[1][2] She edited The Boone County Cookbook and wrote articles for Woman's Day, The Ladies' Home Journal and Writer's Monthly. She was also an amateur genealogist and photographer, showing off her photographs and paintings locally in 1965, and created a series of dolls for historical women in the state.[2][32] She was in regular correspondence with a number of well-known Missourians, including the Trumans, poet Orrick Johns, author Homer Croy, poet Thomas McAfee, and writer Rose Wilder Lane. Paxton was a co-founder of the Columbia Art League in 1959 and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, Theta Sigma Phi, and Kappa Tau Alpha.[1][2]
Her son died in the early 1970s.[27] In 1977, she moved to the Lenoir Convalescent Center, where she published poetry in the center's anthology.[2]
[Later life - Truman pg 416-17, 424-25]
Death and legacy
Paxton died on December 6, 1986, at the age of 100. She received the Alumni Citation Award from the Missouri School of Journalism and her portrait hangs in the university's graduate studies center. In fall 2002, the Mary Paxton Keeley Elementary School, of the Columbia Public School system, was named in her honor.[1] Her papers are held by the National Women and Media Collection at the University of Missouri.[33]
Paxton was described as "The First Lady of Missouri Journalism".[21][34] She was one of Margaret Truman's godmothers.[28] Following her death, her book Back in Independence was published, at her request.[27]
[7][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]
[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]
Notes
- ^ Margaret Truman indicates in her book that Paxton had fallen in love with Ross in the summer of 1907 and her early move to Columbia was influenced by her feelings.[16]
- ^ Paxton and Ross remained close throughout their lives, meeting infrequently but carrying on a regular correspondence.[26]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Mary Paxton Keeley (1886-1986) | The State Historical Society of Missouri". collections.shsmo.org. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dains 1989, p. 147.
- ^ Hall, Martin Hardwick (1980). "The Civil War Letters of General Frank "Bull" Paxton, C.S.A.: A Lieutenant of Lee & Jackson, and: Texas in the Confederacy: Military Installations, Economy and People (review)". Civil War History. 26 (3): 282–284. doi:10.1353/cwh.1980.0035. ISSN 1533-6271.
- ^ Dains 1989, p. 16.
- ^ Burnes 2003, pp. 42–43.
- ^ ""Missouri Club Women, Independence" St. Louis Republic, pg 51, April 7, 1901". The St Louis Republic. 1901-04-07. p. 51. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ a b c d e "Mary Paxton Keeley". SHSMO Historic Missourians. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
- ^ Ferrell 2013, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Truman 1986, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Truman 1986, pp. 12–13.
- ^ Truman 1986, pp. 16–18.
- ^ Ferrell 1983, pp. 11–12.
- ^ Truman 1986, p. 13.
- ^ Farrar 1969, p. 50.
- ^ a b Weinberg 2008, p. 28.
- ^ a b c Truman 1986, p. 23.
- ^ Weinberg 2008, pp. 20–22.
- ^ Lockwood Williams 1929, p. 313.
- ^ a b c Burnes 2003, p. 42.
- ^ a b Farrar 1969, pp. 50–52.
- ^ a b c d Beasley 2008, p. 172.
- ^ Weinberg 2008, p. 29.
- ^ a b Winfield 2008, p. 172.
- ^ Firkus 2019, p. 63.
- ^ a b c Truman 1986, pp. 24–28.
- ^ Farrar 1998, p. 166.
- ^ a b c Burnes 2003, p. 43.
- ^ a b Batterson 2001, p. 105.
- ^ Farrar 1969, p. 52.
- ^ Batterson 2001, p. 102.
- ^ Hale 1968, p. 198.
- ^ Sale 2010, p. 133.
- ^ Gsell 2009, p. 14.
- ^ Beasley 2008, p. 173.
- ^ "Mary Paxton Keeley, the first female graduate of the... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
- ^ Flocke, Elizabeth Lynne (1987). The "Special" Way: Mary Paxton and Her Journalism Degree (Report).
- ^ Zang, Barbara (1987). Society Girl, Sob Sister, Journalism Educator: Mary Paxton Keeley, the First Woman Graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri (Report).
- ^ Coleman, Julie (2008-10-23). A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries: Volume III: 1859-1936. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-156358-4.
- ^ Bronner, Simon (2008-11-21). Killing Tradition: Inside Hunting and Animal Rights Controversies. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2641-8.
- ^ Beasley, Maurine (Spring 1986). "Women in journalism education: the formative period, 1908-1930". Journalism History. 13: 10–18.
- ^ Gerard, Sue. "Columbia learned a lot from Paxton Keeley, Wrench". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Staff, Vox (2019-05-30). "The stories behind the names of notable CoMo places". Vox Magazine. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "Page 68". digital.shsmo.org. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ Firkus, Angela (2019-10). "At the Factory, on the Street, and in State Institutions: Child Workers of Kansas City at the Turn of the Twentieth Century". Missouri Historical Review. 114 (1): 40–63.
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(help) - ^ Gsell, Lindsay (2009/04//Apr/May2009). "Don't Empty That Inbox". American Journalism Review. 31 (2): 14–15.
{{cite journal}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Ferrell, Robert H. (2013-07-22). Harry S. Truman: A Life. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6045-1.
- ^ Sale, Sara L. (2010). Bess Wallace Truman: Harry's White House "boss". University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1741-8.
- ^ Ferrell, Robert H., ed. (1998). Dear Bess: The Letters from Harry to Bess Truman, 1910-1959. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1203-0.
- ^ Weinberg, Steve (2008). A Journalism of Humanity: A Candid History of the World's First Journalism School (PDF). University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6646-0.
- ^ Lockwood Williams, Sara Lawrence (1929). Twenty Years of Education for Journalism: A History of the School of Journalism of the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, U.S.A. E.W. Stephens Publishing Company.
- ^ Farrar, Ronald T. (1969). Reluctant Servant: The Story of Charles G. Ross. University of Missouri Press.
- ^ Farrar, Ronald T. (2013-12-24). A Creed for My Profession: Walter Williams, Journalist to the World. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-6041-3.
- ^ Truman, Margaret (1987). Bess W. Truman. Berkley Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-515-08973-8.
- ^ Batterson, Paulina Ann (2001). Columbia College: 150 Years of Courage, Commitment, and Change. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1324-2.
- ^ Hale, Allean (1956). Petticoat Pioneer: The Christian College Story, 1851-1951. Christian College.
- ^ Winfield, Betty Houchin (2008). Journalism 1908: Birth of a Profession. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1813-1.
- ^ Burnes, Brian (2003). Harry S. Truman: His Life and Times. Kansas City Star Books. ISBN 978-0-9740009-3-0.
External links
- Oral History Interview with Mary Paxton Keeley
- https://flickr.com/photos/statehistoricalsocietyofmissouri/50748091462
- https://flickr.com/photos/188083331@N08/49911967278
- https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/personal-papers/correspondence-file-1889-1934/keeley-mary-paxton?documentid=14&pagenumber=1
- https://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A49166