Toni Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, as well as the Nobel Prize in Literature. The first black woman of any nationality to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, her citation reads “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” As a tribute to Morrison who died in August of this year at age 88, we feature other women who have won the Pulitzer Prize: Edith Wharton and Margaret Mitchell. The Pulitzer Prizes were established by newspaper journalist Joseph Pulitzer. They honor excellence in writing, the arts, drama and music.
Writer Edith Wharton wrote novels, short stories and plays; she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. That occurred in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence.
The newspaper business has welcomed women for many years; women have had much success as both publishers and editors (leadership positions) since the time of the American Revolution. For example, a woman was the first to publish the Declaration of Independence with the names of the signers.
The arts, including dance, are an important part of our culture. Women have innovated in dance theory, founded whole new schools of dance and thrilled us with their beauty and grace. Who can forget Ginger Rogers who did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels? Or the beautiful ballet of Maria Tallchief? In this month’s ENewsletter we profile two women who brought the art of dance to new levels: Ruth St. Denis and Judith Jamison.
Ruth St. Denis began acting and dancing in vaudeville and musical comedies when she was in her teens. In 1906, she premiered her first dance work in New York City; she incorporated Asian art and dance into her performance.
The Civil War affected everyone, both in the North and in the South in the U.S. We are reminded of this time in our country’s history as we follow the recent events in Washington, D.C. at the Treasury Department.
Newspapers have been important sources of information during much of this country’s history. In this month’s ENewsletter we profile two women who ran newspapers and made historic contributions in those roles: Mary Katherine Goddard and Katharine Graham.
Born in 1738, Mary Katherine Goddard learned the printing business from her brother in Providence, Rhode Island, after the death of her physician father. With her mother, she published the Providence Gazette.
Jill Tietjen, co-author of Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America, appeared on Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Biscuits to Biscuits sharing information about the founder of Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low.