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↑ (Courtesy of Western Historical Manuscript Collection) Mary Paxton Keeley (1886 - 1986)The world’s first school of journalism at MU had in its first class in 1908 64 men and six women, including Mary Paxton Keeley, who made history in 1910 as the first woman journalism graduate in the world. In her memoirs, Keeley remembered sitting on the steps of the school on the first day of classes. Back then, she wrote, “Editors laughed at the idea of teaching journalism.” Through no choice of her own, Keeley wore her gender like a brand. In a 1969 interview, she recalled helping put out the first edition of the Missourian in 1908. “The city room was a scene of great excitement all night long,” she said. “My own part was small but necessary. Mrs. Silas Bent, Florence LaTourn — the only other girls in the School of Journalism — and I, made coffee and sandwiches all night for the busy workers, who were too rushed to say thank you, which we did not expect.” After graduation, Keeley went to work for the Kansas City Post, where she was the only female reporter in town. In her memoir, Keeley recalled that no “decent” newspaper at the time would hire a woman. “I became such a curiosity that people used to come into the office just to stare at me,” she wrote. Also in the collection are critiques and letters about her 1928 book, “River Gold,” which, according to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch critic, was “written by accident,” and an illustrated, Spanish version of her children’s story, “The Little Baby Who Hadn’t Any Tooth.” The tale was eventually picked up by Rand McNally publishers and Child Life magazine. Keeley’s MU diploma set a precedent for women in journalism. As the 20th century began to unfold, others followed her path to the nation’s newsrooms. |
