Inspired and Possessed: San Francisco Women Newspaper Publishers - Revision history

Ccarlsson at 03:40, 25 August 2024

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	[[Image:Inspired Marietta-Beers-Stow.jpg\|340px\|rigt]]		[[Image:Inspired Marietta-Beers-Stow.jpg\|340px\|rigt]]

	'''Marietta Beers-Stow, shown in this lithograph portrait, was the most politically astute and successful of the San Francisco women newspaper publishers. She wrote several books addressing women's legal disabilities and was the first woman to run for vice-president, on the Equal Rights Party ticket with Belva Lockwood in 1884.''		'''Marietta Beers-Stow, shown in this lithograph portrait, was the most politically astute and successful of the San Francisco women newspaper publishers. She wrote several books addressing women's legal disabilities and was the first woman to run for vice-president, on the Equal Rights Party ticket with Belva Lockwood in 1884.'''

	''Courtesy The Bancroft Library''		''Courtesy The Bancroft Library''

Ccarlsson at 03:37, 25 August 2024

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	Though Pitts Stevens evoked certain ideals of the Enlightenment, her interest in human rights did not extend past white women of early American descent. "Think of it!" she wrote, "Hans, Sambo, Patrick, Young Chung, who never read a line of the Constitution, or a word of the Declaration, making laws for the lineal daughters of the framers of that Constitution, the signers of that Declaration." She went on to ask, "would the gentlemen who tell us to wait until the Negro is safe, before we claim suffrage, be willing to stand aside themselves, and trust their interests in like hands?"(19) Her racism echoed the well-documented response of leading women reformers like Anthony and Stanton, who were especially bitter over what they interpreted as betrayal by the Abolitionists, who had failed to support the inclusion of women in the battle over passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.		Though Pitts Stevens evoked certain ideals of the Enlightenment, her interest in human rights did not extend past white women of early American descent. "Think of it!" she wrote, "Hans, Sambo, Patrick, Young Chung, who never read a line of the Constitution, or a word of the Declaration, making laws for the lineal daughters of the framers of that Constitution, the signers of that Declaration." She went on to ask, "would the gentlemen who tell us to wait until the Negro is safe, before we claim suffrage, be willing to stand aside themselves, and trust their interests in like hands?"(19) Her racism echoed the well-documented response of leading women reformers like Anthony and Stanton, who were especially bitter over what they interpreted as betrayal by the Abolitionists, who had failed to support the inclusion of women in the battle over passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.

	Along with publishers Schenck and Carrie Fisher Young of the ''Woman's Pacific Coast Journal'', Pitts Stevens was among the 3,300 signers of the CWSA petition for woman suffrage to the California State Legislature in 1870. For Pitts Stevens, publishing a newspaper provided a forum for her reform energies. While suffrage might have been the question of the age, she also worked to find pragmatic and immediate solutions to women's labor and working conditions. She actively trained and hired women to set type for her newspaper. She also promoted the new [Women’s Co-operative Printing Union\|Women's Co-operative Printing Union (WCPU)]], a print shop begun in 1868 by Agnes B. Peterson, and she worked with Peterson to make the shop economically viable.		Along with publishers Schenck and Carrie Fisher Young of the ''Woman's Pacific Coast Journal'', Pitts Stevens was among the 3,300 signers of the CWSA petition for woman suffrage to the California State Legislature in 1870. For Pitts Stevens, publishing a newspaper provided a forum for her reform energies. While suffrage might have been the question of the age, she also worked to find pragmatic and immediate solutions to women's labor and working conditions. She actively trained and hired women to set type for her newspaper. She also promoted the new [[Women’s Co-operative Printing Union\|Women's Co-operative Printing Union (WCPU)]], a print shop begun in 1868 by Agnes B. Peterson, and she worked with Peterson to make the shop economically viable.

	Peterson had launched the print shop shortly after her arrival in San Francisco in response to her inability to find employment as a compositor during Typographical Union no. 21's ban on hiring women. It was not until 1870, when the printers' union staged an eleven-day strike against wage deflation in the newspaper business—and lost—that union shops finally hired women compositors. By the time of the strike, through the efforts of Lester, Pitts Stevens, and Peterson, there was a sizable number of trained female compositors in the city. ''The Call'', desperate to meet its deadline, hired some of these women compositors, was pleasantly surprised with the quality of their work, and wrote about it in the next edition.(20) The ban on women working for union newspapers, one of the most lucrative positions available to compositors, was finally broken in San Francisco.		Peterson had launched the print shop shortly after her arrival in San Francisco in response to her inability to find employment as a compositor during Typographical Union no. 21's ban on hiring women. It was not until 1870, when the printers' union staged an eleven-day strike against wage deflation in the newspaper business—and lost—that union shops finally hired women compositors. By the time of the strike, through the efforts of Lester, Pitts Stevens, and Peterson, there was a sizable number of trained female compositors in the city. ''The Call'', desperate to meet its deadline, hired some of these women compositors, was pleasantly surprised with the quality of their work, and wrote about it in the next edition.(20) The ban on women working for union newspapers, one of the most lucrative positions available to compositors, was finally broken in San Francisco.

Ccarlsson at 03:36, 25 August 2024

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	Other ventures devoted to promoting women's employment opportunities in San Francisco appeared. The El Dorado Publishing Association incorporated in early 1869 with the express purpose of printing a newspaper "devoted to the interests of the Women of the Pacific Coast." More than two hundred association members included prominent, established merchants of both sexes, and the funding and support they contributed to this venture was impressive. The managing board included three men and three women, including Virginia F. Russell as editor. From its first issue, the paper was fraught with conflicting messages from its first issue. An article titled "The Woman's Paper," and signed by “Father," noted: "The time has come when the elevation of woman must and will be a subject of not only thought, but of deep, earnest advocacy by the good and philanthropic everywhere-and it is by the Printing Press that this great end is to be achieved."(13) Yet, in this same issue editor Russell announced to the public that ''The El Dorado'' "is what is called a 'woman's paper'—i.e., a paper conducted by women, and devoted to the interests of the women of the Pacific Coast. It is NOT and will NOT be an advocate of 'Womans Rights,' as enunciated by certain hot-headed dames whose zeal runs away with their discretion."(14) The newspaper did not survive to its one-year anniversary, however, perhaps because its large membership held conflicting visions of its purpose.		Other ventures devoted to promoting women's employment opportunities in San Francisco appeared. The El Dorado Publishing Association incorporated in early 1869 with the express purpose of printing a newspaper "devoted to the interests of the Women of the Pacific Coast." More than two hundred association members included prominent, established merchants of both sexes, and the funding and support they contributed to this venture was impressive. The managing board included three men and three women, including Virginia F. Russell as editor. From its first issue, the paper was fraught with conflicting messages from its first issue. An article titled "The Woman's Paper," and signed by “Father," noted: "The time has come when the elevation of woman must and will be a subject of not only thought, but of deep, earnest advocacy by the good and philanthropic everywhere-and it is by the Printing Press that this great end is to be achieved."(13) Yet, in this same issue editor Russell announced to the public that ''The El Dorado'' "is what is called a 'woman's paper'—i.e., a paper conducted by women, and devoted to the interests of the women of the Pacific Coast. It is NOT and will NOT be an advocate of 'Womans Rights,' as enunciated by certain hot-headed dames whose zeal runs away with their discretion."(14) The newspaper did not survive to its one-year anniversary, however, perhaps because its large membership held conflicting visions of its purpose.

	The same year the El Dorado was launched, the ''Sunday Mercury'' was taken over by editor [[Emily Pitts Stevens\|Emily Pitts Stevens]]. Born into a middle-class New York family, Pitts Stevens had moved to San Francisco in 1865 to teach at a girls' school. Having learned how to set type, she turned to newspaper work after two years of teaching. When she assumed the editorship of The Sunday Mercury in January of 1869, she, like Day and Lester before her, changed the paper's focus to match her interests more closely. Among her new regular columns were "Woman's Suffrage," "Good Words for Women," and "Facts for Women." It took Pitts Stevens a few months to remake the entire paper, but before long ''The Sunday Mercury'' routinely carried articles with headlines like: "The Question of the Age," "What is Women's Sphere?" and "The Next Great Question of the Time."(15) "It must be clear," she wrote, "to every far-seeing mind that the subject of woman suffrage will be the next great question entering into national politics."(16) By November she renamed the paper ''The Pioneer'', proudly noting on the masthead that it was "devoted to the promotion of human rights."(17) Advocating the feminization of politics, she wrote that suffrage would not be "the work of a day ... We do not advocate female suffrage in itself, but only as a means to secure the higher and nobler objects which we advocate."(18)		The same year the ''El Dorado'' was launched, the ''Sunday Mercury'' was taken over by editor [[Emily Pitts Stevens\|Emily Pitts Stevens]]. Born into a middle-class New York family, Pitts Stevens had moved to San Francisco in 1865 to teach at a girls' school. Having learned how to set type, she turned to newspaper work after two years of teaching. When she assumed the editorship of ''The Sunday Mercury'' in January of 1869, she, like Day and Lester before her, changed the paper's focus to match her interests more closely. Among her new regular columns were "Woman's Suffrage," "Good Words for Women," and "Facts for Women." It took Pitts Stevens a few months to remake the entire paper, but before long ''The Sunday Mercury'' routinely carried articles with headlines like: "The Question of the Age," "What is Women's Sphere?" and "The Next Great Question of the Time."(15) "It must be clear," she wrote, "to every far-seeing mind that the subject of woman suffrage will be the next great question entering into national politics."(16) By November she renamed the paper ''The Pioneer'', proudly noting on the masthead that it was "devoted to the promotion of human rights."(17) Advocating the feminization of politics, she wrote that suffrage would not be "the work of a day ... We do not advocate female suffrage in itself, but only as a means to secure the higher and nobler objects which we advocate."(18)

	Though Pitts Stevens evoked certain ideals of the Enlightenment, her interest in human rights did not extend past white women of early American descent. "Think of it!" she wrote, "Hans, Sambo, Patrick, Young Chung, who never read a line of the Constitution, or a word of the Declaration, making laws for the lineal daughters of the framers of that Constitution, the signers of that Declaration." She went on to ask, "would the gentlemen who tell us to wait until the Negro is safe, before we claim suffrage, be willing to stand aside themselves, and trust their interests in like hands?"(19) Her racism echoed the well-documented response of leading women reformers like Anthony and Stanton, who were especially bitter over what they interpreted as betrayal by the Abolitionists, who had failed to support the inclusion of women in the battle over passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.		Though Pitts Stevens evoked certain ideals of the Enlightenment, her interest in human rights did not extend past white women of early American descent. "Think of it!" she wrote, "Hans, Sambo, Patrick, Young Chung, who never read a line of the Constitution, or a word of the Declaration, making laws for the lineal daughters of the framers of that Constitution, the signers of that Declaration." She went on to ask, "would the gentlemen who tell us to wait until the Negro is safe, before we claim suffrage, be willing to stand aside themselves, and trust their interests in like hands?"(19) Her racism echoed the well-documented response of leading women reformers like Anthony and Stanton, who were especially bitter over what they interpreted as betrayal by the Abolitionists, who had failed to support the inclusion of women in the battle over passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.

Ccarlsson at 03:35, 25 August 2024

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Ccarlsson at 03:29, 25 August 2024

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	The personal and biographical information on many of these publishers is sparse. Not surprisingly, almost all were recent arrivals in California, some came here with the express intention of working in printing or publishing. Many moved about before coming to California, and others arrived as part of that large cohort of people who responded to the possibility of opportunity and adventure the West offered. Most acquired their knowledge of printing before arriving in San Francisco and quickly put their energies into finding suitable employment for their skills. Like editors everywhere, these women held strong opinions on the leading issues of their day, made a point to get those issues in print, and occasionally found themselves involved in contentious disputes.		The personal and biographical information on many of these publishers is sparse. Not surprisingly, almost all were recent arrivals in California, some came here with the express intention of working in printing or publishing. Many moved about before coming to California, and others arrived as part of that large cohort of people who responded to the possibility of opportunity and adventure the West offered. Most acquired their knowledge of printing before arriving in San Francisco and quickly put their energies into finding suitable employment for their skills. Like editors everywhere, these women held strong opinions on the leading issues of their day, made a point to get those issues in print, and occasionally found themselves involved in contentious disputes.

	Sarah Moore Clarke became the first known woman editor in California when her newspaper, ''The Contra Costa', debuted in September of 1854. Its short life of only one year, in her case due to ill health, was a portent of the difficulties all the others would face. The next newspaper to be published by a woman, ''The Hesperian'', lasted five years from 1858 to 1863 and had four female editors in succession. It was begun by A. M. Schulz as a woman's literary magazine. Hermione Day followed and quickly put her personal stamp on the paper by shifting Schulz's original focus on entertainment to labor issues and working conditions. "Look at the employments vouchsafed to our women. Look at their pay, when they labor diligently and faithfully all their lives long, poor creatures, in the hope of saving a little for the day of sorrow-that they may not be obliged to marry."(10) The newspaper's third editor, Elizabeth T. Schenck, found herself in extreme financial difficulties and brought in another editor, the Reverend J.D. Strong, to help her keep the paper afloat. Schenck soon sold it to Strong and his wife, Mrs. M.D. Strong. During their short tenure the Strongs returned the newspaper to financial stability and changed its name to The Pacific Monthly. Late in 1863 the Strongs sold the newspaper to one of the most colorful women in this study, Lisle Lester.		Sarah Moore Clarke became the first known woman editor in California when her newspaper, ''The Contra Costa'', debuted in September of 1854. Its short life of only one year, in her case due to ill health, was a portent of the difficulties all the others would face. The next newspaper to be published by a woman, ''The Hesperian'', lasted five years from 1858 to 1863 and had four female editors in succession. It was begun by A. M. Schulz as a woman's literary magazine. Hermione Day followed and quickly put her personal stamp on the paper by shifting Schulz's original focus on entertainment to labor issues and working conditions. "Look at the employments vouchsafed to our women. Look at their pay, when they labor diligently and faithfully all their lives long, poor creatures, in the hope of saving a little for the day of sorrow-that they may not be obliged to marry."(10) The newspaper's third editor, Elizabeth T. Schenck, found herself in extreme financial difficulties and brought in another editor, the Reverend J.D. Strong, to help her keep the paper afloat. Schenck soon sold it to Strong and his wife, Mrs. M.D. Strong. During their short tenure the Strongs returned the newspaper to financial stability and changed its name to The Pacific Monthly. Late in 1863 the Strongs sold the newspaper to one of the most colorful women in this study, Lisle Lester.

	[[Image:Inspired Leslie-Lester.jpg\|320px\|right]]		[[Image:Inspired Leslie-Lester.jpg\|320px\|right]]

Ccarlsson at 03:27, 25 August 2024

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	[[Image:Inspired Hesperian.jpg\|380px\|right]]		[[Image:Inspired Hesperian.jpg\|380px\|right]]

	'''''The Hesperian'', one of the longest running newspapers published by a woman, had four successive owners or co-owners. The last among them, Reverend J. D. and Mrs. M. D.Strong, changed its name to ''The Pacific Monthly'' shortly before selling it to Lisle Lester in 1863.'''		'''''The Hesperian'', one of the longest running newspapers published by a woman, had four successive owners or co-owners. The last among them, Reverend J. D. and Mrs. M. D. Strong, changed its name to ''The Pacific Monthly'' shortly before selling it to Lisle Lester in 1863.'''

	''Courtesy The Bancroft Library''		''Courtesy The Bancroft Library''

Ccarlsson: Created page with "''' Historical Essay ''' ''by Anne M. Breedlove'' ''Originally published in ''California History'' magazine, Vol. 80, No. 1, Spring 2001, pp. 48-63.'' right '''''The Hesperian'', one of the longest running newspapers published by a woman, had four successive owners or co-owners. The last among them, Reverend J. D. and Mrs. M. D.Strong, changed its nam..."

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Created page with "''' Historical Essay ''' ''by Anne M. Breedlove'' ''Originally published in ''California History'' magazine, Vol. 80, No. 1, Spring 2001, pp. 48-63.'' 380px|right '''''The Hesperian'', one of the longest running newspapers published by a woman, had four successive owners or co-owners. The last among them, Reverend J. D. and Mrs. M. D.Strong, changed its nam..."

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