Woman in a Man's Domain:
Women Columnists Seize the Front Page

At the beginning of the 19th century, women were encouraged to submit their writing from home and to use pseudonyms. Nevertheless, determined women sought a place in this traditional male domain beyond the society pages of newspapers.

Anne Newport Royall, born in western Virginia in 1796, became the first well-known travel writer. From 1821-1826, Royall traveled throughout the United States reporting on her findings, adventures, and experiences. She successfully secured a personal interview with every president from John Quincy Adams (1825-29) to Franklin Pierce (1853-57), as well as prominent leaders such as New York Mayor DeWitt Clinton and famed French General Lafayette.

Anne Newport Royall's publication, The Huntress. Library of Congress

Her later years, however, were controversial. She settled in Washington, D.C. in 1836 and launched her own paper, The Huntress, in which she exposed corruption within the American political bureaucracy. A second paper had an even more revealing name: Paul Pry. Although some admired Royall, her neighbors succeeded in convicting her as an “uncommon scold.” Congressmen who feared her stinging editorials made a cruel point of blocking her legitimate claim to a pension as the widow of a Revolutionary War soldier.

Anne Newport Royall's book, Letters From Alabama , is a compilation of her letters to lawyer Matthew Dunbar during her travels throughout that state . Library of Congress

Sara Payton Willis Parton, a.k.a “Fanny Fern.” Published in 1866. Library of Congress LC-USZ62-113065

Royall wrote her last words in 1854, soon after Sara Payson Willis Parton entered journalism. A widow with two young daughters to support, she entered journalism at age 40 and from 1851 to 1872, published weekly columns for multiple periodicals. Using the pseudonym “Fanny Fern,” she soon won fame and especially fortune: the New York Ledger paid her $100 per column, the highest salary among columnists in 1855. She used satire and the commonalities of the feminine experience, comically critiquing women's clothing. She supported suffrage, commented on the experience of motherhood, and poked fun at hopelessly flawed husbands. In 1869, she co-founded the first women's professional literary club, Sorosis.

Fanny Fern's article, “A Whisper to Gentlemen.” Fern offers “advice” to gentlemen in this witty, sarcastic critique of their behavior toward women. Library of Congress (Thomson Gale online catalog)