Key Post - Jane Cunningham Croly

How the Press Covered Jane Cunningham Croly

Jane Cunningham Croly was a pioneer for women in journalism, breaking barriers and stereotypes with her multiple editor positions, vastly successful articles and columns that circulated nationwide, and her groundbreaking establishment of women’s press clubs. 

This blog post will be taking a deep dive into how the press acknowledged and commented on Croly as well as how they regarded her contributions to the journalistic world.

Background

In a previous post on my blog, I did a deep dive into Croly's life and achievements, but to best get the full picture of how the press evaluated Croly and her work it would be a disservice to not provide a brief recap on Croly's impact to the journalism world.

Croly was born in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England on December 19, 1829, and lived there with her family until they moved to the United States in 1841 (Woman's History Blog, 2020). The death of her father in 1854 prompted Croly to move to New York City and begin her career in journalism. 

Croly wrote under a pen name "Jennie June" and held a vast number of positions on many different papers. Articles by Jennie June were published in "The New York Tribune", "New York Sunday Times", "Noah’s Weekly Messenger" (where she had an extremely popular collum called “Parlor and Side-walk Gossip”), "The Herald," "New York World", "Rockford Daily News",  and "Mme. Demorest’s Mirror of Fashions" (which later became Demorest’s Monthly Magazine) as well as many other papers across the country (GFWC, Jane Cunningham Croly) She is credited with writing the first woman’s page in a newspaper as well as being the first woman to have a syndicated women’s column to appear in a newspaper in every state of the country.

As well as being an established journalist, Croly also wrote a fair share of books. Croly published three collections of her columns under the titles of Jennie Juneiana: Talks on Women’s Topics (1869), For Better or Worse: A Book for Some Men and All Women (1875), Thrown on Her Own Resources (1891) (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jane Cunningham Croly).  Croly also wrote a book called Jennie June’s American Cookery Book in 1866 that was a handbook to the young women filled advice on efficiency, preparedness, economy, and discipline as well as a recipe from other female icons and suffragettes of the time, for example, Susan B. Anthony's Apple Tapioca Pudding recipe.

Jennie June In the Press

Surprisingly the press seemed to regard Croly, who was more commonly referred to as Jennie June, well and praised her for her contributions to the Journalism world as well as her writing a whole. 

After her death in 1901, many women published articles memorializing Croly and her work for journalism as well as being a champion for women's equality and rights in the journalism world.

A journal article published after her death praised Jennie June for her contributions to feminism and female advancement in the journalism world, focusing largely on how her cookbook wasn't just a recipe book for women. The article compliment how in this book as well as giving cooking advice, Croly commented on how important that "coupled with the desire that her sex should consider well-cooked food was the belief that any domestic job well performed gave greater satisfaction. (Schlesinger, 1961)" This was a commentary on the time where women were demeaned and only seen as homemakers, reducing their importance to just being home in the kitchen.  The article praised Jennie June for not sticking to that mold and her campaign to see women's efforts, be it on the homefront or in the workforce, just as important as their male counterparts.

Another article, this time one solely dedicated to Croly's death, was published in "the Women's Journal" in Boston and was a pure celebration of Croly's legacy. The article wrote, "She had been a pioneer both in journalism and in club work, and was often called "The mother of Women's Clubs" (The Women's Journal, 1902). The article also touched on the fact while she may have butted heads with males in her profession while she was alive and fighting for equal rights, in her death there lay nothing but respect for the women. To directly quote the article "The thistles had changed to laurels for Mrs. Croly and the mud-throwing to roses and receptions, well before she went to her well-earned rest."

Jane Cunningham Croly was a woman who achieved a vast amount while she was alive, and it continued to be celebrated in her death. Press and scholars alike praise her for all she did for the journalism world and continue to acknowledge how much of an impact she made.

Sources

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Jane Cunningham Croly. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jane-Cunningham-Croly.  

In Memoriam. (1902, January 4). The Woman's Journal, 33(1), 5. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/SWFMNS961960293/AAHP?u=hpu_main&sid=AAHP&xid=0488653a

Jane Cunningham Croly. GFWC. (n.d.). https://www.gfwc.org/about/history-and-mission/jane-cunningham-croly/. 

Jane Cunningham Croly. History of American Women. (2020, May 31). https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2014/05/jane-cunningham-croly.html. 

Pitkin, H. (1902, January 11). An Evening at Mrs. Croly's. American Historical Periodicals. 

SCHLESINGER, E. (1961). THE NINETEENTH-CENTURY WOMAN'S DILEMMA AND JENNIE JUNE. New York History, 42(4), 365-379. Retrieved April 1, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23154250