National Women's History Month - Investigative Reporters

 Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

Nellie Bly, Polly Pry were two early reporters. There were a number of others. In this post, I am sharing some stories of additional women and their work.

Eva McDonald Valesh
from Wikipedia

Eva Valesh was also known as Eva Gay. Eva began her career as a reporter in Minnesota by exposing labor issues. Born Mary Eva McDonald in Maine in 1866, the family moved to Minnesota when Eva was still young. In 1888 an article on the working conditions for women in the garment industry was the first of many for the St. Paul Globe where Eva went undercover to learn the truth about labor conditions. 

After the difficulty of the birth of her son Frank in 1891, Eva continued her news career working at editing instead of undercover. In 1896 Eva moved to New York. She continued working for the rights of the worker. She ended her career as a proofreader for the New York Times. She died at the age of ninety in 1956.

Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson
from Wikipedia

Eleanor Stackhouse was born in Indiana in 1863. She worked as a teacher, and between 1888 and 1890 she wrote for the Chicago Tribune under the name Nora Marks. Her focus was on domestic workers. There were times she'd pose as a worker, others as a wealthy matron looking for help. 

Unlike Valesh, Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson moved on to write novels, most notably "Greyfriars Bobby". She died on November 4, 1942.

Link to the first Eva Gay St. Paul Globe article: Mong Girls Who Toil

You can find two of Atkinson's works here: Greyfriars Bobby and Lincoln's Love Story

Until next time happy reading and writing.

Doris McCraw