Front-Page Girls

Nell Nelson andThe Chicago Times“City slave girls” series

“…Specifically, Lutes references three New York World articles dated November 18, 1888. November 25, 1888, and March 3, 1889(2006 and credits authorship to Nelson. These three articles (from the brief recount offered by Lutes) appear to be where the term "slave girl" began to also take on a more sexual connotation, as this is the first time sex and a quid pro quo situation is mentioned in an article (suggesting that this was a prevalent occurrence in the workplace).…”

“Like Home”: Gerrymandering the Physical Public Sphere in Female Journalist Narratives

“…Despite arguably being the inciting incident that "marked the beginning of her journalism career," Wells describes her fight against the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company, from inciting incident to final verdict, in a mere three pages. 62 When the conductor insists she move from the ladies' car to the smoker, Wells refuses and bites his hand when he tries to remove her before, she writes, "I braced my feet against the seat in front and was holding to the back … He went forward and got the baggage-man and another man to help him and of course they succeeded in dragging me out. They were encouraged to do this by the attitude of the white ladies and gentlemen in the car," who "continued applauding the conductor for his brave stand."…”

“…As Jean Lutes explains, Wells's experience on the train emblematizes the unique gerrymandering affecting women beyond the white bourgeois: They were only accepted as nonthreatening forces within the physical public sphere if they served as laborers. 64 Any movement alongside middle-or upper-class white women (or as equals to white men) was seen as a serious threat to the social status quo.…”

“…It was this concern about entering the wrong space, Lutes argues, that dissuaded most nonwhite newspaperwomen from engaging in stunt journalism; one notable exception is Victoria Earle Matthews, an African American journalist who entered segregated spaces by passing for white to report on the discrimination she faced. 67 To pass for the purpose of writing about the experience is a risk; to pass for the purpose of working in mainstream spaces was even riskier. Edith Eaton chose the latter route, sometimes hiding her maternal Chinese ancestry in certain white spaces and jobs, but also regularly writing under the Americanized Cantonese name Sui Sin Far to advocate for her fellow immigrants.…”