Anne O'Hare McCormick | |
|---|---|
 Anne O'Hare McCormick | |
| Born | Anne O'Hare May 16, 1880 Wakefield, Yorkshire, Great Britain |
| Died | May 29, 1954 (aged 74) New York, United States |
| Nationality | British, American |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Years active | 1910-1954 |
| Known for | First woman recipient of a major Pulitzer Prize in journalism, first woman to join the editorial board of The New York Times |
Anne O'Hare McCormick (16 May 1880 – 29 May 1954) was an English-American journalist who worked as a foreign news correspondent for The New York Times. In an era where the field was almost exclusively "a man's world", she became the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize in a major journalism category, winning in 1937 for correspondence. Her husband's job led to frequent travels abroad, and her career as a journalist became more specialized.
In 1921, she approached The New York Times about the prospect of becoming a freelance contributor from Europe. In 1936, she became the first woman to be appointed to the editorial board of the Times.
In 1939, with World War II imminent, McCormick spent five months in 13 different nations, speaking with both political leaders and ordinary citizens in reporting the growing crisis. She was reported to have spent time with President Franklin D. Roosevelt discussing policy. For her reporting during World War II, the War Department honored McCormick in 1946 with a campaign medal in recognition of "outstanding and conspicuous service with the armed forces under difficult and hazardous combat conditions."[1] Also in 1946, McCormick was selected to represent the US as a member of the first delegation to the UNESCO conference at the United Nations.
According to reporter Julia Edwards, in the chapter 'Anne O'Hare McCormick and the Changing Times' in her book Women of the World: The Great Foreign Correspondents, McCormick "established a new standard for commentary on world affairs. Displacing generations of armchair pundits, she explored a world in conflict to answer the question - Why?" [2]