Wednesday, February 13, 2008

1905: Women aren't so bad after all


The Evergreen had a female editor-in-chief for a few months in 1899, but 1904-05 marked the first time a woman led the newsroom the whole year. Her name was Zella Bisbee, and she was a Spokane native who majored in mathematics and physics. She seems kind of humorless, but that's okay. Here's what the 1905 Chinook had to say:

"It has been said that a lady was not fitted for the editorship of a college paper, and not without some reason. Nevertheless, the fact that we have had a lady editor during this entire year and a college paper that has been up to the standard of any in the Northwest in every particular, has proven conclusively that there are exceptions to this rule. The other members of the staff, it is true, were loyal in their support, but the burden of work and responsibility were borne by the Editor."

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