Lorena Hickok was an effective and brilliant journalist who lived through the Great Depression and World War II. Her austere prose revealed the realities of the American life during the Great Depression, and more importantly, her controversial relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt helped bolster the first lady in her time of need.
Hickok was born to a poor family with an abusive father in a remote town in Wisconsin. Looking to escape, she left her family as a teenager and was eventually adopted by a relative. She finished high school and started college, only to drop out after a tense disagreement with the dean of the school. She drifted about, developing her talents as a journalist for minor publications before stopping at the Minneapolis Tribune, where she found a mentor in Thomas J. Dillion. Dillion taught her the secrets of journalism and the lessons of life, profoundly shaping Hickok into the brilliant journalist she would become known to be. Hickok’s journalism was a divergence from the traditional journalism of women at the time, as she covered topics such as politics and sports when most women were confined to the topic of society. Hickok’s dauntless ambition and intense personality landed her opportunities at the Associated Press in New York, where she would make a name for herself as one of the most capable journalists of the time.
It was at the Associated Press, however, where she would meet someone who would be with her for the rest of her life. In the campaigning period for the election of 1936, Hickok was assigned to cover the wife of the Democratic candidate for the presidency, Eleanor Roosevelt. What Hickok found when covering Eleanor was a women in turmoil, and someone who she would develop a lasting relationship with. The exact nature of Hickok’s relationship with Eleanor is widely debated, however, it is clear that there was intimacy between the two women. Hickok would eventually leave the Associated Press because of her subjectivity with the Roosevelts, and would go on to would at the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, or FERA, under Harry Hopkins, at Eleanor’s suggestion. Hickok would go on to document much of the brutal realities of American life in the Great Depression, opening the eyes of the President and Hopkins to the effects of the New Deal from a civilian’s perspective.
However, Hickok was not able to work at FERA after her diabetes worsened, and she would go on to stay in close proximity with the First Lady for the rest of her life, offering advice and acting as a confidante for Eleanor’s troubles. There is more to their relationship than it seems, though, when looking at the two women’s success after the peak of their relationship was over. Eleanor went on to fully embrace the role of First Lady, and would be celebrated as the “First Lady of the World”. Hickok, however, would never again reach the status of her previous journalistic achievements, having sidelined her career for Eleanor.
The story of Lorena Hickok is an interesting one, with much turmoil and happiness but always with a poised clarity, reminiscent of her style of journalism that made her who she is remembered as today.
https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/hickok-lorena.cfm
Henry, thank you for providing some insight on this important person we have learned about. I found it interesting how Hickok was able to break the mold of women journalists by reporting on more controversial topics and through her ambition and intensity. I think this might have been one of the reasons she connected with Eleanor Roosevelt so well. Eleanor was an influential woman who changed the role of First Lady through her participation in politics. Clearly, these two women both improved the status and power of women by doing things differently and by being such influential figures.
ReplyDeleteLorena Hickok was a fascinating woman! She was brave and willing to expose aspects of life in America that weren't as widely represented. Her relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt is truly fascinating. Like Shawn Huang said, they were both influential women who were incredibly ambitious, which is probably one of the reasons they were so close. I think it is interesting that people are still debating whether or not they were in a romantic relationship. Many books are still written on this topic today.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on this post! It's fascinating to read about a successful female journalist from the 20th century. In class we talked a lot about how women began working in industry and manufacturing jobs. We haven't really talked about women in journalism, and I thought this was really interesting to learn more about. Lorena Hickok certainly didn't fit the mold for a typical woman during the Great Depression. "Dauntless" and "intense" weren't exactly the words that society would use to describe women. It's great to see someone defying stereotypical gender roles and becoming a bold, successful female journalist.
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