This is a guest post by Rachel McNellis, an archivist in the Manuscript Division.
In 1915, Idah S. Pratt Foster, a young woman born in the small town of Farina, Illinois, bought the Redondo Breeze, a newspaper in Redondo Beach, California. Women had worked in the newspaper industry since the colonial period, with many inheriting the family business. By the end of the nineteenth century, it was not unheard of for single women to establish or purchase small town newspapers. Foster exemplified the accomplishments of her predecessors and became known for her business acuity and astonishing workload. Researchers are invited to explore the newly processed Idah S. Pratt Foster Papers in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division for a glimpse into Foster’s career and personal life as well as advice on tasks still relevant today—from running a newspaper and planning an exhibition, to writing a dating profile and finding love.
Foster garnered national fame—in more ways than one—soon after buying the Redondo Breeze. Her actions caught the attention of the Los Angeles Examiner, which published a profile on Foster featuring a photograph of her operating a printing press with the question “Must Girl Editor Work?” The answer is a definite yes, revealed through a busy daily schedule as “owner, chief editor, star reporter, advertising manager and head pressman.” Why did she take on so many responsibilities? Foster answers this herself: “I expect to prove—if it needs proof—that a woman can do a man’s work—several, if necessary.”
Foster’s endeavors were apparently quite attractive to single gentlemen of the time. Another newspaper reported that Foster had received thirty marriage proposals after the profile was published and newspapers across the country picked up her story. Her first suitor promised her half of his gold mine in exchange for her hand in marriage while another young man enclosed his photograph and offered her $100 to find him a wife in Redondo Beach. A widower sought a mother for his seven children, a task he claimed was comparable to her rigorous duties as a newspaper owner. All were left brokenhearted when Foster personally responded to each letter but rejected even the most generous of proposals.
While Foster’s success as a newspaper owner is notable, the Examiner article only captured one aspect of her remarkable life. In 1915, while owner of the Redondo Breeze, Foster organized a model kitchen and laundry exhibit at the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, California. She attended the National Service School for Women in Washington, D.C., a training school that taught skills women might need for national service during wars and natural disasters. In 1916 she married Carol Howe Foster, an English professor at the U.S. Naval Academy. She became active in the American Red Cross and was a dedicated women’s rights advocate, serving on the national council of the National Woman’s Party later in her life.
And so, beginning with her bold purchase of the Redondo Breeze, Foster maintained a lifelong commitment to promoting equality for women and accomplished what she first set out to do: “To prove—if it needs proof—that a woman can do a man’s work.” Those who desire further evidence of her success need only consult her scrapbook and other papers in the Manuscript Division.
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“…with many inheriting the family business.” “Women in the News Business,” American Women: Resources from the Serial & Government Publications Collections, Library of Congress, accessed October 30, 2024.
“…or purchase small town newspapers.” Sherilyn Cox Bennion, Equal to the Occasion: Women Editors of the Nineteenth-Century West (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1983), 1-41.
“Foster answers this herself…” “Must Girl Editor Work? Ask Miss Idah Pratt,” Los Angeles Examiner, July 18, 1915. Box OV 1, Idah S. Pratt Foster Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
“…even the most generous of proposals.” “30 Propose to Beach Girl All Due to ‘Examiner Story,’” clipping from unidentified newspaper, 1915. Box 1, Idah S. Pratt Foster Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
“…later in her life.” “C. H. Foster, Naval Instructor, Married. Weds Mrs. Idah Sidonia Pratt, of Decatur, Ill., at Alexandria – To Live in Capital,” Washington Times, July 19, 1916. Box OV 1, Idah S. Pratt Foster Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress; “Mrs. Idah S. Foster, 83, Widow of U.S. Consul,” The Evening Star. Washington, D.C., August 16, 1967. Box 1, Idah S. Pratt Foster Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.