The Public Relations Work of Journalism Trailblazer and First Lady Confidante Lorena Hickok, 1937–45

Abstract

This article draws on both primary and secondary sources to help understand the evolution of the public relations profession through a biographical analysis of Lorena Hickok, a reporter who was the first woman to have a front-page byline in the New York Times and to hold a PR position in the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. In examining her lesser-known public relations career at the World's Fair from 1937 to 1940 and at the Democratic National Committee from 1940 to 1945, the authors found that she implemented asymmetrical public relations and relationship maintenance strategies, which were both forms of a developing managerial function in the public relations field. Information about this period of her work adds to the history of women in political public relations.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Diana Knott Martinelli

DIANA KNOTT MARTINELLI (left) is the Widmeyer Communications Professor in Public Relations at the P.I. Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University

Shannon A. Bowen

SHANNON A. BOWEN is an associate professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. The authors are grateful to former WVU graduate student Justin McLaughlin, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library staff, and the journal's reviewers for their assistance.