Lee Miller: Fashionista and War Correspondent

It was not until after Lee Miller’s death, that her only child Anthony Penrose discovered 60,000 prints, negatives, and articles in the attic of her home. He knew nothing of that segment of her life, and as a result, collected many of the items into a book entitled The Lives of Lee Miller. An apt title because of the number of careers Lee held.

She had a difficult and somewhat odd childhood. Raped by a family friend when she was only seven years old, she modeled in the nude for her father’s amateur photography business. Leaving home, she traveled to New York to study art, but was discovered by Vogue founder, Conde Nast, who saved her life when she stepped off the curb into oncoming traffic. Captivated by her beauty, he offered her a contract to model for him, and a star was born. She became one of New York’s top models.

Eventually growing bored of the modeling life, she traveled to Paris and joined the surrealism movement and did some more modeling. It was during the time period that she tried her hand at photography, perhaps remembering her father’s hobby. Her work was quite good, and she received recognition for her work. Several years later she returned to New York and set up a studio where out of which she did portrait and commercial photography.

More years past, and she once again headed to Europe where she settled in London. It wasn’t long before she was caught in the midst of WWII. Knowing opportunity when she saw it, she managed to obtain accreditation through the U.S. Government as a journalist for Conde Nast Publications (Vogue Magazine) as one of the 127 accredited female correspondents.

Famous for a picture of herself bathing in Hitler’s bathtub, Miller had a keen eye behind the lens. She sent hundreds of photos back to the magazine during the Blitz and from all over war-torn England. Because of miscommunication, she arrived in Paris before it was liberated, and as a result, was confined by the Allied command until the Germans retreated. Toward the end of the war, she managed to make her way to Dachau where she captured pictures of the camp’s liberation. Most of her photos were gritty and grim, but it was important to her that American’s understand the scope of war.

Lee Miller had come a long way from being the face of Vogue.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. What is your favorite famous photograph?

A freelance writer for over ten years, Linda Shenton Matchett is the author of several romance novellas. Under Fire, the first in her trilogy about WWII war correspondent/amateur sleuth Ruth Brown was released in July by eLectio Publishing and is also available on Amazon or from your favorite bookstore. Visit Linda at www.LindaShentonMatchett.com.

AP vs. UP: So, what's the difference?

Ruth Brown, the main character in my stories, is a small town reporter in New Hampshire who signs up with the Associated Press (AP) to cover World War II in Europe. Why didn’t I have Ruth join the United Press Associations (UP)? To be honest I simply picked one, thinking it didn’t matter. Now that I’ve researched both organizations, I realize how very different they are.

By the time WWII began, the AP was nearly 100 years old having been started by five New York City newspapers in 1846. Prior to that, news was delivered through the United States Postal Service. With the Mexican War in full swing, the AP needed a faster system. As a result the five newspapers joined together to fund a pony express route through Alabama.



Mark Kellogg, AP reporter who died with Custer

Time passed, and the AP took advantage of new technology as it was invented. First the railroad then telegraph and teletype, followed by wire then radio. In 2005, the AP created a digital database that according to their website has “allowed the agency to deliver news instantly…nearly as quickly as the news itself unfolds.”

On the other hand, United Press Association was an upstart in the early days of WWII. Founded in 1907 it was just over thirty years old at the start of the war. The founder, E.W. Scripps, began UP in an effort to break the AP monopoly on the U.S. news dissemination industry. UP had fewer resources, so armed itself with a “we try harder attitude” and reporters who would do just about anything to get the story. UP reporters were called “Unipressers” and were known for being highly competitive. With no formal training program, journalists were expected to “sink or swim” on their own.

In 1935, UP became the first major news service to supply news to radio stations, beating out AP by several years. The organization grew through WWII, and in 1952 acquired Acme News pictures which enabled them to offer news picture services. During its heyday, UP had more than 6,000 employees and over 6,200 subscribers.

In 1958, UP merged with International News to become United Press International, however the company did not fare well during the rise of television and struggled to maintain its market. A series of owners and two bankruptcy filings have taken their toll on the organization. As of 2007, UPI no longer has a White House correspondent or UN coverage, instead focusing expanding operations in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, and reporting on security threats, intelligence and energy issues. Now, located in only six major cities, the UPI website cites its use of “lay reporters, photographers and videographers, and a plethora of sources to publish and receive information.”

As a scrappy, young “newshound,” Ruth may find the United Press Associations more to her liking. What do you think?

 

 

 

A freelance writer for over ten years, Linda Matchett also writes historical fiction. She is currently seeking a publisher for her series about war correspondent Ruth Brown. Visit her at www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

 

A Woman's Work is Never Done

Women have always worked hard. Initially, it was in the home where they did everything from cooking over a fire to washing clothes by hand in a tub of water. Then it was in the workforce in jobs that they were “allowed” to take such as school teachers (but only until they married), secretaries, and nurses all while continuing to manage their households.

In my career I was able to work myself up to executive positions, and I will always be thankful for the women who went before me to pave the way for that opportunity-women who went against the grain of social mores and pushed their way into jobs formerly reserved for men.

In the early days of newspaper reporting, women were generally relegated to writing “soft” news – society events, fashion, and home arts such as cooking and child rearing. But there were a few women who successfully made their way into the ranks of investigative reporters – some whose names are familiar such as Ida Tarbell and Nellie Bly, and others who are not as well known such as Mary Heaton Vorse who was active in social justice causes.

During World War II, there were more than 1,600 U.S. journalists permitted to wear the armband emblazoned with a “C” (for War Correspondent). Of that number only one hundred and twenty seven women secured official military accreditation from the War Department. Despite having accreditation they continued to fight stereotypes, red tape, disdain, hostility, discrimination, and lewdness, often derisively called “paper dolls” by their male counterparts. Forbidden to enter combat zones, many of the women hitched rides with locals or stowed away on boats or planes to get to where the action was, and they all had multiple hair-raising stories to share about their experiences.

For example:

Life magazine's Margaret Bourke-White was the only foreign photojournalist in Moscow when the Germans invaded Russia. She took pictures of flares, searchlights and anti-aircraft tracers over the Kremlin from her hotel balcony.

Former White House correspondent Lee Carson of the International News Service worked so close to the front that she inadvertently captured six German soldiers.

Martha Gellhorn, one of a group of American women journalists referred to as the D-Day Dames, smuggled herself onto a hospital ship to get to Normandy, locked herself into a toilet and became the first woman to report on the invasion.

These pioneers in journalism join a long line of exceptional women through the ages. Have you known a remarkable woman who inspired you along the way?