Ruby A. Black
Eleanor Roosevelt, Puerto Rico, and Political Journalism in Washington
By (author) Maurine H. Beasley
Not available to order
Publication date:
11 April 2017Length of book:
274 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksISBN-13: 9781498519502
This book presents the story of Ruby A. Black, a feminist who broke new ground for women in Washington journalism in the 1920s and 1930s as a correspondent for a Puerto Rican newspaper and the first biographer of Eleanor Roosevelt. It offers access to the secret correspondence that shows how Black used her friendship with Roosevelt to advance the political career of Luis Muñoz Marín, Puerto Rico's first elected governor. The book describes Black’s effort, ultimately unsuccessful, to become both a well-regarded journalist and a political operative in the nation’s capital, a feat particularly difficult for a woman. It contends Black’s closeness to Roosevelt proved both a help and a hindrance to Black’s stature as a journalist.
Once again Beasley has done the hard work for all of us. Drawing upon an impressive range of archival source material and her own encyclopedic knowledge of the period, Beasley has made it impossible to ignore the powerful pen that women journalists like Ruby A. Black wielded in New Deal Washington, the dynamic relationship they shared with Eleanor Roosevelt, or the synergy that enabled both to shape policy even in places as unexpected as Puerto Rico. We need more books like this one, and Beasley's achievement here is such that they will doubtlessly follow in its wake.