National Federation of Press Women


The National Federation of Press Women is a United States-based organization of professional women and men pursuing careers in the field of communications, including electronic, broadcast and print journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising, freelancing, graphic design, digital media and photography. They are also educators and authors of all genres. Part of the coalition founding the National Women's History Museum, the NFPW supports literacy and women's rights as well as freedom of information and advocates for First Amendment issues.

History

The National Federation of Press Women was organized May 6, 1937, when Helen Miller Malloch and other members of the Illinois Woman's Press Association, along with women from five other organized states and the District of Columbia, who met at the Chicago Women's Club in order to promote communication between women writers, and advance the interests and standards of women in the press. One of the major concerns of these women was that copyright legislation was not being applied equally to women's creative work. Among the 39 women attending were 24 from Illinois, six from Indiana, nine from Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Washington D.C.. Incorporation of the Federation was effected in 1938 in Illinois. By 1939 nine states had affiliated, including New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Texas, Oregon, and Michigan; and a New England press group. Of these new affiliates, the two oldest were Illinois, 1885, and Texas, 1893 - the only two states organized prior to 1900.

Presidents (by term dates)

  1. Helen Miller Malloch, 1937–1938
  2. Octavia Goodbar, 1938–1939
  3. Bertha Bliss, 1940–1941
  4. Helen Miller Malloch, 1942–1943
  5. Gertrude Puelicher, 1943–1945
  6. Marie Abels, 1945–1947
  7. Catherine Dines Prosser, 1947–1949
  8. Irene R. Bedard, 1949–1951
  9. Mattie M. Dykes, 1951–1953
  10. Helen Ankeny, 1953–1955
  11. Velma Price, 1955–1957
  12. Mabel Temby, 1957–1959
  13. Helen Vanderburg, 1959–1961
  14. Roberta Martin, 1961–1962
  15. Dr. Gertrude M. Hall, 1962
  16. Hortense P. Myers, 1962–1965
  17. Margaret Magee, 1965–1967
  18. Ulrich Troubetzkoy, 1967–1969
  19. Mildred Planthold Michie, 1969–1971
  20. Louise Shadduck, 1971–1973
  21. Naomi A. Whitesell, 1973–1975
  22. Jean Wiley Huyler, 1975–1977
  23. Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder, 1977–1979
  24. Martha S. Reed, 1979–1981
  25. D. J. Cline, 1981–1983
  26. Jo Cart, 1983–1985
  27. Lois Jacobs, 1985–1987
  28. Mary Lou Webb, 1987–1989
  29. Rosemary Carroll, 1989–1991
  30. Marj Carpenter, 1991–1993
  31. Gwen White, 1993–1995
  32. Ruth Anna, 1995–1997
  33. Linn Rounds, 1997–1999
  34. Vivian Sadowski, 1999–2001
  35. Ella Wright, 2001–2003
  36. Donna Penticuff, 2003–2005
  37. Meg Hunt, 2005–2007
  38. Marsha Shuler, 2007–2009
  39. Cynthia Price, 2009–2011
  40. Lori Potter, 2011–2013
  41. Teri Ehresman, 2013–2015
  42. Marsha Hoffman, 2015–2017
  43. Marianne Wolf-Astrauskas, 2017–present

    Activity

The NFPW conducts annual surveys about women in communications jobs.
NFPW also created its own publication, Press Woman.
AGENDA is the Federation's current publication.

Competitions

Professional Communications Contest

Each year NFPW sponsors competitions to reward excellence in communication. Winners are honored at the NFPW Professional Communications Contest Awards Banquet, which is held in conjunction with a yearly conference. The Federation's annual communications contest was established in 1940 during the presidency of Bertha I. Bless of Missouri. The presentation of honor award certificates to national winners and the announcement of the national sweepstakes winner remains a conference highlight. NFPW affiliates throughout the United States have annual communications contests that provide affiliate members an opportunity to compete against regional colleagues in a broad range of categories set by NFPW. All entrants to the national contest are required to be professional, student or retired members of NFPW. Where there is no state affiliate, the member is eligible to compete in the At-Large contest.

National High School Communications Contest

The NFPW High School Communications Contest honors excellence in student journalism and is the only nationwide communications competition for high school students. Winners at the national level are chosen by winning at the state level first. It is endorsed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Dow Jones announces first-place winners and promotes the competition in its publication distributed to journalism advisers across the nation, giving students and their teachers/advisers local and nationwide recognition.

Communicator of Achievement

Each year, a professional communicator is selected as the National Communicator of Achievement. This program was established during the presidency of Velma Price of Nebraska. NFPW started the program as the Woman of Achievement award which was first given at the 1957 convention in San Antonio, Texas. The first honoree was Charlotte Paul of Washington. The award was renamed Communicator of Achievement in 1989. Today, the Communicator of Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed by the National Federation of Press Women upon those members who have distinguished themselves within and beyond their profession.
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, the 1975 Woman of Achievement, was an author of 20 books, numerous short stories and essays about Native American life and culture, a member of the South Dakota affiliate, and the recipient of the National Medal of Humanities. The Medal of Humanities was presented by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton on Dec. 20, 2000, at D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington DC.
Randy Richardson, a member of the Illinois Woman's Press Association affiliate, was the 2017 Communicator of Achievement winner, becoming the first man to take the honor in 60 years.

Communicator of Achievement Honorees

The following individuals have been honored: