Kit Coleman, Intrepid Reporter
Columnist and first woman Spanish-American war correspondent
A skilled journalist who wrote about issues and current events that touched her readers in a way most of her contemporaries did not.
The professional life of reporter Kit Coleman began in 1889 at the age of 25. This was remarkable because few options for employment were open to a late-19th century woman, especially one with two young children to support. If she were educated and trained, a woman could become a teacher or nurse; if not, the life of a domestic servant was the best she could hope for. Despite having a decent education growing up in Ireland, Kathleen Blake Coleman survived as a servant in Canada for a few years until her talent for writing was finally noticed by the editor of the Toronto Daily Mail.
Newspaper Column: Woman's Kingdom
Her first column was called "Fashion Notes and Fancies for the Fair Sex." It was filled with "women's issues" of the day—cooking, housekeeping, fashion and love. How ironic that a twice-married, twice-abandoned, perpetually dishevelled woman would be handing out such advice. However, because she signed her column "Kit", no one knew whether she was a man or a woman. She soon renamed her column "Woman's Kingdom" and expanded it to include short stories, poems, literary criticism, correspondence, and political commentary.
Skilled Writer
Her style varied according to the subject matter. She came across as sensitive and maternal when writing about children, aged and wise when writing about family matters, and "masculine", acerbic and astute when discussing politics, religion, and social reform. Her fans were legion and loyal, and even included the prime minister, Wilfrid Laurier.
Investigative Journalism
In the 1890s it became trendy for journalists to report from "the inside." While in London in 1897 to write stories on the pomp and ceremony of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, Kit also dressed as a working man to explore the seedier side of the city. As usual, her reports were a huge hit with her readers. In 1898, after becoming the first woman to receive accreditation as a war correspondent from the American Secretary of War, Kit reported from Cuba on the Spanish-American War. Her sensitive, insightful and compassionate descriptions of the brutality and despair she witnessed won considerable praise from readers and colleagues alike.
Founder of Canadian Women's Press Club
In 1904 she and a few other Canadian women journalists were sent to report on the St Louis World's Fair. During the trip, they founded the Canadian Women's Press Club, and elected Kit its first president. Though mostly forgotten now, throughout her remarkable 25 year career, Kit Coleman was one of the best known and most respected woman journalists in North America.
References:
Dubey, Anita. A Woman's Place in the News. Toronto: Ryerson Review of Journalism, Spring 1993.
Rex, Kay. No Daughter of Mine: The Women and History of the Canadian Women's Press Club, 1904-1971. Toronto: Cedar Cave Books, University of Toronto Press, 1995.
Smith, Dennis. Women of the Press. Vancouver: Heritage Post, Simon Fraser University, Spring 1998
Weaver, Lisa. Smokin' in the Boys Room. Toronto: Ryerson Review of Journalism, Spring 2001.
