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The National
League of American Pen Women was founded in 1897 as an
alternative to the (then) all-male National Press Club.
Realizing a need for an organization that would include
women of the press, Marian Longfellow O’Donohue, niece
of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, decided to create such an
organization. Along with Margaret Sullivan Burke and
Anna Sanborne Hamilton, she made plans for “bringing
together women journalists, authors and illustrators for
mutual benefits and the strength that comes of union.”
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On June 26, 1897,
the three women brought together 17 writers,
novelists, newspaper women, a teacher, a poet
and an artist for the first meeting. Alice R.
Morgan, an illustrator for New York publishers,
designed the League insignia, the owl, symbolic
of wisdom, placed in a triangle formed by a red
pen, a blue pencil and a white brush, colors of
the American flag (at right). |
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The first
National Convention was held in Washington, DC, in
April, 1921, and the 300 women in attendance were
received by President and Mrs. Warren G. Harding. Mrs.
Harding was a distinguished member of The League, as was
Mrs. Eleanore Roosevelt.
In 1978,
following its 80th birthday, The League was presented
with the Literary Hall of Fame Award in recognition of
its contribution to the cultural life of the United
States Other recipients of the award have included
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Ariel and Will Durant and
Charles Schulz. |
