Eliza Putnam Heaton
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Eliza Putnam Heaton (, Putnam; August 8, 1860 – January 2, 1919) was an American journalist and editor. After her marriage and removal to New York, Heaton began newspaper work, serving first as special writer and afterward as a managing editor in newspaper and syndicate offices, until failing health made arduous tasks impossible. When the New York ''Recorder'' was started in 1891, she undertook a task never before attempted by any New York daily – to run a daily news page dealing with women's movements. Marooned in
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
by ill-health, the author turned for occupation to the study of peasant life, a study eagerly pursued until it was cut short by her death in 1919. Her ''By-paths in Sicily'', could fairly be presented as completed.


Early life and education

Eliza Osborn Putnam was born in
Danvers, Massachusetts Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...
, August 8, 1860. She was the daughter of Rev. James W. Putnam, a Universalist minister. She came from
Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
ancestry, and was a delicate child. Putnam attended school irregularly when she was young, her education beginning in Danvers and
Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...
schools. She studied at
St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college in the village of Canton in St. Lawrence County, New York. It has roughly 2,100 undergraduate and 100 graduate students. Though St. Lawrence today is nonsectarian, it was founded in 1 ...
before transferring to
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
. In 1882, she was graduated from that school, where she was an honor student in the classic tongues, well fitted her for a writer's career.


Career

In 1882, she married John Langdon Heaton, then associate-editor of the Brooklyn ''Daily Times''. Her newspaper work as an occasional contributor to the columns of that paper began almost immediately. In 1886, she took an office desk and position upon the editorial staff of the ''Times''. For four years, she wrote in nearly every department of the paper, her work appearing mostly on the editorial page and in the special sheets of the Saturday edition, and ranging from politics to illustrated city sketches, for which her camera furnished the pictures. She handled the exchange editor's scissors and did a vast deal of descriptive writing and interviewing. Almost coincident with her engagement upon the ''Times'' was her entrance into the syndicate field. Through a prominent syndicate publishing firm of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, she sent out an average of three New York letters per week, illustrated from photographs taken by herself, and dealing with men, women and current topics of the day. As a stunt girl reporter, she took passage from
Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...
to New York in the steerage of the
Cunard Line The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
's '' RMS Aurania'' in September, 1888, for the purpose of studying life among the immigrants. She landed with her fellow-travelers at New York City's
Castle Garden Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a restored circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immig ...
, then accompanied them to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
by train. Her resulting article, titled "A Sham Emigrant's Voyage to New York" was published in multiple newspapers, including the ''Brooklyn Times''. When the New York ''Recorder'' was started in 1891, she undertook a task never before attempted by any New York daily – to run a daily news page dealing with women's movements. The experiment was successful and became recognized as the unique and especially attractive feature of the paper. She resigned this position to join her husband on the
Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
''News'', which he established in September of that year. From the first issue of the new daily, Mr. and Mrs. Heaton were associated as joint-editors, and during a long and critical illness, into which Mr. Heaton fell at the end of the first few weeks of its existence, Mrs. Heaton was for months sole responsible editor.


Personal life

In later years she passed many of the winter seasons in Taormina, Italy. While there, she was able to do rescue work after the
1908 Messina earthquake A devastating earthquake occurred on 28 December 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicentre was in the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily f ...
. At that time she also wrote the book ''By-paths in Sicily,'' which was published after her death but, according to biographers, "could fairly be presented as completed." Heaton was one of the founders of the Woman's Press Club, a member of the Brooklyn Woman's Club, and a member of the professional women's club
Sorosis file:Sorosis Club rules.jpg, Sorosis Club rules in 1869Sorosis was the first professional women's club in the United States. It was established in March 1868 in New York City by Jane Cunningham Croly. Origin of the club's name Sorosis is a lati ...
. She died January 2, 1919, at her home, 131 Westminster Road, Brooklyn, New York, and was survived by her husband, a son, James P. Heaton, a daughter, Mrs. Howard C Root, and two grandchildren.


Selected works

* ''Thoughts by the way'', 1891 * ''Among veiled women'', 1897 * ''The steerage: a sham immigrant's voyage to New York in 1888'', 1919 * ''By-paths in Sicily'', 1920


References


Bibliography

* * * *


External links

* *
Letters from Eliza Osborn Putnam to Alice Stone Blackwell, 1880-1881
from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
br>Blackwell Family Papers

Letters from Eliza Osborn Putnam to Alice Stone Blackwell, 1882-1885
from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
br>Blackwell Family Papers

Letters from Eliza Osborn Putnam to Alice Stone Blackwell, Undated (1 of 2)
from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
br>Blackwell Family Papers

Letters from Eliza Osborn Putnam to Alice Stone Blackwell, Undated (2 of 2)
from the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
br>Blackwell Family Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heaton, Eliza Putnam 1860 births 1919 deaths 19th-century American newspaper editors People from Danvers, Massachusetts Writers from Massachusetts St. Lawrence University alumni Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni American women newspaper editors Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century 19th-century American women journalists