By CAITLIN O’TOOLE
Numerous historical figures come to mind when considering the continuous movement towards gender equality in the United States.
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for women’s suffrage. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Harriet Tubman led more than 300 slaves to their freedom through the Underground Railroad. These women not only left a permanent and distinct mark on history, but inspired future women to challenge societal expectations and reach their full potential.
In the field of journalism, Nellie Bly is still a renowned historical figure known for her undercover time in a mental institution and her writings on her experience. While she remains one of the United States’ most famous journalists, her work also inspired a young Kansas native to become the first woman accredited as a war correspondent.
Henrietta Eleanor Goodnough Deuell was born December 30, 1889 in Bennington, Kansas, and grew up in Marysville. She began to go by ‘Peggy Hull’ after she wed her first husband, George Hull in 1910. Peggy was a rambunctious child who had sparse interest in the typical ‘feminine’ activities expected of a young lady at the time. She much preferred the company of the boys in her community.
Although she applied for a reporting job at the Junction City Sentinel at the age of 18, she was offered a typing job on the condition that she would not worry about her fingernails.[1] Peggy excitedly accepted the job and relocated to Junction City knowing she might work her way up to be a reporter. In an attempt to move West, Peggy took a job at the Chronicle-News in Colorado only to move to the Denver Republican shortly after she made the acquaintance of the owner’s brother. This seems to be a theme throughout Peggy Hull’s life. Her charisma and determination were strong tools used to help her career and even get herself out of sticky situations.
Peggy moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1916 where she attempted to obtain funding to report on the Ohio National Guard in New Mexico. Almost a year prior to the United States officially joining World War I, Peggy witnessed the training of officers at Camp Willis in Columbus, Ohio. It was there that Major Harold Bush, the commander of the artillery camp told Peggy, “A military camp is a matter of war – not friendship – and it’s no place for a woman.”[2] The unique challenges she experienced as a female at the military camp only further motivated Peggy to continue on and tell the world of her adventures.
One of her greatest tests of will came as she convinced a commander to allow her to join 20,000 soldiers on a fifteen-day hike into New Mexico. She later recalled, “I had a terrible time convincing him I could stand the hardships. When I finally gained his consent, I knew my military career depended upon [that] hike.”[3] Despite a myriad of physical and mental obstacles, Peggy powered through by imagining all the “women of [her] profession envying [her] trip”.[4] Impressed by her sheer will and determination, she received a promotion to the rank of first lieutenant.
Once the United States officially entered World War I, Peggy asked to be sent to France as a war correspondent, to which her editor exclaimed, “How perfectly ridiculous!”[5] Peggy was determined and persuaded her editor to sponsor her Paris travels. She was able to get a passport and visa despite the disbelief of those around her. As she was in route, Peggy knew her “whole future was staked on that trip to England”.[6] She received a good deal of attention for the work she was doing, and her columns were incredibly popular.
By 1918, Peggy had set her sights on full accreditation as a war correspondent. Peggy was met with opposition by men who believed a woman would never become accredited. Captain Carl Ruth was flabbergasted when Peggy presented a letter from a past acquaintance, General Peyton C. March, who demanded that Peggy not be denied accreditation due to her gender. She officially became the first woman accredited by the War Department as a war correspondent and headed to Siberia.
Peggy Hull continued to face setbacks during her time as an accredited war correspondent, but nothing could take away from the fact that she was the first woman to be accredited in a male dominated field. She was expected to fail numerous times throughout her career, and through hard work and determination, she changed the game for female journalists. In an article published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1944, Peggy reflected on the unique challenges women often face saying, “Our presence in various fields is bitterly resented by the men we compete with. Overwhelming obstacles are frequently set up to prevent us from working and yet, odd though it may seem, women must live.”[7]
After divorcing her first husband later in life, Peggy married an Englishman in Shanghai, which nearly resulted in the loss of her United States citizenship. She lobbied against this law that targeted women who married non-United States citizens and managed to avoid deportation. A few years later she divorced the Englishman and married her third and final husband, Harvey Deuell, a longtime acquaintance from her early reporting days. She decided to retire from journalism only to return as a war correspondent during World War II. She struggled continuously with alcoholism and died of cancer at the age of 76.
Despite her accolades, the name ‘Peggy Hull’ is practically unknown today. Regardless, her impact on journalism paved the way for future women in the field. She proved to the men throughout her life that she was not one to be underestimated.
Peggy Hull’s picture and a brief description of her accomplishments can be viewed in the Lieutenant Governor’s office in the Kansas Capitol. There hangs a massive 10-panel mural, painted by Hays artist Dennis Schiel, complete with historical events and figures with Kansas origins.
Peggy Hull, born and raised in northern Kansas, paved the way for women in journalism and has forever left her mark on Kansas history. In a letter written in 1937, Peggy expressed her early motivations in the journey to become a war correspondent, writing, “I did not go to war because I liked the excitement or what my colleagues sometimes erroneously refer to as the glamour. I went because I was not a man and could not carry a gun and do something for my country.”[8]
From the rambunctious child who rose above what was expected of her as a young lady, to the first accredited female war correspondent, Peggy was the epitome of a strong woman. Just as Nellie Bly had once inspired a young Peggy Hull, her accomplishments will one day inspire numerous young girls to not allow themselves to be limited by their gender.
Caitlin O’Toole is a 2019 Legislative Intern for Sen. Elaine Bowers, Senate District #36. O’Toole graduated from St. Teresa’s Academy in 2016 and currently is a junior at KU majoring in Political Science and Communication with a History minor. She will be applying to law school next fall.
The Kansas Legislature Internship program is open to any student who is enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary education institution. Interns are required to attend a minimum of 12 days during the legislative session, attend the intern orientation, submit an evaluation of their internship and complete an evaluation of their legislator. One additional requirement is to submit a project assigned by their legislator. This year’s project was a research paper on a Kansan from the Senate District.