Ruth_Finney
Ruth Finney
American journalist (1898–1979)
Ruth Finney Allen (March 6, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was an American journalist. She worked as a reporter for The Sacramento Star and became nationally known for her coverage of the death of President Warren G. Harding. She became the Washington, D.C. correspondent for four Scripps-Howard newspapers.
Finney was born on March 6, 1898, in Chicago, Illinois.[1][2] Her parents were John W. and Mary Morrison Finney. After growing up in Downieville and Sacramento, California, Finney graduated from the San Jose Normal School with a teaching certificate in 1918 and worked for three months as a substitute teacher.[2]
Finney became a reporter for The Sacramento Star in 1918.[1][2] She became well known in the state for her report on the 1922 Argonaut Mine disaster in Jackson, California. After joining the San Francisco Daily News, she received national attention for reporting on the death of President Warren G. Harding in San Francisco.[2][3] She was appointed by four California Scripps-Howard newspapers to be their Washington, D.C. correspondent in 1923.[2][4] In this role, she covered the Teapot Dome Oil scandal, the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti, and the authorization of the construction of Hoover Dam.[1][2][3] Finney was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1931 for her investigation of the electric and gas utilities industry.[2]
In 1941, Finney began writing a weekly column on news, politics and economics for the Scripps-Howard newspapers, titled "Washington Calling". She was an active member of the Washington Press Club.[2] She worked as a correspondent for The Albuquerque Tribune until her retirement in 1968.[1]
Finney married fellow journalist Robert S. Allen, the co-author for Washington Merry-Go-Round, in 1929.[2][5] She died on March 20, 1979, in Georgetown at the age of 81.[1][2]
- "Ruth Finney Allen, 81, Journalist for 50 Years". The New York Times. March 21, 1979. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- "Inventory of the Ruth Finney Papers". Online Archive of California. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- "Ruth Finney Allen, 81, Editor, Washington Correspondent". The Washington Post. March 21, 1979. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- Shute, Nancy (October 29, 2023). "The early women who shaped science journalism". Science News. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- Eisen, Jack (February 25, 1981). "Robert S. Allen, Colorful Newsman in Washington". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- Mace, O. Henry (April 21, 2004). 47 Down: The 1922 Argonaut Gold Mine Disaster. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-44692-7.
- Cairns, Kathleen A. (2003). Front-page Women Journalists, 1920-1950. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1525-2.
- Beasley, Maurine H. (August 31, 2012). Women of the Washington Press: Politics, Prejudice, and Persistence. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-2571-1.
- Ross, Ishbel (1936). Ladies of the Press: The Story of Women in Journalism by an Insider. Harper.