Dorothy Dix
Dorothy Dix | |
---|---|
plantation (borders of Montgomery County, Tennessee and Todd County, Kentucky), U.S. | |
Died | December 16, 1951 | (aged 90)
Pen name | Dorothy Dix |
Occupation | Journalist and columnist |
Alma mater | Hollins Institute, 1883 |
Subject | Marriage advice |
Notable works | Dorothy Dix Talks |
Spouse |
George Gilmer
(m. 1888; died 1931) |
Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer (November 18, 1861 – December 16, 1951), widely known by the pen name Dorothy Dix, was an American journalist and columnist. As the forerunner of today's popular advice columnists, Dix was America's highest paid and most widely read female journalist at the time of her death. Her advice on marriage was syndicated in newspapers around the world. With an estimated audience of 60 million readers, she became a popular and recognized figure on her travels abroad. In addition to her journalistic work, she joined in the campaign for woman suffrage and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Life
Elizabeth Meriwether was born to William Meriwether and Maria (Winston) Meriwether on the Woodstock
Shortly after her marriage to George, his mental health began to deteriorate, forcing Dix to provide financial support for both of them. He would later be institutionalized and eventually died in an asylum in 1931.
Career
At the beginning of her career, before writing advice columns, Dix wrote obituaries, recipes and theater reviews.
The column's widespread popularity began in 1923 when Dix signed with the Philadelphia-based
In addition to her advice columns, Dix was known for her reporting of murder trials. She earned her national reputation under the term of
Feminism and suffrage
Dix wrote columns and other material that brought attention to women, and she also appeared at suffrage events. In a column called "The Ordinary Woman," she urged readers to regard domestic work highly. "Women who are toiling over cooking-stoves, slaving at sewing-machines, pinching and economizing to educate and cultivate their children.... the Ordinary Woman is the real heroine of life," she wrote.[15] Dix also encouraged women to work outside of the home in her writings and speeches.[citation needed]
Participating in the suffrage movement, Dix spoke at the 34th annual National American Suffrage Convention, which was marked by the inaugural International Woman Suffrage Conference, at the First Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., Feb. 12–18, 1902. Her address, titled "The Woman With the Broom," filled four columns in the Woman's Journal. In her speech, she made a plea "for the domestic woman — the woman who is the mainstay of the world, who is back of every great enterprise and who makes possible the achievements of men — the woman behind the broom, who is the hardest-worked and worst-paid laborer on the face of the earth ...."[16] In New Orleans in 1903, she appeared on a platform with Susan B. Anthony to campaign for woman suffrage.[17] Years later, Dix again spoke to attendees at the National American Suffrage Convention held April 14, 1910, in Washington, D.C. She delivered her address, "The Real Reason Why Women Cannot Vote," by imitating the dialect of the African-American character featured in her "Mirandy" novels.[18]
Along with her pro-suffrage convention speeches and event appearances, Dix penned columns and essays supporting women's right to vote. She wrote a circular for the
In addition to the circulars, Dix wrote three pamphlets on the subject of suffrage between 1912 and 1914.[21] She also served as an editor for the July 1904 edition of Progress, a publication of the NAWSA.[22]
Legacy
Her reputed practice of framing questions herself to allow her to publish prepared answers gave rise to the
In Andy Griffith's 1955 version of the song "Make Yourself Comfortable", Griffith tells the story of a man writing a letter to Dix, wanting her advice on the aggressive woman he's on a date with.[25]
A Providence, Rhode Island, newspaper reporter said at a trial, "For years no great American murder-trial looked complete until Dorothy Dix took her place at the press table. Dorothy Dix has arrived. The trial can now proceed.".[26]
In the episode "
Bibliography
- Christina Vella, "Dorothy Dix: The World Brought Her Its Secrets", in Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times, ed. Judith F. Gentry and Janet Allured, pp 195–214. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2009)
- David Gudelunas, Confidential to America: Newspaper Advice Columns and Sexual Education (New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers. 2008)
- Dorothy Dix, Fables of the Elite (New York: R. F. Fenno & Co, 1902).
- Dorothy Dix, Mirandy (New York: Hearst's International Library, 1914).
- Harnett Thomas Kane, Dear Dorothy Dix: The Story of A Compassionate Woman (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1952).
- Jan Onofrio, Tennessee Biographical Dictionary (Santa Barbara, California: Somerset Publisher's, Inc. 2000).
References
- ^ a b "Gilmer, Elizabeth Meriwether | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Allured, Janet (2009). Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times. University of Georgia Press. p. 198.
- ^ "Dorothy Dix". 64 Parishes. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ "Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer | American journalist". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Onofrio, Jan (2000). Tennessee Biographical Dictionary. Santa Barbara, California: Somerset Publishers, Inc. p. 319.
- ^ "Pearl Rivers, Mississippi writer and poet of Times Picayune by Don Wicks". www.mswritersandmusicians.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ "Woodward Library – Timeline of Dorothy Dix: 1766–1951". library.apsu.edu. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Kosut, Mary (2012). Encyclopedia of Gender in Media. SAGE. p. 258.
- ^ "Woodward Library – Timeline of Dorothy Dix: 1766–1951". library.apsu.edu. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ "OPINION: Journalist Dorothy Dix one of the most famous writers of her day". The Sarnia Journal. November 1, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ "Woodward Library – Timeline of Dorothy Dix: 1766–1951". library.apsu.edu. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Vella, Christina. "Dorothy Dix: The World Brought Her Its Secrets" in Louisiana Women: Their Lives and Times, edited by Janet Allured and Judith F. Gentry. University of Georgia Press in Athens.
- ^ Beasley, Maurine. "Elizabeth M. Gilmer as Dorothy Dix: A Woman Journalist Rewrites the Myth of the Southern Lady". Dix Symposium Papers.
- ^ "The Hall-Mills Murder Trial, 1926". The Yale Review. March 29, 2019. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
- ^ Weisberg, Jessica (October 9, 2012). "The Advice Columnist We Deserve". The New Yorker. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Harper, Ida (August 31, 2009). "Chapter II, The National American Convention of 1902". The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Beasley, Maurine. "Elizabeth M. Gilmer as Dorothy Dix: A Woman Journalist Rewrites the Myth of the Southern Lady". Dorothy Dix Collection at Austin Peay State University. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ Harper, Ida (August 31, 2009). "Chapter X, The National American Convention of 1910". The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ "Dorothy Dix on woman's ballot". Claremont Colleges Digital Library. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Circular: Dorothy Dix on Woman's Ballot (circa 1913–1915)". Ann Lewis Women's Suffrage Collection. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ "Gilmer, Elizabeth Meriwether". encyclopedia.com. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ The Hand Book of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. 1893. p. 10.
- ISBN 978-1-74224-112-8. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-7304-9608-3. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ "Andy Griffith – Make Yourself Comfortable (1955, Vinyl) - Discogs". Discogs.
- ^ Culley, Margaret (1978). "Dorothy Dix: The Thirteenth Juror". International Journal of Women's Studies. 2: 340–58.
External links
- Works by or about Dorothy Dix at Internet Archive
- Dorothy Dix Collection housed in the University Archives and Special Collections at Austin Peay State University, includes full text of Dictates for a Happy Life.
- Dorothy Dix Digital Collection hosted by the Felix G. Woodward Library.
- Dorothy Dix at Find a Grave