Ruth Cowan Nash

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Ruth Cowan Nash
University of Texas at Austin
Occupation(s)War correspondent
Journalist
Years active1924–1956
EmployerAssociated Press
SpouseBradley De Lamater Nash

Ruth Cowan Nash (June 15, 1901 - February 5, 1993) was the first woman war correspondent. She is famous for her coverage of World War II, during which she followed the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps and reported on major battles for the Associated Press.

Early life

Ruth Cowan Nash was born in

Catholic.[1] Ida Cowan had previously been a teacher, and felt that private schools provided a better education, so Nash completed seventh and eighth grade there.[2]

Ida Cowan disliked the cold weather in Salt Lake City, and used the money that she saved from the sale of their homestead to move to

Parent Teacher Association. Because Nash's mother never lived anywhere consistently, Cunnginham invited Nash to live with the Cunningham family, which consisted of Elva and her husband, John, their sons, and Elva's sister, Mary Carter.[1]

Nash enrolled in the

University of Texas at Austin in 1919, and moved out of the Cunningham home in order to do so, but they remained like a second family to her.[1] While there, Newman lived in a Catholic dormitory, Newman Hall.[2] While there, she continued to work odd jobs to support herself.[1] It was during this time that she gave herself the middle name Barbara, but she changed it to Baldwin, her mother's maiden name, shortly thereafter to please her.[1] When Nash graduated in 1923,[1] she became an algebra teacher at Main Avenue High School, the same high school that she had attended herself.[2] While teaching, she lived with the Cunninghams once again.[1]

Journalism career

Nash's journalism career began in 1924, when she began writing part-time as a movie reviewer for the San Antonio Evening News.

Houston, Texas.[1] While there, she interviewed Franklin D. Roosevelt.[3]

Impressed with her work there, which she had written under her pen name of Baldwin Cowan,

United Press offered her a job in January 1929, which she accepted.[1] Not long after, an executive from United Press came to the newsroom looking to praise the work of Baldwin Cowan — when it became clear that there was no such man, only Ruth Cowan Nash, she was fired.[2][4]

Meanwhile, Kent Cooper at the Associated Press had begun the practice of hiring women during his tenure as general manager beginning in 1925.[3] Upon being fired from United Press for her sex, Nash wrote a letter to Cooper that began: "Dear Mr. Cooper. First, I am a girl. Sight unseen I pass for a man. But notwithstanding my femininity, I need a job, want one with the AP, and can hold it."[3] Cooper promptly hired Nash, and she would go on to work for the Associated Press for the next 27 years as a reporter, writing about many important historical events,[1] although she was often pressured by her superiors to cover the news from the "woman's angle."[3]

She was initially assigned to

Washington D.C., where she covered social life, human interest stories, and Eleanor Roosevelt's press conferences.[1] Nash would eventually become friendly with the then-First Lady, and correspond with each other often.[3] While in Washington, Nash spent May 1942 covering the introduction and eventual passage of the bill that established the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, later the Women's Army Corps (WACs).[1]

World War II journalism

After covering the establishment of WACs, Nash requested to follow their first contingent overseas. Her request was approved by her long-time friend, Oveta Culp Hobby, who was then the director of the WACs.[1] Shortly after, AP also approved her request,[1] and Nash left for North Africa, where she would report on WACs, hospitals, and military operations.[5] She was accompanied by one other woman reporter, Inez Robb from the International News Service.[1] Together they were the first women to ever be accredited as United States Army War Correspondents.[1] It is possible that Robb and Nash were utilized as tools to recruit more women for WACs, or garner more support for the war from American women.[3] While reporting, Nash was required to wear the same uniform as the WAC women,[3] and was required to adhere to all the regulations of a member of the Armed Forces.[1]

While deployed in

George Patton. He reportedly asked her what the first rule of war was, to which Nash responded: "You kill him before he kills you." Patton afterwards stated, "She stays."[4][5]

In May 1943 Nash was assigned to England, where she covered the arrival of WACs there and the preparations for the European invasion.[1] Then, in September 1944, Nash moved to France and was present for the liberation of Paris.[1][6] She also covered the Battle of the Bulge.[6] Nash covered the war without a break from 1943 to 1945,[3] mixing hair dye in her helmet to keep her blonde hair neat.[3] Many of her stories were about women and the war effort, but she also wrote about wounded soldiers, new medical treatments, and the effects of war on civilians.[1]

Return to America and retirement

In April 1945, Nash was reassigned to AP's Washington Bureau, and after the war she covered

House Armed Services Committee, and general military news until 1956.[1] In 1956, she was forced to retire from AP, whose policy stated that women could not work after their 55th birthday.[1] The compulsory retirement age for men at that time was 65.[3]

Early into her forced retirement, Nash married

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, where they owned High Acres Farm.[1] Nash used her retirement to continue writing, this time working on her memoir about her experiences during the war.[3] Her manuscript, titled Why Go to War?, was rejected by the publishing company she sent it to in 1946 due to the market's over-saturation with war books.[3]

Ruth Nash was also an active member of the Republican Party, and from May 1957 to August 1958 she served as a public relations consultant for the Republican National Committee's women's division.[1][6]

Beginning in September 1958, Nash served as the confidential administrative assistant to

Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS).[1]

Both Nash and her husband Bradley Nash were active in their retirement, and Bradley Nash was the mayor of Harper's Ferry, West Virginia for many years.[1] They donated portions of their land to the National Park Service in 1984 to create a wildlife preserve.[1]

Death and legacy

Ruth Cowan Nash died on February 5, 1993, of respiratory arrest in her sleep.[6] She was 91 years old.[5] She had no children.[1] Her papers are currently held at Schlesinger Library at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al Ruth Cowan Nash Papers, ca.1905-1990: A Finding Aid. MC 417. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Ruth Cowan Nash, interview by Margot H. Knight, 29 March 1990 in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, transcript. Washington Press Club Foundation Oral History Collection.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Go to War I Did, and at Considerable Trouble" Ramirez, Maria. Nieman Reports, Nieman Foundation at Harvard.
  4. ^ a b c d Pioneering War Correspondent Ruth Cowan Dies at 91. 5 February 1993. AP News.
  5. ^ a b c Ruth B. Cowan, 91, A.P. Correspondent During World War II 6 February 1993. The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b c d Journalist Ruth Nash Dies. 1993. The Washington Post.
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