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Jane Cunningham

Jane Croly

19 December 1828—23 December 1901

Born 19 Dec. 1828 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England.1 Daughter of Joseph Cunningham and Jane Scott.2 Emigrated with her family aboard the Hudson, arriving in New York 30 July 1841.3 Living in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., New York, by 1850.4 Moved to New York City seeking journalism work, 1854; using the pseudonym Jennie June, wrote the women’s column “Parlor and Side-walk Gossip,” the first woman’s page in a newspaper, which appeared in Noah’s Sunday Times.5 Married David G. Croly, 14 Feb. 1856, in New York City; four children.6 Managed the woman’s department of the New York World, 1862–1872.7 Published in several New York newspapers; editor of Demorest’s Illustrated Monthly, 1864–1887.8 Published Jennie Juneiana: Talks on Women’s Topics, 1864, and Jennie June’s American Cookery Book, 1866.9 In response to being excluded with other women journalists from a presentation by Charles Dickens at the all-male New York Press Club, organized Sorosis, dedicated to “the collective elevation and advancement” of women, 1868.10 Organized the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1890, and the Women’s Press Club of New York, 1901.11 Spoke at the National Council of Women, in Washington, DC; EBW attended her presentation, 1891.12 First woman to teach journalism at Rutgers University, 1892.13 Published History of the Woman’s Club Movement in America, 1898.14 Died 23 Dec. 1901 in Lakewood, Ocean Co., New Jersey.15

Footnotes

  1. 1 "" font-variant-ligatures:="" lucida="" span="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-family:" wesleyan="">("" class="NormalTextRun BCX0 SCXW245622745" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)" data:image="" font-family:="" font-size:="" font-variant-ligatures:="" lucida="" solid="" span="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-family:">, England"" font-variant-ligatures:="" lucida="" span="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-family:">, "" font-variant-ligatures:="" lucida="" span="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-family:">Births and Baptisms, 1814–1837,<span class="NormalTextRun BCX0 SCXW245622745" data-ccp-parastyle="Normal (Web)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text; -webkit-user-drag: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; font-family: " lucida="" sans",="" "lucida="" sans_embeddedfont",="" sans_msfontservice",="" sans-serif;="" font-size:="" 13.3333px;="" font-variant-ligatures:="" none;"="">” p. 32, Jane Cunningham, 19 Dec. 1828; London Public Record Office, London; microfilm 597075, item 4, DGS 8228591, image 313/535, FHL. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 21 Oct. 2020), Jane Cunningham (MPJW-WWF). 

  2. 2 Wesleyan Church, (Market-Harborough, England), "Births and Baptisms, 1814–1837," p. 32, Jane Cunningham, 19 Dec. 1828; London Public Record Office, London; microfilm 597075, item 4, DGS 8228591, image 313/535, FHL. Church of England, Parish Church of Great Bowden, (Leicestershire), "Bishop's Transcripts for Great Bowden, 1563–1867: Christenings, Marriages, and Burials, 1563–1867," p. 10, no. 31, Joseph Cunningham and Jane Scott, 13 Sept. 1818; City Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, England; microfilm 590850, DGS 7906213, image 307/440, FHL.

  3. 3 New York Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820–1957, database, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020), Joseph Cunningham.

  4. 4 1850 U.S. Census, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess Co., NY, Joseph Cunningham.

  5. 5 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).

  6. 6 New York Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, "Register of Marriages, New York City, 1829–1887, Registers, vols. 1–3, 1829–1860," David G. Croly and Jennie Cunningham, 14 Feb. 1856; Municipal Archives, New York City; microfilm 1671673, DGS 7587142, FHL. “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).

  7. 7 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).

  8. 8 “Jane Cunningham Croly: American Journalist,” Encyclopedia Britannica (https:/www.britannica.com/topic/journalism, accessed 23 Oct. 2020).

  9. 9 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).

  10. 10 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).

  11. 11 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020). “Jane Cunningham Croly: American Journalist,” Encyclopedia Britannica (https:/www.britannica.com/topic/journalism, accessed 23 Oct. 2020).

  12. 12 Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 311–312. EBW, Diary, 24 Feb. 1891.

  13. 13 “Rutgers Remembers: October 1892, Jane Cunningham Croly,” Rutgers University (https://250.rutgers.edu/rutgers-remembers, accessed 23 Oct. 2020).

  14. 14 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” History of American Women (https://www.womenhistoryblog.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).

  15. 15 “Jane Cunningham Croly,” Evergreen Cemetery, Lakewood, Ocean Co., NJ, Find a Grave, posted 18 Apr. 2004, memorial no. 8653005 (http://findagrave.com, accessed 21 Oct. 2020).