A genteel woman with a nose for news, Durham graduated from
St. Joseph’s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. She broke in as a police reporter
on The New Orleans States during
World War I, when male reporters were in short supply.
She had to persuade editors at the States of her worth. One of those editors was Semmes Colston,
grandson of Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes. Colston disliked women on
newspapers and didn’t hesitate to say so.
One of Durham’s first assignments took her to the New
Orleans city dump. She wrote a touching story about waifs who had changed a
field of refuse into a garden spot. Other newspapers around the country picked
up the story and Durham’s city editor conceded that “the new girl belongs.”
When World War I ended, Durham came to Mobile. Political
opponents of liberal Frederick I. Thompson, publisher of The Mobile Register, relied
on her reporting their views in Victor Hanson’s Birmingham News and Frank P. Glass’ Montgomery Advertiser. She also reported for the weekly Mobile Post until Chandler hired her for
The Mobile Press and contributed
features to Georgia newspapers. H. L. Menken’s American Mercury, among others, published her fiction.
With the merger of the Press and the Register in 1932, Durham became the first society editor of The Mobile Press Register.
Burton was married to one of my cousins, Gladys Pierce.
With the merger of the Press and the Register in 1932, Durham became the first society editor of The Mobile Press Register.
Personal Sidebar
The above photo of Durham was taken by Wilson Burton, a photographer at the Blue Light Studio in Mobile. He later became the photographer for Hammel’s Department Store and remained there for years. The Mobile Press Register published a feature article about him on June 22, 2008. You can also view some of his photos online. His cameras were donated to the University of South Alabama.Burton was married to one of my cousins, Gladys Pierce.
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