Faith Fenton

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Faith Fenton in 1880
Faith Fenton in 1880

Alice Freeman (1857 - 1936), better known by her pseudonym, Faith Fenton, was a Canadian school teacher and investigative journalist. She became Canada's first female columnist while writing for the Toronto Empire.[1] Freeman wrote under the pseudonym Faith Fenton to keep her job as a teacher, as journalism was seen as an unacceptably disreputable activity for a teacher to be involved in.[2] With the low salary she earned at these jobs, she required both salaries to support herself.[2]

[edit] Childhood

Fenton was the third of twelve children, and was sent to live with a Bowmanville, Ontario minister and his wife when Fenton was age ten.[3] Margaret Reike, her foster mother ensured Fenton got an education beyond what her parents might have afforded.[3]

[edit] Journalism career

Fenton began her journalist career in 1886 as a Toronto correspondent for the Northern Advance, a daily newspaper in Barrie, Ontario.[2] In 1888 she began writing a column for The Toronto Empire. The column, titled Women's Empire, dealt with issues relevant to women of the day: sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, child abuse and wage disparity.[3] Fenton wrote columns at night, travelled to work as a journalist during the summer, while remaining a teacher during the day.[2] As a writer, she interviewed famous people of the day like Susan B. Anthony, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Catherine Parr Traill,[3] Pauline Johnson and Emma Albani.[2] She kept her double-identity secret until 1893.[2] She resigned her job as a schoolteacher in 1894, and became a full-time journalist.[2]

When gold was discovered in the Yukon, Fenton accompanied the Yukon Field Force's nurses to the Yukon as a correspondent for The Globe.[2] Fenton departed Toronto in the spring, arriving in the Yukon in August.[4] In the Yukon, Fenton met and married Dr. John Brown.[5] Fenton took up residence in Dawson City and began to send reports of the gold rush back to eastern Canada.[4] She returned to Toronto in 1904.[2]

Faith Fenton on assignment in the Yukon
Faith Fenton on assignment in the Yukon

[edit] References

  1. ^ New Acquisitions : 2002. Portrait Gallery of Canada.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Faith Fenton (1857-1936). Collections Canada.
  3. ^ a b c d Margaret Gunning. A Passionate Pen - The Life and Times of Faith Fenton.
  4. ^ a b Les McLaughlin. Faith Fenton Journalist.
  5. ^ Fenton, Faith, 1857-1936. McMaster University.