Fleeson, Doris, 1901-1970

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Journalist; interviewee married Dan Kimball.

From the description of Reminiscences of Doris Fleeson Kimball : oral history, 1966. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122441411

Doris Fleeson was a newspaper reporter and syndicated columnist in Washington D.C. for nearly 40 years, beginning in 1933, and was known as an aggressive political reporter. Fleeson was born in Sterling, Kansas on May 20, 1901. Fleeson graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in journalism in 1923. During her time at KU, Fleeson was a correspondent for the University Daily Kansan; her first newspaper job was with The Pittsburg (Kan.) Sun. Fleeson was a member of newspaper staffs in both Evanston, Illinois, and Long Island, New York before obtaining a postion at the New York Daily News. Within a few years she was assigned to the newspaper's Albany bureau and became acquainted with Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose Administration she later covered in Washington. On September 28, 1930, she was married to John O'Donnell, a fellow Daily News reporter. Their daughter, also named Doris, was born two years later. Fleeson joined her husband in The Daily News' Washington Bureau in 1933. Together they started the "Capitol Stuff" column. At one time, Fleeson was the sole permanent woman member of the press entourage who accompanied President Roosevelt on his campaign tours.

Fleeson and O'Donnell divorced in 1942. The next year Fleeson left The Daily News and went to Europe as a war correspondent for The Woman's Home Companion. After the war she returned to Washington and began a column on political affairs, which appeared first in The Washington Star. In 1958, Fleeson married Dan Kimball, who was President Harry Truman's Secretary of the Navy from 1951-53, and also President and later Chairman of the Board for Aerojet General Corporation until 1969. By the time Fleeson went into semi-retirement in 1967, her twice-a-week column was distributed by United Features Syndicate, Inc., to 90 newspapers. Her reporting over the years earned her a number of awards and citations, including the Raymond Clapper award in 1954 from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. A champion of women's rights, she was an active member of the Women's National Press Club and an inveterate foe of the National Press Club, which did not admit women members.

From the guide to the Personal Papers of Doris Fleeson, 1912-1970, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library University Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Fleeson, Doris Richard Nixon Library
referencedIn Fleeson, Doris Harry S. Truman Library
referencedIn Newspaper Clipping Files, 1949 - 1961 Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
referencedIn LBJ Recording of Telephone Conversation, WH Series, Speaker: GEORGE REEDY, Time: 12:13 p.m Lyndon Baines Johnson Library
referencedIn WHAT ROLE FOR THE SOUTH IN THE COMING ELECTION? National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Fleeson, Doris Harry S. Truman Library
referencedIn New York University Collection. 1935 - 1954. Audio Recordings of "America's Town Meeting of the Air" Radio Programs. 1935 - 1954. ARE WE SPENDING TOO MUCH ON CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIONS? National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Correspondents Doris Fleeson, May Craig, and Bess Furman, and President Truman Harry S. Truman Library
referencedIn John Mason Brown papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
creatorOf Fleeson, Doris, 1901-. [Personal papers of Doris Fleeson] University of Kansas Archives / MSS / Rare Books, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
creatorOf Fleeson, Doris, 1901-1970. Reminiscences of Doris Fleeson Kimball : oral history, 1966. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Nash, Ruth Cowan, 1901-. Papers: Series I-IV, 1905-1990 (inclusive) [microform]. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Butler, Pierce, 1893-1957. Pierce Butler papers, 1944-1957. Minnesota Historical Society Library
Fleeson, Doris Harry S. Truman Library
creatorOf Personal Papers of Doris Fleeson, 1912-1970 University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library University Archives
referencedIn WHAT ARE THE REAL CAMPAIGN ISSUES? National Archives at College Park
referencedIn Sage Colleges Archives. Honorary degree recipient for 1957, Doris Fleeson. The Sage Colleges Libraries
Relation Name
employeeOf Boston Globe corporateBody
correspondedWith Brown, John Mason, 1900-1969 person
correspondedWith Brown, John Mason, 1900-1969 person
associatedWith Butler, Pierce, 1893-1957. person
employeeOf Daily news (New York, N.Y. : 1920) corporateBody
associatedWith Davis, Kenneth S. (Kenneth Sydney), 1912-1999, person
spouseOf Kimball, Dan Able, 1896-1970. person
associatedWith Nash, Ruth Cowan, 1901- person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962 person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Sterling College (Sterling, Kan.) corporateBody
associatedWith Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965. person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf University of Kansas. corporateBody
employeeOf Washington Evening Star corporateBody
employeeOf Woman's Home Companion. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Sterling KS US
Washington, D. C. DC US
Subject
Journalists
Women journalists
Occupation
Columnist
Journalists
Activity

Person

Birth 1901-05-20

Death 1970-08-01

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