Richardson, Anna Steese, 1865-1949

Anna Steese Richardson was born in Ohio, and raised by her aunts and grandmothers in Philadelphia after the early death of her mother. Around 1883, after acquiring a Normal School diploma, she took a teaching job in Colorado. She married William Richardson, with whom she had three children; they later divorced. Richardson ran their household in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and also reported news for the local daily newspaper. In 1900, Richardson and her family moved to New York where she began writing feature articles for the women's page of the New York World. Richardson went on to write for many newspapers and magazines, often covering theatre. She reported on and helped to shape the evolving themes of the twentieth century, particularly as related to women.

An activist at heart, Richardson founded the Better Babies Bureau to which can be traced much of modern health work for mothers and infants. Richardson worked as a war correspondent for the Companion, McClure's, and the Pictorial Review during World War I in France. She later founded the Good Citizenship Bureau for the purpose of educating women in civic responsibility.

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