Routt, Mary Patterson, 1888-1986

Biography / Administrative History

Mary Patterson Routt was a founding trustee of Scripps College as well as one of the first female members of the White House press corps. She was born on May 13, 1888 in Mitchellville, Iowa, a small farming community. The only child of Burton Robert Patterson, a grain broker, and his wife, Ida Patterson, it was always understood that she was expected to attend college; as a child, her mother had sent in an application for her to attend Wellesley College in Boston. Because the local high school she attended was unaccredited, after graduating, Mary enrolled in a preparatory high school in Grinnell, Iowa. Having made many close friends there, Mary persuaded her parents to allow her to stay and enroll in Grinnell College. Her parents relented only after she promised to attend Wellesley College after graduating from Grinnell; her father felt that her education should not be limited geographically to the Midwestern area. Thus, after graduating from Grinnell in 1908 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, Mary earned a bachelor's degree in English and history from Wellesley. After graduating from Wellesley, Mary taught at Sutherland High School in Iowa for a year. In 1912 she married Orville Routt, whom she had met at Grinnell College. After the two married, the couple moved to Southern California where her husband became the owner of a successful lumberyard business. In 1920, Mary gave birth to their only child, Robert.

As a student at Grinnell College, Mary had met Ernest J. Jacqua, a fellow student who later became the first president of Scripps College. Over the years, Mary and her husband had become good friends with Jacqua, and in 1926, he asked Mary to become a member of the first board of trustees for Scripps College. Mary served on the board from 1926 to 1965 and played an active role in the development of the college. She and her husband made several donations to the school, and in 1966, a residence hall on the Scripps Campus was named in her honor. In 1981, the Scripps College board of trustees awarded the first Distinguished Service Award to Mary for her many contribution to the institution.

Mary entered the field of journalism in 1922, writing a regular column in the Beverly Hills Citizen News called "Facts, Folks, and Fancies." Her editor, recognizing her talent for writing about politics, decided to send her to Washington, D.C. to cover the 1933 inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Her coverage of the even gained her renown and earned her a spot as one of the first female members of the White House press corps. In addition to the bi-weekly press conferences given by Roosevelt, she also attended the exclusive press conferences that Eleanor Roosevelt held for the female journalists.

In 1933, Mary was one of two female journalists invited to attend the London Economic Conference. At the conference, she was the only woman in a subgroup of journalists traveling by foot through the countryside of Russia. Some of the men protested against her presence, arguing that a woman would not be able to endure such an arduous trip. Mary, however, was the only member of the group that did not become sick on the trek through Russia.

As a Washington correspondent from 1933 to 1945, Mary divided much of her time between California and Washington, D.C. She became a nationally syndicated columnist for the Beverly Hills Citizen News and the Pasadena Star News and was frequently invited to give talks by various organizations across the country. Throughout her career, Mary's husband was very supportive and would at times write articles in her place when she was ill. Mary also became good friends with the Roosevelts and was a frequent guest at the White House. In 1966, Mary was awarded an honorary doctorate by Grinnell College for her achievements in journalism.

After her husband passed away in 1972, Mary moved into an apartment in the Mary Routt Residence Hall on the Scripps College Campus. In 1983, she wrote a book on her experience as a Washington correspondent, entitled The Life and Times of a Washington Correspondent, 1933-1945. At the age of 98, Mary passed away on June 19, 1986.

From the guide to the Mary Patterson Routt papers, 1776-1983, 1905-1983, (Claremont Colleges. Library. Ella Strong Denison Library.)