Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901

Variant names

Hide Profile

Jane Cunningham Croly (December 19, 1829 – December 23, 1901) was a British-born American author and journalist, better known by her pseudonym, Jennie June. She was a pioneer author and editor of women's columns in leading newspapers and magazines in New York. She founded the Sorosis club for women in New York in 1868 and in 1889 expanded it nationwide to the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She also founded the Woman's Press Club of New York City.

Jane Cunningham was born in England, the daughter of a Unitarian minister, Reverend Joseph Cunningham, and his wife Jane Scott. The family emigrated to the United States when young Jane was twelve. The family first lived in Poughkeepsie, New York, and later in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

Jane first became interested in journalism while a student; she started by editing the school newspaper. Later, she edited and published the newspaper for her brother's church. By 1855, she had moved to New York in search of full-time journalism work, and some sources say it was there she first used the pseudonym "Jennie June". But other sources say that "Jennie June" was a childhood nickname, given to her by a family friend when Jennie was twelve years old.

After applying to several newspapers and being turned down, she was eventually hired by a publication called Noah's Sunday Times (often erroneously reported as The New York Times, for whom she did not work); this was a publication edited by Mordecai Manuel Noah. At Noah's, she began writing a regular women's column, focusing on such traditional subjects as fashion, cooking, and the arts. She would later recall this time as challenging since few newspapers wanted to hire a woman at all, and if they did so, it was only in the areas set aside for "women's interests". There was great resistance from male editors about hiring a woman to cover news or do serious reporting outside of what was considered women's sphere.

As a result of her journalism career, she also met her husband, a fellow journalist and editor for the New York Herald; his name was David G. Croly and they were married on St. Valentine's Day February 14, 1856. They had three daughters, Minnie, Viola and Alice, and one son, Herbert David. Herbert Croly went on to a career in journalism, becoming editor of The New Republic magazine. She would later tell interviewers that thanks to her husband, her career in journalism advanced; he hired her at New York World, and her career progressed from then on.

While most women were expected to give up their career after marrying, Jennie June continued to work and did so even after having children. She was the editor of Demorest's Magazine from 1860 to 1887; this magazine devoted itself to women's fashions, and Jennie became known as an expert in the subject, widely quoted in other publications. She was later the editor of the Cycle Magazine (which she founded) and also the Home-Maker Magazine. Additionally, her columns were often syndicated on women's pages throughout the United States.

Croly was a pioneer feminist, dedicated to the betterment of her sex. She called for more efficiency in women's dress and ridiculed bloomers as bizarre. She insisted that women's finest work was to be "the caretakers, the homemakers, the educators of children". Croly sympathized with the women's suffrage movement but was not active in it. She strongly supported equality and equal rights, giving special emphasis to new careers for middle-class women such as secretary, bookkeeper, nursing and department store clerk, in addition to traditional roles of teaching. Schlesinger argues that "Croly's lasting contribution to the progress of American women was her insistence that sex be submerged in competent performance". She told American women that financial independence and economic equality was as or more important than the right to vote.

She called the first congresses of women in 1856 and 1869, organized Sorosis in 1869; it was an organization that advocated for greater acceptance and more professional opportunities for women. It did not concern itself with politics or women's suffrage. Jennie June told the press that she envisioned the club, (whose name is a Greek botanical term for a kind of tree that yields various kinds of fruits and flowers) as a salon where women could gather and exchange ideas, enjoy literature, and discuss the arts. She later organized its successor, the General Federation of Women's Clubs) in 1890; she also founded the New York Woman's Press Club in 1889 and became its first president. Early meetings were held in her home.

In her later years, Jennie June Croly was often referred to in the press as the "Mother of Women's Clubs", a term that was also mentioned when newspapers reported on how she became ill in the summer of 1898. She suffered a serious fall and broke her hip; her close friend Ellen Demorest, for whose fashion magazine she once worked, also became ill around that same time, suffering a stroke. It seems that she never entirely recovered and, in 1900 announced that she was retiring from newspaper and club work. She made a trip back to England, to see the country of her birth after so many years away and, after returning to New York, she died of heart failure, on December 23, 1901, at the age of 72.

In 1994, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn American Women Writers, 1850-1936 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901,. Autograph letters signed from Jane (Cunningham) Croly to various people [manuscript], 1864-1892. Folger Shakespeare Library
referencedIn Strickland, Edward F. Autograph collection, 1780-1918 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Woman's Press Club of New York City Papers [Records], 1889-1980. Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
creatorOf Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901. Papers of Jane Cunningham Croly, 1888. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Frost (Edwin Collins) and William Henry Frost Papers, Frost (Edwin Collins) and William Henry Frost papers, (bulk 1890-1927), 1890-1941 John Hay Library, Special Collections
creatorOf Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901. Papers, 1876-1966 (inclusive), 1876-1901 (bulk). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Strickland, Edward F., 1820-1907. Autograph collection, 1780-1918 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Williamson, M. B. (Martha Burton). M. B. Williamson papers, 1887-1927. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Sorosis (New York, N.Y.). Records, 1856-1983. Smith College, Neilson Library
referencedIn Autograph File, C Houghton Library
creatorOf Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901. Memorandum. Dartmouth College Library
referencedIn Driscoll, Emily,. American women writers, 1850-1936 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Sorosis Records, 1856-1972 Sophia Smith Collection
referencedIn Schlesinger, Elizabeth Bancroft, 1886-1977. Papers, 1910-1977 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Bolquerin, Moe James. An investigation of the contributions of David, Jane, and Herbert Croly to American life : with emphasis on the influence of the father on the son. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn POSITIVIST PAPERS. Vol. XVII (ff. 272). Letters from Positivists and others, some addressed to Mrs Congreve; 1863-1900. Arranged, both English and foreign, in one alphabetical series.includes:f. 1 George Johnston Allman, of Queen's College, Galway:..., 1863-1900 British Library
referencedIn Schlesinger, Elizabeth Bancroft, 1886-1977. Papers of Elizabeth Bancroft Schlesinger, 1933-1963 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901. Quotation, May 11, 1887 ; letter to "My Dear Sir", Dec. 10, 1875, New York, and Judge Hilton, New York / Jane Cunningham Croly. University of Wisconsin - Madison, General Library System
referencedIn Moore, Aubertine Woodward, 1841-1929. Papers, 1781-1928. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
creatorOf Croly, J. C. (Jane Cunningham), 1829-1901. Letters, 1865, New York, to George William Childs. Brown University Archives, John Hay Library
referencedIn Pickard-Whittier papers, 1815-1915. Houghton Library
referencedIn Woman's Press Club of New York City. Papers, 1889-1980. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf Frost, Edwin Collins, 1867-1956. Edwin Collins Frost papers, 1846-1967. Brown University, Brown University Library
creatorOf Adams, James Truslow, 1878-1949. Barrett assorted authors collection, 1814-1947 University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Correspondence and other papers, 1831-1891. Houghton Library
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Mrs. J. C. Croly to Walt Whitman, 21 May 1882 Walt Whitman Archive
Relation Name
associatedWith Bolquerin, Moe James. person
associatedWith Childs, George William, 1829-1894, person
correspondedWith Daly, Augustin, 1838-1899 person
associatedWith Driscoll, Emily V. person
associatedWith Duniway, Abigail Jane Scott, 1834-1915. person
associatedWith Frost, Edwin Collins, 1867-1956. person
associatedWith Frost, William G. (William Goodell), 1854-1938 person
associatedWith General Federation of Women's Clubs. corporateBody
associatedWith Godey Publishing Company (N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Harbert, Elizabeth Morrison Boynton, 1845-1925. person
associatedWith Home Weekly and Household Newspaper. corporateBody
associatedWith Lincoln, Mary Todd, 1818-1882 person
associatedWith Moore, Aubertine Woodward, 1841-1929. person
correspondedWith Parton, James, 1822-1891 person
associatedWith Schlesinger, Elizabeth Bancroft, 1886-1977. person
associatedWith Sorosis (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Strickland, Edward F., person
associatedWith University of Wisconsin--Madison. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections. corporateBody
correspondedWith Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 person
correspondedWith Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892 person
associatedWith Williamson, M. B. (Martha Burton) person
associatedWith Woman's Press Club of New York City. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Leicestershire ENG GB
Southbridge MA US
Poughkeepsie NY US
New York City NY US
Subject
American literature
Clubs
First day covers (Philately)
Societies
Occupation
Journalists
Activity

Person

Birth 1829-12-19

Death 1901-12-23

Female

Americans

English

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60w94j1

Ark ID: w60w94j1

SNAC ID: 86622609