Born: 11 June 1769, United States
Died: 1 October 1854
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Anne Newport
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
In 1831, when very few women worked in any aspect of journalism, Anne Newport Royall boldly entered the field in Washington, DC.
Royall was already known in the nation’s capital for voicing her political opinions. In 1829, she was tried and arrested for the offense of a “common scold,” the crime of a woman who disturbs the public peace by noisy behavior. Her penalty was to be ducked, but the sentence was suspended.
Her four-page weekly newspaper, Paul Pry, later the Huntress, ran for twenty-five years and was described as a forerunner of the modern Washington gossip columns (Mott, American Journalism).