Alma Reed

Born: 17 June 1889, United States
Died: 20 November 1966
Country most active: United States, Mexico
Also known as: Mrs. Goodfellow, La Peregrina (the Pilgrim), Alma Marie Sullivan

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).

Many in Mexico revere Alma Reed, known as La Peregrina (“the Pilgrim”) for her sensitive journalism. In 1921, following the Mexican Revolution, she famously defended Simón Ruiz, a 17-year-old Mexican boy without documents, who was tried and sentenced to hang because a U.S. lawyer recommended that he plead guilty. Reed wrote often against the execution of minors and thanks in part to her, the California constitution was amended. A San Franciscan, Reed traveled to Mérida, Yucatan after having written many articles praising the Obregón revolutionary government. One memorable part of her story involved her engagement to the local governor, Felipe Carrillo Puerto. After she left Mérida to arrange marriage plans in San Francisco, she learned by telegram that her fiancé and twelve other men had been executed.

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Posted in Journalism, Writer.