Marguerite Higgins

Marguerite Higgins was an American Journalist who was born in Hong Kong in 1920 and moved to the states with her family in 1923. Higgins was most famous for her work covering the Korean War from the front line. In 1951, Marguerite became the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize of coverage of international affairs. (Gore, 2009)
Moving back to the states, Higgins spent her childhood growing up in Oakland, California, where she attended Anna Head School in Berkeley. She graduated cum laude from the University of California in 1941. After graduating, she moved to New York to pursue her dream of finding a newspaper job. She became restless when she was unable to receive a job, so she applied for a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. While attending Columbia University, she was a campus correspondent for the New York Herald until grabbing the city desk staff after graduating. (Gore, 2009)

Shortly before the Korean War began, in 1950 Higgins was appointed chief of the Tokyo bureau. She was able to be in Seoul when it was being invaded and was also able to go with the Marines to Inchon (Marguerite Higgins Papers). It was during these times that she would compete for front page stories, that she won the Pulitzer Prize for her reporting, along with her colleague Homer Bogart. (Marguerite Higgins, 2004)

In 1951, she had an amazing year of interviews. She went to Vietnam, where she interviewed Emperor Bao Dai. World leaders such as Shah of Iran, Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia, Queen Frederika of Greece, Generalissimo Francisco Franco of Spain, Prime Minister Nehru of India, and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, were also interviewed by her throughout the year. (Marguerite Higgins Papers)

Higgins was also an author. She wrote many books including her first book “War in Korea: Report of a Woman Combat Correspondent,” which was published in 1951. This book shot her into mainstream success making her life-story well know. (Marguerite Higgins, 2004) Between the years of 1954 and 1955, she wrote “Red Plush” and “Black Bread” which were inspired by her travels throughout the USSR. In 1955, “News is a Singular Thing,” her autobiographical book on reporting was published, and in 1962, “Jessie Benton Fremont” was published, her only children’s book. Other books of hers include “Overtime in Heaven: Adventures in the Foreign Service” and her final book “Our Vietnam Nightmare,” published in 1965. (Marguerite Higgins, 2004)

Higgins work does not stop there though. In 1956, she became part of the Washington Bureau of the Tribune. She also went with Nixon to Russia in 1959 as a diplomatic correspondent, and with Kennedy to Europe in 1961. (Gore, 2009) Another key interview for her was Rose Kennedy after President Kennedy was assassinated.


Sources:

Gore, M. R. (2009) American Woman Journalist Marguerite Higgins. Retrieved fro
http://www.suite101.com/content/american-women-journalist-marguerite-higgins-a89256

Marguerite Higgins Papers (n.d). In Syracuse University Library. Retrieved from
http://library.syr.edu/digital/guides/h/higgins_m.htm

Marguerite Higgins (2004) in Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Marguerite_Higgins.aspx