She then worked for papers in Minneapolis, New York City, and Minneapolis again, really hitting her stride in her second stint with the Minneapolis Tribune, where she reported on such traditionally male preserves as sports and politics. She became bored with this assignment, so she fought, successfully, for the chance to cover hard news, and she distinguished herself in this arena. She was initially society editor, one of the few positions open to women journalists at the time. Hickok soon moved on to a larger city and a larger paper, the Milwaukee Sentinel. She then found her calling, taking a job with a small-town newspaper. This enabled the young Hickok to finish high school, then go to college, but she was unhappy in academia and flunked out after a year. She finally found a measure of stability by moving in with her mother’s cousin Ella Ellis.
At 14, Hickok left home and began working as a maid, but this life was no more settled, as she lived with nine different families in two years. What she accomplished: Today, Lorena Hickok (1893-1968) is often mentioned primarily for her relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and that was certainly an important aspect of her life, but “Hick” also had a distinguished career in journalism and broke through many barriers for women in the profession.īorn in East Troy, Wis., Hickok endured a difficult childhood her father was physically abusive and couldn’t keep a job, so the family moved around a great deal. Who she was: A pioneering journalist and friend, mentor, and most likely lover of Eleanor Roosevelt.
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