Women's History Month and Their Early and Ongoing Contributions to PR

Sunday, March 8, was International Women’s Day, just about one week into Women's History Month and the centenary of women’s suffrage in the U.S. Even a brief retrospective will underscore the seminal, significant role women have played in public relations' development. Clearly, it’s incumbent on us to acknowledge how far women have come in public relations and how far public relations has come because of women.

Women like Doris Fleischman, Leone Baxter, and Belle Moskowitz were trailblazers in public relations, although they focused on different aspects of the profession. Baxter and Fleischman worked alongside their husbands, and when Baxter and Moskowitz were both widowed, they had to forge ahead without the support systems upon which most women of the time relied. The latter two ultimately made their mark in traditionally male areas—political consulting and political campaigns—despite the skepticism and downright scorn generally meted out to women in such non-traditional roles at that time. Fleischman worked alongside Bernays and subsequently married him. To an extent, she had to live in his shadow, when in fact, it has been said that certain important innovations and PR successes were truly attributable to Fleischman, and not to Bernays. Baxter continued to run the political consulting firm, Whitaker and Baxter, which she founded with her husband after Campaigns, Inc., the firm they started together and was the first political consulting firm, was sold to Whitaker's son. She managed Whitaker and Baxter well after Whitaker's death and into her 90s. Moskowitz, who began her career as a social worker, became a highly respected political adviser and campaign manager in 1928 for Al Smith, Democratic candidate for President.

It’s important to celebrate the achievements of women across the spectrum during Women’s History Month, International Women’s Day, and the centenary of women's suffrage. It’s even more important for those of us who understand the value of public relations to acknowledge that women have been the backbone of public relations across industries, in the political arena, PR education, and elsewhere. Give credit where credit is due!