Miriam Ottenberg: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Latest revision as of 15:07, 27 September 2023

Miriam Ottenberg (October 7, 1914 in Washington, D.C. – November 10, 1982) was the first woman news reporter for The Washington Star who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960, for a series of articles exposing the practices of unscrupulous used car dealers in Washington D.C.^[1]

Background

Her father was Louis Ottenberg (1886–1960),^[2] a lawyer for 45 years in the District of Columbia, at whose suggestion the American Bar Association created the Magna Carta Memorial in Runnymede, England.^[3] Her mother was Nettie (Podell) Ottenberg, one of the first training social workers in the United States who won the first federal funding for day care.^[4]

Career

Ottenberg's follow-up stories led to enactment of remedial law.^[5]

With several honors and awards given during her career, Ottenberg also was one of the first reporters to reveal that the Mafia was an organized crime network.^[5]^[6] She once summed up her feelings about her role as a journalist: "A reporter should expose the bad and campaign for the good. That's the way I was brought up."^[7]

Awards and recognition

Co-winner of the Washington Newspaper Guild competition for public service articles in 1953
Honorable mention awards in the same category in 1954 and 1958, and in 1959
Pulitzer Prize in 1960 for best investigation report: "Buyer Beware"
Bill Pryor Award of the Washington Newspaper Guild for her series on used car fraud, "Buyer Beware"
First place in the local news category for her stories on an abortion ring and on murders of women
In May 1958, capital police, jurists, and local and federal government officials held a party to pay tribute to Ottenberg's efforts against crime
She was given awards for distinction by the National Council of Jewish Women in 1963 and by the American Association of University Women in 1975
In 1979 she won the Hope Chest Award from the National Capital Chapter of the National MS Society

Works

Ottenberg published the following books:

The Warren Commission Report: The Assassination of President Kennedy Miriam Ottenberg
The Pursuit of Hope Ottenberg, Miriam ISBN 9780892560691
The Federal Prosecutors (Prentice-Hall), a book about the FBI (1962)

References

^ The Pulitzer Prizes. "Miriam Ottenberg of The Evening Star, Washington, DC". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "Louis Ottenberg". Geni. July 8, 1886. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
^ Ottenberg, Louis (June 1957). "Magna Charta Documents: The Story Behind the Great Charter". American Bar Association Journal. 43 (6): 497. JSTOR 25720021.
^ "Ottenberg, Nettie Podell (1887–1982)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 2, Yorkin Publications, 2007, pp. 1456-1457. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2588818247/GVRL?u=wikipedia&sid=GVRL&xid=7411f384. Accessed 10 May 2021.
^ ^a ^b Elizabeth A. Brennan, Elizabeth C. Clarage, eds., Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999), ISBN 978-1573561112, p. 356. Excerpts available at Google Books.
^ Marston, Brenda (1988). "Miriam Ottenberg Papers, 1931-1982". University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
^ Carper, Elsie (November 10, 1982). "Reporter Miriam Ottenberg Of The Washington Star Dies". Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2020.

This article about a United States journalist born in the 1910s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] The Pulitzer Prizes. "Miriam Ottenberg of The Evening Star, Washington, DC". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[2] "Louis Ottenberg". Geni. July 8, 1886. Retrieved April 28, 2020.

[3] Ottenberg, Louis (June 1957). "Magna Charta Documents: The Story Behind the Great Charter". American Bar Association Journal. 43 (6): 497. JSTOR 25720021.

[doww-4] "Ottenberg, Nettie Podell (1887–1982)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 2, Yorkin Publications, 2007, pp. 1456-1457. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2588818247/GVRL?u=wikipedia&sid=GVRL&xid=7411f384. Accessed 10 May 2021.

[WW1-5] Elizabeth A. Brennan, Elizabeth C. Clarage, eds., Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999), ISBN 978-1573561112, p. 356. Excerpts available at Google Books.

[6] Marston, Brenda (1988). "Miriam Ottenberg Papers, 1931-1982". University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Retrieved April 28, 2020.

[7] Carper, Elsie (November 10, 1982). "Reporter Miriam Ottenberg Of The Washington Star Dies". Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|American journalist}}
-{{technical|date=December 2015}}
+{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}
+'''Miriam Ottenberg''' (October 7, 1914 in Washington, D.C. – November 10, 1982) was the first woman [[news reporter]] for ''[[The Washington Star]]'' who won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] in 1960, for a series of articles exposing the practices of unscrupulous used car dealers in [[Washington D.C.]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=The Pulitzer Prizes|date=|title=Miriam Ottenberg of The Evening Star, Washington, DC|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/miriam-ottenberg-0|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.pulitzer.org|language=en}}</ref>
+==Background==
+Her father was Louis Ottenberg (1886–1960),<ref>{{cite web |title=Louis Ottenberg |website=Geni |date=July 8, 1886 |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Louis-Ottenberg/6000000044314746209 |access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> a lawyer for 45 years in the [[District of Columbia]], at whose suggestion the [[American Bar Association]] created the [[Runnymede#Magna Carta Memorial|Magna Carta Memorial]] in [[Runnymede]], England.<ref>{{cite journal |ref=<!--{{sfn|Ottenberg|1957|p --> |last=Ottenberg |first=Louis |title=Magna Charta Documents: The Story Behind the Great Charter |journal=American Bar Association Journal |volume=43 |issue=6 |date=June 1957 |page=497 |jstor=25720021}}</ref> Her mother was [[Nettie Podell Ottenberg|Nettie (Podell) Ottenberg]], one of the first training social workers in the United States who won the first federal funding for day care.<ref name="doww">"Ottenberg, Nettie Podell (1887–1982)." ''[[Dictionary of Women Worldwide| Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages]]'', edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Klezmer, vol. 2, Yorkin Publications, 2007, pp. 1456-1457. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2588818247/GVRL?u=wikipedia&sid=GVRL&xid=7411f384. Accessed 10 May 2021.</ref>
-'''Miriam Ottenberg''' ([[Washington, D.C.]] borned in [[October 7]], [[1914]] - died in [[November 10]], [[1982]]) was the first woman [[news reporter]] for ''[[The Washington Star]]'' who won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] in [[1960]], for a series of articles exposing the practices of [[unscrupulous]] used [[car dealers]] in [[Washington D.C]]. Her follow-up stories led to enactment of remedial law.<ref name="WW1">Elizabeth A. Brennan, Elizabeth C. Clarage, eds., ''Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners'' ([[Greenwood Publishing Group]], 1999), ISBN 978-1573561112, p. 356. [http://books.google.com/books?id=63nvmt4HqTEC&lpg=PA356&ots=VormR-f8K6&dq=lucy%20morgan%20%22hall%20of%20fame%22&pg=PA356#v=onepage&q=lucy%20morgan%20%22hall%20of%20fame%22&f=false Excerpts available] at [[Google Books]].</ref>
+==Career==
-With several honors and awards given during her career, she also was one of the first reporters to reveal that the Mafia was an organized crime network.<ref name="WW1"></ref>
+Ottenberg's follow-up stories led to [[enactment of a bill|enactment]] of remedial law.<ref name="WW1">Elizabeth A. Brennan, Elizabeth C. Clarage, eds., ''Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners'' ([[Greenwood Publishing Group]], 1999), {{ISBN|978-1573561112}}, p. 356. [https://books.google.com/books?id=63nvmt4HqTEC&dq=lucy+morgan+%22hall+of+fame%22&pg=PA356 Excerpts available] at [[Google Books]].</ref>
-== Biography ==
-Borned in Washington D.C. on October 7, 1914 Miriam Ottenberg's father was Louis Ottenberg, an attorney; her mother, Nettie Podell Ottenberg (1887-1982), a Russian emigree, was an active woman suffragist known as “Mrs. Day Care” for her efforts on behalf of better child care services. Miriam had two sibilings, Regina Ottenberg Greenhill and one brother, Louis Ottenberg, Jr.<ref name=archival>{{cite web|title=Miriam Ottenberg Papers, 1931-1982|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-mss00748;focusrgn=bioghist;cc=wiarchives;byte=208691655|website=Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids University of Wisconsin Digital Collections}}</ref>
+With several honors and awards given during her career, Ottenberg also was one of the first [[reporters]] to reveal that the ''[[American Mafia|Mafia]]'' was an organized crime network.<ref name="WW1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Miriam Ottenberg Papers, 1931-1982 |website=University of Wisconsin Digital Collections |last=Marston |first=Brenda |date=1988 |url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-mss00748;focusrgn=bioghist;cc=wiarchives;byte=235624624 |access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> She once summed up her feelings about her role as a journalist: "A reporter should expose the bad and campaign for the good. That's the way I was brought up."<ref>{{cite news |last=Carper |first=Elsie |date=November 10, 1982 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |title=Reporter Miriam Ottenberg Of The Washington Star Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1982/11/10/reporter-miriam-ottenberg-of-the-washington-star-dies/55ff6cb8-0f2f-4711-b309-011815ea381c/ |access-date=April 28, 2020}}</ref>
-Miriam Ottenberg graduated from Central High School in [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1931, and attended Goucher College, Columbia University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which she graduated with a [[B.A.]] in journalism in 1935 while writing for the student newspaper, The Daily Cardinal.<ref name=wp>{{cite news|title=Miriam Ottenberg|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/11/11/miriam-ottenberg/799db2d9-6164-4177-92a6-8ef776691e1f/|agency=Washington Post|date=November 11, 1982}}</ref>
+== Awards and recognition ==
-After graduating she worked as a [[copywriter]] for a Chicago [[advertising agency]], Neisser-Meyerhoff (1935-36) and as a [[reporter]] for the women's department of the ''Akron (Ohio) Times''.
+* Co-winner of the Washington Newspaper Guild competition for public service articles in 1953
+* Honorable mention awards in the same category in 1954 and 1958, and in 1959
+* Pulitzer Prize in 1960 for best investigation report: "Buyer Beware"
+* Bill Pryor Award of the Washington Newspaper Guild for her series on used car fraud, "Buyer Beware"
+* First place in the local news category for her stories on an abortion ring and on murders of women
+* In May 1958, capital police, jurists, and local and federal government officials held a party to pay tribute to Ottenberg's efforts against crime
+* She was given awards for distinction by the National Council of Jewish Women in 1963 and by the American Association of University Women in 1975
+* In 1979 she won the Hope Chest Award from the National Capital Chapter of the National MS Society
+== Works ==
-In 1937 she started working at the ''[[Washington Star]]'' covering public service and charity campaigns being the first woman news reporter at the Star, where previously other women only had written primarily for the woman's page.
+Ottenberg published the following books:
+* ''The Warren Commission Report: The Assassination of President Kennedy'' Miriam Ottenberg
+* ''The Pursuit of Hope'' Ottenberg, Miriam  {{ISBN|9780892560691}}
+* ''The Federal Prosecutors'' (Prentice-Hall), a book about the FBI (1962)
+== References ==
-By the beginning of World War II, she was covering all the major murder stories in the city and also covered the draft, civil defense, and mobilization during the war.
+{{reflist}}
+{{PulitzerPrize Investigative Reporting}}
-In 1947, Ottenberg began specializing in investigative crime reporting, eventually becoming a noted pioneer in the field. Her first professional recognition came in 1953, when she was named co-winner of the Washington Newspaper Guild competition for public service articles.<ref name=ec>{{cite news|last1=Carper|first1=Elsie|title=Reporter Miriam Ottenberg Of The Washington Star Dies|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1982/11/10/reporter-miriam-ottenberg-of-the-washington-star-dies/55ff6cb8-0f2f-4711-b309-011815ea381c/|agency=The Washington Post|date=November 10, 1982}}</ref>
+{{Authority control}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottenberg, Miriam}}
-In 1960 Ottenberg won the [[Pulitzer Prize]] for her series on used car fraud, “Buyer Beware.” Thereafter she became known as the “Beware Girl” for her continued investigations of consumer fraud. Her award-winning series included “Homeowners Beware,” “Investors Beware,” “Traveler Beware,” and a series on local stock market abuses. <ref name= archival></ref>
+[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
+[[Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent]]
+[[Category:20th-century American women journalists]]
+[[Category:Jewish American journalists]]
+[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners]]
+[[Category:1914 births]]
+[[Category:1982 deaths]]
+[[Category:20th-century American women writers]]
+[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
+[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
+[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]
-In 1967 she exposed debt-consolidating firms in her series, “Debtor Beware.” In order to collect information for numerous stories, Ottenberg often donned disguises. The first incidence of this occurred when, in order to expose an adoption racket, she and a fellow reporter posed as a married couple seeking to adopt a child.
+{{US-journalist-1910s-stub}}
-From 1966 to 1968, Miriam Ottenberg served as an [[editor]] of the first regular newspaper section that investigated consumer complaints, known as “Action Line".
-In 1962 Miriam published [[The Federal Prosecutors]] (Prentice-Hall), a book about the FBI in wich she worked with the Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with whom she had developed a working relationship and respect after years of reporting the activities of the Department of Justice. Ottenberg was also one of the first reporters to reveal that the "[[Mafia]]" was an organized crime network. Her 1963 story on [[Joe Valachi]], the mobster who subsequently blew the whistle on the Mafia, presented a new view of organized crime in America.<ref name=ed>{{cite book|last1=Cray|first1=Ed|title=Chief Justice: A Biography of Earl Warren|date=1997|publisher=Simon and Schuster,|isbn=9780684808529|pages=603}}</ref>
-Ottenberg retired in 1974 due to vision problems and [[multiple sclerosis]]. (Ottenberg had contracted MS in 1944 at the age of 30, although it was not diagnosed until 1967 or revealed to her until 1971.) During her retirement she began extensively investigating the disease, writing articles on the subject and also doing gathering information and individual accounts with the disease. From this she wrote her second book, ''[[The Pursuit of Hope]]'' (Rawson, Wade Pub.) in 1978.<ref name=pp>{{cite book|last1=Gruyter|first1=Walter|title=The Pulitzer Prize Archive: A History and Anthology of Award Winning Materials in Journalism, Letters and Arts, Volume 6|publisher=Heinz-Dietrich Fischer|isbn=9783598301704|pages=420 pages|edition=Heinz-Dietrich Fischer}}</ref>
-On June 10, 1981, Ottenberg enlisted the Washington Hall of Fame of the [[Society of Professional Journalists]], Sigma Delta Chi. And the Star print.
-== Books published ==
-"The Warren commission report: the assassination of president Kennedy "
-Miriam Ottenberg
-"The Pursuit of Hope"
-Ottenberg, Miriam  ISBN: 9780892560691
-"The Federal Prosecutors (Prentice-Hall), a book about the FBI(1962)"
-== Honorable mention awards ==
-• Co-winner of the Washington Newspaper Guild competition for public service articles in 1953.
-• Honorable mention awards in the same category in 1954 and 1958, and in 1959.
-• Pulitzer Prize in 1960 for best investigation report: “Buyer Beware”.
-• Bill Pryor Award of the Washington Newspaper Guild for her series on used car fraud, “Buyer Beware.”
-• First place in the local news category for her stories on an abortion ring and on murders of women.
-• In May 1958, capital police, jurists, and local and federal government officials held a party to pay tribute to Ottenberg's efforts against crime.
-• She was given awards for distinction by the National Council of Jewish Women in 1963 and by the American Association of University Women in 1975.
-• In 1979 she won the Hope Chest Award from the National Capital Chapter of the National MS Society.
-== External links ==
-*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1982/11/10/reporter-miriam-ottenberg-of-the-washington-star-dies/55ff6cb8-0f2f-4711-b309-011815ea381c Article of Miriam Ottenberg]
-== References ==
-{{reflist}}

v t e Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting
Previously the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time from 1953–1963 and the Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting from 1964–1984
1953–1975	Edward J. Mowery (1953) Alvin McCoy (1954) Roland Kenneth Towery (1955) Arthur Daley (1956) Wallace Turner (1957) George Beveridge (1958) John Harold Brislin (1959) Miriam Ottenberg (1960) Edgar May (1961) George Bliss (1962) Oscar Griffin Jr. (1963) James V. Magee, Albert V. Gaudiosi & Frederick Meyer (1964) Gene Goltz (1965) John Anthony Frasca (1966) Gene Miller (1967) J. Anthony Lukas (1968) Al Delugach & Denny Walsh (1969) Harold E. Martin (1970) William Jones (1971) Timothy Leland, Gerard M. O'Neill, Stephen Kurkjian & Ann Desantis (1972) The Sun Newspapers of Omaha (1973) William Sherman (1974) The Indianapolis Star (1975)
1976–2000	Chicago Tribune (1976) Acel Moore & Wendell Rawls Jr. (1977) Anthony R. Dolan (1978) Gilbert M. Gaul & Elliot G. Jaspin (1979) Stephen Kurkjian, Alexander B. Hawes Jr., Nils Bruzelius, Joan Vennochi & Robert M. Porterfield (1980) Clark Hallas & Robert B. Lowe (1981) Paul Henderson (1982) Loretta Tofani (1983) Kenneth Cooper, Joan Fitz Gerald, Jonathan Kaufman, Norman Lockman, Gary McMillan, Kirk Scharfenberg & David Wessel (1984) Lucy Morgan, Jack Reed & William K. Marimow (1985) Jeffrey A. Marx & Michael M. York (1986) Daniel R. Biddle, H.G. Bissinger, Fredric N. Tulsky & John Woestendiek (1987) Dean Baquet, William C. Gaines & Ann Marie Lipinski (19) Bill Dedman (1989) Lou Kilzer (1990) Joseph T. Hallinan & Susan M. Headden (1991) Lorraine Adams & Dan Malone (1992) Jeff Brazil & Steve Berry (1993) Providence Journal-Bulletin (1994) Stephanie Saul & Brian Donovan (1995) The Orange County Register (1996) Eric Nalder, Deborah Nelson & Alex Tizon (1997) Gary Cohn & Will Englund (1998) Miami Herald (1999) Sang-Hun Choe, Charles J. Hanley & Martha Mendoza (2000)
2001–2025	David Willman (2001) Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham & Sarah Cohen (2002) Clifford J. Levy (2003) Michael D. Sallah, Joe Mahr & Mitch Weiss (2004) Nigel Jaquiss (2005) Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi & R. Jeffrey Smith (2006) Brett Blackledge (2007) Walt Bogdanich, Jake Hooker & Chicago Tribune (2008) David Barstow (2009) Barbara Laker, Wendy Ruderman & Sheri Fink (2010) Paige St. John (2011) Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan, Chris Hawley, Michael J. Berens & Ken Armstrong (2012) David Barstow & Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab (2013) Chris Hamby (2014) Eric Lipton & The Wall Street Journal (2015) Leonora LaPeter Anton, Anthony Cormier, Michael Braga & Esther Htusan (2016) Eric Eyre (2017) The Washington Post (2018) Matt Hamilton, Harriet Ryan & Paul Pringle (2019) Brian Rosenthal (2020) Matt Rocheleau, Vernal Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, Evan Allen & Brendan McCarthy (2021) Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington & Eli Murray (2022) Staff of The Wall Street Journal (2023)

Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF WorldCat
National	Israel United States
Other	IdRef