Agness Underwood
| Agness Underwood | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Agnes May Wilson December 17, 1902 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Died | July 3, 1984 (aged 81) Greeley, Colorado, United States |
| Cause of death | Heart failure |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California |
| Occupation | Newspaper reporter, editor |
| Years active | 1926–1968 |
| Spouse(s) | Harry Underwood (m. 1920–1943; divorced) |
Agness "Aggie" May Underwood (December 17, 1902 – July 3, 1984) was an American journalist and newspaper editor, and one of the first women in the United States to hold a city editorship on a major metropolitan daily. She was preceded by Laura Vitray who became city editor of the New York Evening Graphic in 1930, and by Mary Holland Kincaid who was city editor at the old Herald, likely in the early 1900s. She worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Record from 1928 to 1935, the Herald-Express from 1935 to 1962, and the Herald-Examiner from 1962 to 1968.
Agnes May Wilson was born in San Francisco, California, to Clifford Wilson, a journeyman glass-blower, and Mamie Sullivan Wilson, a housewife. Underwood would adopt the distinctive double "s" at the end of her first name in 1920. Underwood was the eldest of two daughters. The Wilson family's frequent moves were determined by where Clifford could find work. In November 1907, Mamie died in childbirth. Clifford's work required him to travel, which made it impossible for him to care for the girls on his own. Underwood and her younger sister were handed over to relatives in Terre Haute, Indiana, to be raised. Underwood recalled that she and her sister did not stay in Terre Haute and that they moved frequently, often winding up in the hands of public charity.
Clifford became distressed with the way his daughters were being treated and found two foster homes in Portland, Indiana, each willing to take one of the girls. Underwood's sister was sent to live with a farm family. Underwood's new home was with Charles and Belle Ewry and their three sons. She and the eldest of the three sons, Ralph, liked each other immediately. Ralph Ewry became her friend and protector. Underwood later described the Ewry household as a serious environment, made bearable only by Ralph's kindness.
Underwood did well in school and skipped three grades; however, by the time she entered high school in 1916 her enthusiasm for her studies had waned and she dropped out in the tenth grade. Underwood took as job as a clerk in the basement of Cartwright's department store in Portland, Indiana. She became increasingly unhappy living with the Ewry's, particularly following Ralph's deployment overseas as a soldier during World War I. Ralph sensed Underwood's discontent in her letters to him and, believing that she might be better off with a blood relative, managed to locate one of her distant relatives in San Francisco.
Underwood arrived in San Francisco in November 1918, and moved in with her relative who lived in an apartment on Geary Street. Underwood knew she would be expected to contribute to household expenses and set out to find a job. After a few frustrating days of unsuccessful job hunting, she arrived at the apartment only to discover that her relative had moved out leaving Underwood broke, alone, and homeless.
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