Kathleen Blake Coleman
| Kit Coleman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Kathleen Blake Coleman 20 February 1856 Castleblakeney, County Galway, Ireland |
| Died | May 16, 1915 (aged 59) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Cause of death | pneumonia |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Occupation | War correspondent |
| Known for | World's first accredited female war correspondent |
"Kit Coleman" (1856–1915) was the nom de plume of the Irish-Canadian newspaper columnist Kathleen Blake Coleman. Coleman was the world's first accredited female war correspondent, covering the Spanish–American War for the Toronto Mail in 1898. Coleman also served as the first president of the Canadian Women's Press Club, an organization of women journalists.
Kit Coleman was born Catherine Ferguson to Patrick and Mary Ferguson (née Burke) at Castleblakeney in May 1856 near Galway, her birth is often listed incorrectly as 1864 presuming her maiden name is Blake. Her father was a middle-class farmer. Catherine was educated at Loretto Abbey in Rathfarnham and a finishing school in Belgium. As an adult, she recalled her parents influencing her love of creative activities; her father had given her his love of books, and her mother, who was blind, taught her an appreciation of music and to also how to play several instruments. The strongest influence on her intellectual life came from her uncle Thomas Nicholas Burke, a Dominican priest and a renowned liberal and orator, who taught her religious and social tolerance, an attitude that was reflected in her journalism as an adult.
Coleman married young to an elderly man and wealthy landowner Thomas Willis, the sources conflict stating either at age 16 or 20, under her adopted name Kathleen Blake. The couple had one child who died in early childhood, and Willis died soon after. The marriage had not been a happy one, resulting in her disinheritance by her husband's family. She emigrated to Canada as a young widow in 1884. In Canada, she worked as a secretary until she married her boss, Edward Watkins. She lived in Toronto and Winnipeg, where she bore two children (Thady and Patricia) by her second husband.
In 1889, following the death of Watkins, or more probably, their divorce, Coleman first turned to cleaning houses to support herself and her two children, then began writing articles for local magazines, mainly Toronto's Saturday Night.
Kathleen Blake Watkins then moved to Toronto to pursue journalism in 1890. As "Kit of the Mail", she was the first female journalist to be in charge of her own section of a Canadian newspaper. She was hired by the Toronto Mail (later the Mail and Empire). In the 1890s and early 1900s, she ran a seven-column page in the Toronto Mail. Called "Woman's Kingdom," it came out once a week. She began by writing articles on lighter topics typical of the women's columns that had begun to appear in newspapers at that time, topics such as theatre criticism, as well as fashion notes and recipes. In one of her most popular features she gave the first advice to the lovelorn. She rebelled against her editors’ assumptions that women were interested only in housekeeping, fashion, and her advice column, and insisted on writing about other things she believed would interest them: politics, business, religion, and science. Her column was so outspoken that it attracted a wide following, including Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier. Her columns also covered topics such as social reform and women's issues, examining controversies like domestic violence and the poor working conditions women endured. Kit Coleman's columns were syndicated to newspapers across Canada. She worked for the Mail until 1911.
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