Marion Carpenter
| Marion A. Carpenter | |
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Marion Carpenter, extracted from her 1949 Christmas card to President Truman.
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| Born | 6 March 1920 |
| Died | 29 October 2002 (aged 82) St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Cause of death | emphysema |
| Residence | St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | U.S.A. |
| Occupation | photographer, nurse |
| Years active | 1942-1984 |
| Known for | pioneer press photographer, first woman White House press photographer |
| Home town | St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Children | Mjohn |
| Parent(s) | Harry Carpenter and Lillian B. Marion |
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Marion A. Carpenter, also known as Marion Anderson (March 6, 1920 – October 29, 2002), was the first woman national press photographer to cover Washington, D.C. and the White House, and to travel with a US President. She broke the gender role stereotype in the 1940s, as women were socially expected to marry, have children and stay at home as housewife, but left Washington in 1949 after her second marriage.
After divorce in 1951, Carpenter returned to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she worked as a nurse to support her mother and son. While she did some photography, by her death at age 82, she was little known in the national memory. Since her death, there has been recognition of Carpenter as a pioneer.
Carpenter was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Lillian B. Marion of Minnesota and Harry Carpenter of Avery County, North Carolina. Her father Harry Carpenter moved from North Carolina to work as a laborer in Minnesota, where he met Lillian. They married and settled in St. Paul. As a girl, Marion Carpenter went to local schools and at first planned to be a nurse.
Her paternal Carpenter family were descended from Matthias Carpenter (a German immigrant originally named Zimmermann) of North Carolina. He was born ca. 1750-1755 and died in 1835 in Ashe County, North Carolina (now part of Watauga County, North Carolina). Carpenter worked as a nurse from 1942 to 1944. In her off-duty hours from study and work, she had joined the St. Paul Camera Club, where she learned the basics of photography. She became interested in news photography.
In 1944, Carpenter moved to Washington D.C., where she started working for the Washington Times-Herald. She next joined the International News Photo (INP) syndicate as a special assignment photographer. In addition to her INP work, she did freelance portraits of senators and representatives. Described as "an athletic brunette", she was herself sometimes the subject of photos.
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