Breckinridge, Mary Martin (b. 1905)

American pioneering radio reporter during World War II. Born in 1905 in Kentucky; graduated from Vassar College, 1927; studied at the New School for Social Research, New York; married a member of the American State Department.

In the manner of pioneering print journalists Doris Fleeson and Marguerite Higgins , Mary Martin Breckinridge broke through the gender barrier in radio to become one of the first women to report the news during World War II. Beginning her career in Washington as a secretary for the Democratic National Committee and then for a member of Congress, Breckinridge went abroad in 1930 to work as a free-lance photographer. In 1939, when World War II broke out, she was in London working for a photo syndicate. Edward R. Murrow, who was there covering the first bombing raids for CBS radio, put Breckinridge on the air to report events from a woman's point of view. Executives back home were so pleased with her performance that she became a regular. Breckinridge quickly moved from women's issues to broader war coverage. In December 1939, she broadcast first from the Netherlands and then temporarily replaced William L. Shirer in Berlin. Returning to Amsterdam, she continued reporting until forced to flee from the Nazi invasion. She took up her broadcasts again in Paris and later Italy.

Breckinridge gave up reporting to marry an American State Department employee who was involved in work with prisoners of war. After a three-day honeymoon, she and her new husband went to Berlin where they made prison-camp inspections. Although America was not yet officially at war with Germany, Breckinridge was not allowed to broadcast again because of her involvement with a member of the State Department. She lived most of the rest of her life abroad as a diplomat's wife, and she continued to publish photographs under her maiden name.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts