BARBARA BLAKEMORE '46

Inducted: October 31, 2004

Barbara Blakemore ‘46 began her 50-year career in journalism here at DePauw in the publications building, on the editorial staff of The DePauw. Then, as co-editor of the campus magazine, The Boulder, she helped change its focus to fit the interests of its wartime readers. These journalistic efforts were capped with an appointment to Theta Sigma Phi, the national women’s journalism fraternity. She was also active in academics and leadership, elected to both Mortar Board and Phi Beta Kappa and served as president of Alpha Phi. After graduation she went on to receive a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1948.

Ms. Blakemore began her professional career as an editor for Woman’s Home Companion magazine and then for Collier’s. Later, as fiction editor of Redbook, she edited a story that was included in The Best Short Stories of 1963. This marked the first time that a story from any “slick” magazine had been chosen for this yearly anthology. She then moved on to a 19-year career at McCall’s, where she rose to the position of Executive Editor. During her time there she served as president of New York City-based Women’s Media Group for a year.

In 1982, she received Alpha Phi’s highest honor, the Frances E. Willard Award. In 1984 she moved to Family Circle as Deputy Editor. In 1991 she edited the article “Toxic Nightmare on Main Street,” which won in the Public Interest category of the American Society of Magazine Editors’ annual competition. In 2000-01 she served as president of QUEST, a Community for Lifelong Learning, in Manhattan.

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