WOMEN IN HISTORY - MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

Groundbreaking photo-journalist and author
Picture
Source: Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia Vol 1, Compton (1928) © www.arttoday.com

DATE OF BIRTH

June 14, 1904

PLACE OF BIRTH

The Bronx, New York

DATE OF DEATH

August 27, 1971

PLACE OF DEATH

Connecticut

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Her father, Joseph White, was of Polish-Jewish background. He was an inventor and an engineer. He believed in equality in education and opportunity for all his children. Margaret's mother, Minnie Bourke, was of Irish-English ancestry and was a loving and nurturing mother. Minnie was completing her college degree at the time of her death. Margaret was married twice; once to Everett Chapman, when she was but 18 years old; and to Erskine Caldwell, the writer, in 1939, after they had worked together. They divorced in 1942.

EDUCATION

Margaret Bourke-White attended several universities throughout the United States while pursuing a degree in Herpetology (the study of reptiles). They included Columbia University in New York, the University of Michigan, Purdue University in Indiana, Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and she received her degree in 1927 from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Margaret began to study photography as a hobby while a very young woman. She developed the styles and techniques that she needed for various formats on her own. Her father was also somewhat of a camera enthusiast and he exposed her to the wonders of the photographic lens as a youngster.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Margaret Bourke-White is a woman of many firsts. She was a forerunner in the newly emerging field of photojournalism, and was the first female to be hired as such. She was the first photographer for Fortune magazine, in 1929. In 1930, she was the first Western photographer allowed into the Soviet Union. Henry Luce hired her as the first female photojournalist for Life magazine, soon after its creation in 1935, and one of her photographs adorned its first cover (November 23, 1936). She was the first female war correspondent and the first to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II, and one of the first photographers to enter and document the death camps. She made history with the publication of her haunting photos of the Depression in the book You Have Seen Their Faces, a collaboration with husband-to-be Erskine Caldwell. She wrote six books about her international travels. She was the premiere female industrial photographer, getting her start in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Otis Steel Company around 1927.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books by Margaret Bourke-White
  • You Have Seen Their Faces (1937; with Erskine Caldwell)
  • North of the Danube (1939; with Erskine Caldwell)
  • Shooting the Russian War (1942)
  • They Called it "Purple Heart Valley" (1944)
  • Halfway to Freedom; a report on the new India (1949)
  • Portrait of Myself  (1963)
  • Dear Fatherland, rest quietly (1946)
  • The Taste of War (selections from her writings, edited by Jonathon Silverman)

Books about Margaret Bourke-White:
  • For the world to see: the life of Margaret Bourke-White by Jonathon Silverman (1983)
  • Margaret Bourke-White: a biography by Vicki Goldberg (1986)
  • The Photographs of Margaret Bourke-White edited by Sean Callahan (1972)

WEBSITES

QUOTE

"Work is something you can count on, a trusted, lifelong friend who never deserts you." ~ Margaret Bourke-White

CITATION

This page may be cited as:
Women in History. Margaret Bourke-White biography. Last Updated: 1/30/2013.Women In History Ohio.
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