A Guide to the Louise A. Hutchinson Papers, 1953-2017

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Louise A. Hutchinson Papers, 1953-2017. Accession 51990. Personal Papers Collection, the Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23219.

Summary

Extent:
7 boxes (4.3 cu. ft.)
Creator:
Louise A. Hutchinson
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Louise A. Hutchinson Papers, 1953-2017. Accession 51990. Personal Papers Collection, the Library of Virginia, Richmond, VA 23219.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers, 1953-2017, of Louise A. Hutchinson are primarily comprised of newspaper clippings of her work from the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper clippings span the entire length of her time working at the Tribune, from 1953-1973, and include articles written by Hutchinson about animals, Alvin the Submarine, Hutchinson's trip to the Antarctic, miscellaneous features and local interest articles from Washington, D.C. and Chicago, school desegregation, and various politicians, including John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and their families. Collection also includes correspondence, and several photograph albums and scrapbooks which detail various aspects of her time as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Also included in this collection is a 1994 oral history of Hutchinson, conducted by Chicago Tribune reporter Robert Wiedrich, as well as miscellaneous papers and photographs.

Biographical / historical:

Louise A. Hutchinson (1926-2017) was born in Chicago, Illinois, where she lived in the Irving Park neighborhood until 1966. Hutchinson graduated from Schurz High School and attended Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois and later received a bachelor's from the University of Iowa. After earning her degree, Hutchinson worked for WHBF radio station, worked as a reporter for the Northwest Times, a weekly newspaper on Chicago's Northwest Side, before joining the Chicago Tribune. At the beginning of Hutchinson's time at the Tribune, she covered a variety of topics, including a 1957 concert by Elvis Presley, local businesses, and a series of articles on the Brookfield Zoo. In November 1963, Hutchinson was moved to Washington, to cover the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination, with particular emphasis on Jacqueline Kennedy. Hutchinson officially joined the Tribune's Washington bureau in 1966, where she covered the presidencies of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon, including the latter's 1972 trip to the Soviet Union. Other notable articles include Hutchinson's 1967 ride to the bottom of the ocean in the Navy's "Alvin" submarine and her 1971 trip to the South Pole, where she become the first woman to stay there overnight. After leaving the Tribune in 1973, Hutchinson worked as he public information office for the Department of Justice's civil rights division. From 1985 until 1991, Hutchinson worked as the director of public information for the National Association of Children's Hospitals in Alexandria, Virginia. Hutchinson moved to Williamsburg in 1993, where she lived until her death in 2017.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mary Carroll Johnson, 2017 and Michael Abley, 2017.