Kate Field

Mary Katherine Keemle Field (pen name, Straws, Jr.; October 1, 1838 – May 19, 1896) was an American journalist, correspondent, editor, lecturer, and actress, of eccentric talent. She never married. Field seemed ready to give an opinion on any subject. She took public stances on controversial topics: opposing the Statue of Liberty as a poor use for an island, opposing the prohibition of alcohol (temperance), supporting the wine industry, for female clothing reform, opposing the immigration of "scum". She believed the U.S. was the best country in the world, and its people the most civilized. Field was a unique figure in the history of American journalism. She began writing when still in her teens, and her letters to the Springfield Republican of Massachusetts, and other papers, over the signature of "Straws, Jr.," were well received. She wrote from Washington, D.C., New York City, and Europe. She was one of the few successful paragraphists, and her criticisms of art, music, and the drama, were just. She was both editor and publisher of her newsmagazine, Kate Field's Washington.