Bess Furman Armstrong

AKA: Mrs. Robert Armstrong

In her published works, the author went by the name Bess Furman.

Born 1894-12-02 Danbury, NE (USA)

Died 1969-05-12
Woodacres, MD (USA)

Author and Journalist, Bess Furman was a White House correspondent who became good friends with Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the President. Bess was known as a champion of women's rights. She was the first woman reporter ever assigned by a press association to cover the House of Representatives and the first woman to hold a top press job with a cabinet agency. She covered the White House during five presidential administrations, starting with Herbert Hoover.

Places Lived

Danbury, NE
McCook, NE
Ft. Collins, CO
Kirksville, MO
Kearney, NE
Omaha, NE
Washington, D.C.
Montgomery, MD
Woodacres, MD

Author Of

Journalism
Nonfiction
Biography

Keywords

Journalism; Politics; Biographies; Women's Rights

Education

Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, Kirksville, MO
Degree, 1918, Nebraska State Teachers College, Kearney, NE

Occupation

Journalist
Teacher
Author
Business Owner
Assistant Chief, Magazine Division, Office of War and Information, 1941-1943
Staff Writer, New York Times
Head of the Press Information Division of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare

Places Worked

Kearney Daily Hub
Omaha Bee News
Associated Press
New York Times
Furman Features
U.S. Office of War and Information
U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare

Honors

Headliner Award, Theta Sigma Phi, National Journalistic Sorority, 1949
Elected to the Nebraska Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1975

Associations

National Women's Press Club President, 1946

Bibliography

Washington By-Line: The Personal History of a Newspaper Woman. 1949.
White House Profile: A Social History of the white House, Its Occupants and Its Festivities. 1951.
Progress in Prosthetics. 1962.
A Profile of the United States Public Health Service, 1789-1948. 1973.

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