Inventory of the Helen Waterhouse Papers, 1930-1964

Biography of

Helen Waterhouse was born in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1893 and received her education at the Boston Naval Art School and Fenway School of Illustration. She worked for the Springfield, Massachusetts Union and the Toronto, Canada Star Weekly. After moving to Akron, Ohio she became county correspondent for the Amherst Newspaper for two years. In 1925, John S. Knight, editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, asked Waterhouse to cover news at the Akron Art Institute (now the Akron Art Museum). By 1928 she became a full-time reporter for the newspaper while her husband Ralph served as superintendent of the Akron Public Schools from 1934 to 1942. In 1940, the marriage ended in divorce.

Helen Waterhouse's career was impressive. She entered numerous contests and sent photographs and clippings to the Ohio Newspaper Women's Association and the Ohio Federation of Press Women. Her stories placed first on 57 occasions as well as second, third, and honorable mention 41 separate times. In 1950 she was named "Ohio Newspaper Woman for the Year" by the National Federation and in 1957 and 1958 she was named "Press Woman of Achievement."

Waterhouse's stories covered a wide range of topics, from the Hindenburg disaster to the Lindbergh kidnapping, from World War II heroism to articles about Russian culture during the 1950s. She frequently travelled abroad gathering stories from as far away as Korea, Japan, Israel, Hong Kong, Manila, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. She also went to Yugoslavia to cover the trial of Dragoljub "Draža" Mihailović (1893-1946), a Yugoslav Serb general during World War II who organized a band of guerrillas known as the Chetniks after the Germans overran Yugoslavia in 1941.

On the local level, Waterhouse became a friend of Sam Shepard while he was on trial for murdering his wife in Bay Village. Her most famous story was her series on Clarence Hathaway, the son of a blind and deaf couple. The Akron Welfare Agency was trying to take their son away, but all of the negative press that Helen provided and the supporting public reaction helped influence the judge to let them keep their child. The journalist had made the Hathaway Family friends with all of Akron and received the coveted TV "Big Story" Award in 1955 for the series.

In 1965, Helen Waterhouse died in an automobile accident in Akron, presumably after a heart attack, at the age of 72. The journalist was known for possessing a keen sense of revealing news, getting at the sources, acquiring interviews, prying for information, and getting close to people.

Scope and Content

The Helen Waterhouse Papers contain material relating to her career as a journalist, including a selection of her published articles in newspapers and journals. It also includes correspondence, which consists of personal and professional letters, incoming and outgoing, dating from November 1951 to February 1964. Included are reports from the Ohio Newspaper Woman's Association and the National Federation of Press Women, both organizations to which Waterhouse was a member. The newspaper features contain Helen Waterhouse's "Big Story," the Russian series and other features from 1930 to 1964. Also included are features and awards, drafts of articles and series of articles, as well as personal mementos, memorabilia, and photographs of Waterhouse with friends and co-workers. The Helen Waterhouse Papers would be of value to a researcher interested in local journalism, Waterhouse's career, and the nature of her news features.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

Restrictions on Access

No restrictions on access; except not available through interlibrary loan. Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to reproduce or publish materials in this collection must be secured in writing from Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron.

John S. Knight Papers

Herman and Hazel Fetzer Papers

Indexing Terms

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of Item], Helen Waterhouse Papers, Archival Services, University Libraries, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio

Detailed Description of The Collection