Bernice Redington papers

Bernice Redington (1891-1966) was a journalist and home economist.

"Bernice Redington began working for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I) in 1923, while attending the University of Washington part-time. She had worked for a time as a dietitian for the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver, Washington and at Seattle advertising agencies before joining the staff of the P-I. She published a weekly food page and a daily column under her own byline for about two years, but her role began to expand during the time of Royal Brougham’s editorship of the newspaper (1925-1928). By the early 1930s, Bernice had added the moniker “Prudence Penny” to her column, sometimes in tandem with her own name, sometimes on its own. Prudence Penny was a pseudonym shared by numerous home economics columnists at various Hearst publications."

"As Bernice Redington recounts her own experience ...she had grown dissatisfied with working conditions at the P-I by the end of 1935, not having much of a say as the more experienced women on her staff were suddenly being replaced by lower-paid, less experienced ones. Perhaps sensing the writing on the wall, she decided to quit her P-I job to focus on finally completing her degree and quit abruptly in early 1936. Although she professed not to be much of a union sympathizer (“because my father was a small-town newspaper publisher and didn’t allow you to even mention the word unions”), she did testify before the National Labor Federation and supplied the “Molly Mixer” food columns for the Guild Daily newspaper (put out by the Guild during the strike)."

"After receiving her degree, Bernice found employment for part of the year with the Ball Brothers (glass fruit jar) company and the rest of the time as a social worker in Kitsap County. She eventually left for Hawaii, where she returned to journalism, working for several publications, including the Honolulu Star Bulletin (1946-1948) and also completing an (unpublished) novel. She returned to Washington State in 1948 and became the head of the test kitchen for the Fisher Flouring Mills, also appearing on radio broadcasts for Fisher. She settled in Normandy Park, where she continued to do freelance writing and also was involved in community affairs until her death."

[Source: Unknown author. “Live dangerously and follow your convictions: Seattle’s First Prudence Penny.” PNW Blog. The Pacific Northwest Collection of the Special Collections Division, University of Washington Libraries. February 13, 2013.]