Background
Henrietta Goodnough was born in Bennington, Kansas.
Henrietta Goodnough was born in Bennington, Kansas.
She was the first female correspondent accredited by the United States War Department. Her first newspaper job was at the Junction City Daily Sentinel in Junction City, Kansas. She also worked at the Honolulu Star and the Cleveland Plain Dealer, among other papers, before she came to specialize in military reporting.
In 1916 she reported on John Jay Pershing"s role in pursuing Pancho Villa, and her connection with Pershing made it possible to travel to France and spend time at the front as an unsanctioned war correspondent in 1917.
She gained official accreditation in 1918, "the only girl correspondent accredited to the A. East. F. by the war department." After 1918, she covered American forces sent to Siberia, wearing her usual uniform (she dressed in her own version of military gear for much of her career). Between the wars, Peggy Hull briefly lost her American citizenship by marrying a British man in 1922, under the Expatriation Acting of 1907.
She renewed her accreditation as a war correspondent in 1943 to cover American involvement in the Pacific Theatre during World World War II, though she was considered too old for any physically hazardous assignments. She was awarded a Navy commendation for her work.
In 1939, Peggy Hull became a founding member of the Overseas Press Club of America.