Lane, Gertrude Battles

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LANE, GERTRUDE BATTLES

At the turn of the twentieth century, when women were making significant legal and political advances that would lead them to obtaining voting rights and a notable say in public governance, Gertrude Battles Lane (1874–1941) was distinguished as the editor of one of the leading U.S. women's magazines, Woman's Home Companion. Gertrude Battle used the Woman's Home Companion not only as a vehicle focused on women's issues, but she increased the scope of those issues to include political and social matters, as well as to educate women about how to use the vote in their best interests.

Gertrude Lane was born on December 21, 1874, in Saco, Maine, the daughter of Eustace Lane, an organist and piano tuner, and Ella Maud Battles. She initially attended public schools and as the family wealth increased she was able to attend the exclusive private school Thornton Academy, where she edited the school's literary paper.

She graduated from Thornton Academy in 1892, and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where she took work as a private tutor. In 1895 she completed a year long course in business at Burdett College, and in 1896 she began working for the Cyclopedia Publishing Co. as an assistant editor. She worked there for seven years, developing her editorial skills. During this time she also published essays, poetry, and book reviews in various Boston publications.

In 1902 financial problems at Cyclopedia Pub. prompted Lane to search for a new job. In 1903, she accepted the position of "household editor" at the popular Woman's Home Companion, a monthly women's magazine founded in 1874. Lane stayed with the magazine and its publisher, Crowell Publishing, until her death in 1941.

Lane rose steadily at the Companion, becoming the managing editor in 1909 and the editor-in-chief in 1912. She claimed her success was caused simply by hard work, but those who knew her said she also possessed strong editorial skills and a keen business sense. The Pulitzer Prize winning author Edna Ferber (1887–1968), a friend of Lane's, described her as "a grand combination of Maine saltiness and Latin temperament."

As editor of the Companion, Lane emphasized women and the home, leaving men's issues for the many men's magazines that were being published. She spoke to women as homemakers, but she greatly broadened the scope of what a homemaker was. Her magazine began to provide readers with practical service columns, as well as entertaining fiction and a variety of general interest features. The formula she devised succeeded. Under her leadership circulation grew from 700,000 when she took over in 1912, to one million by 1916, and more than two million by 1923. In 1937 the Companion took over the lead in circulation from longtime competitor, Ladies Home Journal.

Throughout her career as an editor, Lane ran articles that focused on a variety of social and political issues. Her efforts were aimed at educating her female readers. A year after she took over as editor, Lane established in the magazine what was called A Better Babies Bureau to promote improved maternal and infant care. She also ran regular articles related to the ongoing fight against child employment as well as articles about unsanitary conditions in food stores.

Other campaigns she pursued in the Companion included a series on educating women about how to use their new voting rights. Articles on international peace issues appeared frequently, as well as informational articles on topics like psychology, careers, politics, and college education. A page written by Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt (1933–1945), appeared regularly in the magazine during the 1930s.

Lane maintained strong service departments. She believed the modern woman wanted a magazine with practical, timesaving advice. Lane said that her image of a housewife was ". . . the woman who wants to do less housework, so that she will have more time for other things."

During World War I (1914–1918) Lane served as a member of the U.S. Food Administration under President Herbert Hoover (1929–1933), while continuing to edit the Companion. Lane also served as a member of the 1930–1931 White House Conference on Child Health and Protection.

In 1929 Lane was regarded as one of the best magazine editors in the business and she was made a vice president of the Companion 's publishers, the Crowell Publishing Co. In 1935, while managing the new American magazine for Crowell and editing the Woman's Home Companion, Lane began an innovative plan to gain reader support and feedback. She created a "reader-editor panel" composed of 1500 unpaid readers nationwide, who provided for the magazine one of the nation's first consumer-opinion panels.

By 1939 Lane was earning $52,000 annually and she was described by the New York Times as one of the best paid woman of the day.

Lane never married. She entertained frequently and pursued a passion for antique collecting.

See also: Publishing Industry