Beatty, Bessie (1886–1947)

American journalist, author, and radio commentator. Born on January 27, 1886, in Los Angeles, California; died on April 6, 1947; eldest of five children of Thomas Edward and Jane Mary (Boxwell) Beatty; attended Occidental College in Los Angeles; married William Sauter (an actor), August 15, 1926.

Bessie Beatty achieved her childhood aspirations by the time she was 18: in 1904, she took a job while in college, writing for the Los Angeles Herald. Within three years, she was the Herald's drama editor and chief editor of the women's page. She then moved into a cabin in Nevada while researching a story on its gold-mining district. In 1907, her first book was published as a series of sketches called Who's Who in Nevada.

From 1907 to 1917, Beatty was a reporter for the San Francisco Bulletin, then under the editorship of Fremont Older who, according to Ishbel Ross in her history of American newswomen, fostered Beatty's interest in "radical thought and social reform." During Beatty's association with the Bulletin, she wrote a broad range of articles, from the Progressive movement in Washington to life in Alaska. In 1917, she initiated a series called "Around the World in Wartime," which took her to Japan, China, and finally to Russia, where she spent eight months observing the Revolution first hand. Her 1918 book, The Red Heart of Russia, summarized her experiences and observations. She would later write and lecture extensively on Russia and find Americans hard-pressed to understand the ramifications of the political and economic revolutions she had witnessed.

On her return to the U.S., Beatty edited McCall's magazine for three years before restlessness led her back to Russia as a correspondent for Good Housekeeping and Hearst's International magazine. With articles intended to be non-political and non-controversial, she interviewed Lenin and Trotsky, as well as ordinary Russian workers emerging from revolution and famine. She then visited Turkey to study women under the new regime. Back in the States, she wrote short stories and articles for a variety of magazines before taking on another newspaper assignment in 1924, a series on the new Labour government in England.

After her marriage to the distinguished actor William Sauter in 1926, Beatty had a brief experience writing for films, which led to a collaboration with Jack Black on a play called Saltchunk Mary. In 1933, she moved into a new field, directing the National Label Council in an educational program to instruct the public in the buying of labeled clothes; this work segued into her own public-relations bureau, which took on publicity primarily for social organizations, including the Museum of Costume Art and The Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre. Beatty also directed publicity for the women's division of the New York State Democratic Committee during the 1932 and 1936 campaigns. During World War II, she toured England, collecting material for articles on aspects of the war there, which she later sold to the Christian Science Monitor.

Beatty's multifaceted career culminated in a 45-minute morning radio program on New York's WOR. Beginning in September 1940, she combined chat about current events, books, plays, and personal experiences with the informal endorsement of products from her sponsors. A final segment of the show included guest interviews with various celebrities, including actors, writers, and political figures. Assisting on the show were an announcer and Beatty's husband Bill, who was drafted after a couple of successful casual appearances. Presented in an informal style to an audience whose intelligence, she believed, was often underrated, the program was an unqualified success, receiving the highest ratings of any program of its kind in 1942. It was also cited for its efforts to encourage listeners to assist in the war effort. The following year, Beatty received the annual radio award of the Women's International Exposition of Arts and Industries. Perhaps most indicative of her success was the overwhelming response to her recommendations for shows or restaurants, and her requests for charitable donations or civilian participation.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts