Eleanor Franklin Egan was born Bertha Eleanor Pedigo in Lawrence, Co., IL. Her parents were Henry Pedigo and Biantha "Bina" Graves. Following the death of her mother in Terre Haute, IN, Bertha was taken to the Rose Orphan Home in Terre Haute, IN. She was adopted by Mrs. Martha Howard of Martinsville, IL. After the death of her adoptive mother she went to live with a relative of her adoptive mother, Eliza Jameson, in Kansas City, MO.
Her first marriage was to Joel D. Franklin, Manager of Tri NY Christ and Collum Company, on 5 May 1895 in Kansas City, MO. She was a skilled actress and singer and performed in Kansas City with the Woodward Stock Company. In 1898 Eleanor went to NYC and performed with the Kelcey Shannon Company in "The Moth to the Flame". She later starred in "Fedora" and received rave reviews in Fannie's and Bernhardt's theatrical magazines.
Following a short but illustrious career on the NYC stage, Eleanor became a drama critic and soon afterwards Chief of Staff for Leslie's Weekly. She initiated the Pittsburgh edition of the magazine and Leslie's was so happy with the results that they sent her on a 5 month all expenses paid trip to Europe. Just before she was to return from her vacation, she was requested by Leslie's Weekly to cover a story on the Pogroms in Russia. This led to her career as a world-reknowned journalist and war correspondent.
Eleanor reported for Leslie's Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post from wartime front lines many years before Nellie Bly. This would make Eleanor, not Nellie, the first U.S female war correspondent. Eleanor Franklin Egan began her career as a war correspondent in 1903 covering the Pogroms in Russia, the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, the Russian Revolution and continued through the onset of World War I into the 1920's as compared to Nellie Bly who only began her career as a war correspondent at the onset of World War I (about 1914 through 1918).
Eleanor's wartime exploits included several near misses. She was on a steamship that was threatened by a U-boat and was thrown into the water. She survived, but more than 20 men, women and children were drowned. She was with General Maude, the British Commander who had taken Baghdad in 1917. While sharing coffee with General Maude at an entertainment in his honor, the General became deathly ill. He died that evening. It was discovered that the milk for their coffee had been laced with Cholera and Eleanor escaped only because she drank her coffee "black". She also smuggled documents out of Turkey for the U.S. government regarding the expulsion of all Armenians and an order to shoot to kill any Americans who tried to prevent it. Eleanor copied the documents into the margins of a book which she pretended to read while she was searched at the Turkish border.
Eleanor became the accepted U.S. expert on the wartime fronts of the Middle East (Mesopotamia)and the Orient long before women even had the vote. She worked for the Saturday Evening Post, and Co-Edited the Manila Times with her second husband Martin Egan. She and Martin met and married on 19 Jul 1905 in Yokohama, Japan. Martin had been a reporter for the Associated Press and became Editor for the Manila Times and later handled Publicity for J. P. Morgan, who was also a family friend. She founded the Philippine Tuberculosis Society while living in the Philippines.
Among her other writings, Eleanor assisted her friend, former First Lady, Helen Herron Taft in writing her memoirs. Eleanor wrote "War in the Cradle of the World" in 1918. It is still considered to be one of the best texts for the study of politics in the Middle East.
Eleanor Franklin Egan was one of only four women appointed to the American delegation of the 1922 Disarmament Conference. This was only two years after women had the right to vote.
Eleanor died on 17 Jan 1925 of pneumonia at Rye, NY. Her obituary and funeral were covered by all of the larger newspapers in the U.S. (NY Times, Herald Tribune, Washington Post etc) as well as by the Saturday Evening Post and Time Magazine. Her funeral was a veritable Who's Who of New York and Washington DC society and politics. Among her pall bearers were her good friends General Pershing and the soon to be President, Herbert Hoover.
Her first marriage was to Joel D. Franklin, Manager of Tri NY Christ and Collum Company, on 5 May 1895 in Kansas City, MO. She was a skilled actress and singer and performed in Kansas City with the Woodward Stock Company. In 1898 Eleanor went to NYC and performed with the Kelcey Shannon Company in "The Moth to the Flame". She later starred in "Fedora" and received rave reviews in Fannie's and Bernhardt's theatrical magazines.
Following a short but illustrious career on the NYC stage, Eleanor became a drama critic and soon afterwards Chief of Staff for Leslie's Weekly. She initiated the Pittsburgh edition of the magazine and Leslie's was so happy with the results that they sent her on a 5 month all expenses paid trip to Europe. Just before she was to return from her vacation, she was requested by Leslie's Weekly to cover a story on the Pogroms in Russia. This led to her career as a world-reknowned journalist and war correspondent.
Eleanor reported for Leslie's Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post from wartime front lines many years before Nellie Bly. This would make Eleanor, not Nellie, the first U.S female war correspondent. Eleanor Franklin Egan began her career as a war correspondent in 1903 covering the Pogroms in Russia, the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, the Russian Revolution and continued through the onset of World War I into the 1920's as compared to Nellie Bly who only began her career as a war correspondent at the onset of World War I (about 1914 through 1918).
Eleanor's wartime exploits included several near misses. She was on a steamship that was threatened by a U-boat and was thrown into the water. She survived, but more than 20 men, women and children were drowned. She was with General Maude, the British Commander who had taken Baghdad in 1917. While sharing coffee with General Maude at an entertainment in his honor, the General became deathly ill. He died that evening. It was discovered that the milk for their coffee had been laced with Cholera and Eleanor escaped only because she drank her coffee "black". She also smuggled documents out of Turkey for the U.S. government regarding the expulsion of all Armenians and an order to shoot to kill any Americans who tried to prevent it. Eleanor copied the documents into the margins of a book which she pretended to read while she was searched at the Turkish border.
Eleanor became the accepted U.S. expert on the wartime fronts of the Middle East (Mesopotamia)and the Orient long before women even had the vote. She worked for the Saturday Evening Post, and Co-Edited the Manila Times with her second husband Martin Egan. She and Martin met and married on 19 Jul 1905 in Yokohama, Japan. Martin had been a reporter for the Associated Press and became Editor for the Manila Times and later handled Publicity for J. P. Morgan, who was also a family friend. She founded the Philippine Tuberculosis Society while living in the Philippines.
Among her other writings, Eleanor assisted her friend, former First Lady, Helen Herron Taft in writing her memoirs. Eleanor wrote "War in the Cradle of the World" in 1918. It is still considered to be one of the best texts for the study of politics in the Middle East.
Eleanor Franklin Egan was one of only four women appointed to the American delegation of the 1922 Disarmament Conference. This was only two years after women had the right to vote.
Eleanor died on 17 Jan 1925 of pneumonia at Rye, NY. Her obituary and funeral were covered by all of the larger newspapers in the U.S. (NY Times, Herald Tribune, Washington Post etc) as well as by the Saturday Evening Post and Time Magazine. Her funeral was a veritable Who's Who of New York and Washington DC society and politics. Among her pall bearers were her good friends General Pershing and the soon to be President, Herbert Hoover.
Eleanor Franklin Egan was born Bertha Eleanor Pedigo in Lawrence, Co., IL. Her parents were Henry Pedigo and Biantha "Bina" Graves. Following the death of her mother in Terre Haute, IN, Bertha was taken to the Rose Orphan Home in Terre Haute, IN. She was adopted by Mrs. Martha Howard of Martinsville, IL. After the death of her adoptive mother she went to live with a relative of her adoptive mother, Eliza Jameson, in Kansas City, MO.
Her first marriage was to Joel D. Franklin, Manager of Tri NY Christ and Collum Company, on 5 May 1895 in Kansas City, MO. She was a skilled actress and singer and performed in Kansas City with the Woodward Stock Company. In 1898 Eleanor went to NYC and performed with the Kelcey Shannon Company in "The Moth to the Flame". She later starred in "Fedora" and received rave reviews in Fannie's and Bernhardt's theatrical magazines.
Following a short but illustrious career on the NYC stage, Eleanor became a drama critic and soon afterwards Chief of Staff for Leslie's Weekly. She initiated the Pittsburgh edition of the magazine and Leslie's was so happy with the results that they sent her on a 5 month all expenses paid trip to Europe. Just before she was to return from her vacation, she was requested by Leslie's Weekly to cover a story on the Pogroms in Russia. This led to her career as a world-reknowned journalist and war correspondent.
Eleanor reported for Leslie's Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post from wartime front lines many years before Nellie Bly. This would make Eleanor, not Nellie, the first U.S female war correspondent. Eleanor Franklin Egan began her career as a war correspondent in 1903 covering the Pogroms in Russia, the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, the Russian Revolution and continued through the onset of World War I into the 1920's as compared to Nellie Bly who only began her career as a war correspondent at the onset of World War I (about 1914 through 1918).
Eleanor's wartime exploits included several near misses. She was on a steamship that was threatened by a U-boat and was thrown into the water. She survived, but more than 20 men, women and children were drowned. She was with General Maude, the British Commander who had taken Baghdad in 1917. While sharing coffee with General Maude at an entertainment in his honor, the General became deathly ill. He died that evening. It was discovered that the milk for their coffee had been laced with Cholera and Eleanor escaped only because she drank her coffee "black". She also smuggled documents out of Turkey for the U.S. government regarding the expulsion of all Armenians and an order to shoot to kill any Americans who tried to prevent it. Eleanor copied the documents into the margins of a book which she pretended to read while she was searched at the Turkish border.
Eleanor became the accepted U.S. expert on the wartime fronts of the Middle East (Mesopotamia)and the Orient long before women even had the vote. She worked for the Saturday Evening Post, and Co-Edited the Manila Times with her second husband Martin Egan. She and Martin met and married on 19 Jul 1905 in Yokohama, Japan. Martin had been a reporter for the Associated Press and became Editor for the Manila Times and later handled Publicity for J. P. Morgan, who was also a family friend. She founded the Philippine Tuberculosis Society while living in the Philippines.
Among her other writings, Eleanor assisted her friend, former First Lady, Helen Herron Taft in writing her memoirs. Eleanor wrote "War in the Cradle of the World" in 1918. It is still considered to be one of the best texts for the study of politics in the Middle East.
Eleanor Franklin Egan was one of only four women appointed to the American delegation of the 1922 Disarmament Conference. This was only two years after women had the right to vote.
Eleanor died on 17 Jan 1925 of pneumonia at Rye, NY. Her obituary and funeral were covered by all of the larger newspapers in the U.S. (NY Times, Herald Tribune, Washington Post etc) as well as by the Saturday Evening Post and Time Magazine. Her funeral was a veritable Who's Who of New York and Washington DC society and politics. Among her pall bearers were her good friends General Pershing and the soon to be President, Herbert Hoover.
Her first marriage was to Joel D. Franklin, Manager of Tri NY Christ and Collum Company, on 5 May 1895 in Kansas City, MO. She was a skilled actress and singer and performed in Kansas City with the Woodward Stock Company. In 1898 Eleanor went to NYC and performed with the Kelcey Shannon Company in "The Moth to the Flame". She later starred in "Fedora" and received rave reviews in Fannie's and Bernhardt's theatrical magazines.
Following a short but illustrious career on the NYC stage, Eleanor became a drama critic and soon afterwards Chief of Staff for Leslie's Weekly. She initiated the Pittsburgh edition of the magazine and Leslie's was so happy with the results that they sent her on a 5 month all expenses paid trip to Europe. Just before she was to return from her vacation, she was requested by Leslie's Weekly to cover a story on the Pogroms in Russia. This led to her career as a world-reknowned journalist and war correspondent.
Eleanor reported for Leslie's Weekly and the Saturday Evening Post from wartime front lines many years before Nellie Bly. This would make Eleanor, not Nellie, the first U.S female war correspondent. Eleanor Franklin Egan began her career as a war correspondent in 1903 covering the Pogroms in Russia, the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, the Russian Revolution and continued through the onset of World War I into the 1920's as compared to Nellie Bly who only began her career as a war correspondent at the onset of World War I (about 1914 through 1918).
Eleanor's wartime exploits included several near misses. She was on a steamship that was threatened by a U-boat and was thrown into the water. She survived, but more than 20 men, women and children were drowned. She was with General Maude, the British Commander who had taken Baghdad in 1917. While sharing coffee with General Maude at an entertainment in his honor, the General became deathly ill. He died that evening. It was discovered that the milk for their coffee had been laced with Cholera and Eleanor escaped only because she drank her coffee "black". She also smuggled documents out of Turkey for the U.S. government regarding the expulsion of all Armenians and an order to shoot to kill any Americans who tried to prevent it. Eleanor copied the documents into the margins of a book which she pretended to read while she was searched at the Turkish border.
Eleanor became the accepted U.S. expert on the wartime fronts of the Middle East (Mesopotamia)and the Orient long before women even had the vote. She worked for the Saturday Evening Post, and Co-Edited the Manila Times with her second husband Martin Egan. She and Martin met and married on 19 Jul 1905 in Yokohama, Japan. Martin had been a reporter for the Associated Press and became Editor for the Manila Times and later handled Publicity for J. P. Morgan, who was also a family friend. She founded the Philippine Tuberculosis Society while living in the Philippines.
Among her other writings, Eleanor assisted her friend, former First Lady, Helen Herron Taft in writing her memoirs. Eleanor wrote "War in the Cradle of the World" in 1918. It is still considered to be one of the best texts for the study of politics in the Middle East.
Eleanor Franklin Egan was one of only four women appointed to the American delegation of the 1922 Disarmament Conference. This was only two years after women had the right to vote.
Eleanor died on 17 Jan 1925 of pneumonia at Rye, NY. Her obituary and funeral were covered by all of the larger newspapers in the U.S. (NY Times, Herald Tribune, Washington Post etc) as well as by the Saturday Evening Post and Time Magazine. Her funeral was a veritable Who's Who of New York and Washington DC society and politics. Among her pall bearers were her good friends General Pershing and the soon to be President, Herbert Hoover.
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