Nancy Hicks Maynard
Encyclopedia
Nancy Alene Hicks Maynard (1 November 1946 – 21 September 2008) was an American publisher, journalist, former owner of The Oakland Tribune
, and co-founder of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
. She was the first African-American female reporter for The New York Times
, and at the time of her death, The Oakland Tribune was the only metropolitan daily newspaper to have been owned by African-Americans.
, New York City
, to jazz
bassist
, Alfred Hall and Eve Keller, a nurse. She first became interested in journalism
after a fire destroyed elementary school
she once attended, and was unhappy with portrayal of her community in the coverage by the news media
. She went on to attend Long Island University
and graduated with a journalism degree in 1966.
and reporter with the New York Post
. She was hired in The New York Times
in September 1968, at age 21. Almost immediately upon her hire, she was sent to Brooklyn
to help cover the Ocean Hill
-Brownsville
school decentralization
controversy, which drew accusations of racism
and anti-Semitism
and resulted in a city-wide teachers' strike and the establishment of new school districts throughout the city. After less than one year at the Times, Maynard was hired as a full-time reporter, becoming the first African-American woman to work as a reporter at the newspaper.
During her first few years at 'The NEW YORK Times', Maynard covered important race-related stories such as race riot
s and Columbia
and Cornell University
black student takeovers, as well as politically significant events like a memorial for Robert F. Kennedy
. She later wrote for the paper's education and science news departments, primarily on health-care coverage
. In 1973, she spent a month in China
analyzing its medical system, including stories about the use of acupuncture
in surgical operations
. Among her other story topics were the Medicare system
, an explanation of the arrangement of whiskers on a lion's
face and coverage of Apollo program.
left their jobs and founded the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
in Oakland, California
where she served as its first president in 1977. Since its founding, the institute has been credited with training and preparing hundreds of minority students for careers in news editing, newsroom managers, and other careers in journalism. Maynard served as a member of the board until 2002.
, which was in poor financial shape at the time. The Oakland Tribune became the first and, at the time of Maynard's death, only major metropolitan daily newspaper to be owned by African-Americans. The two served as co-publishers for almost 10 years together, and were credited with bringing a significant amount of diversity into the newsroom. After Robert C. Maynard died in 1993, Maynard sold the paper, which was experiencing declining revenues, to ANG Newspapers
.
in 1975 after meeting at a convention. He already had a daughter, Dori
. As a couple, they had their third child, Alex.
Maynard, who made her home with partner Jay T. Harris in Santa Monica, California
, died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles
at age 61 after an extended illness.
The Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune is a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group , a subsidiary of MediaNews Group...
, and co-founder of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education , is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California emphasizing diversity in journalism...
. She was the first African-American female reporter for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, and at the time of her death, The Oakland Tribune was the only metropolitan daily newspaper to have been owned by African-Americans.
Early life
Maynard was born Nancy Alene Hall in HarlemHarlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, Alfred Hall and Eve Keller, a nurse. She first became interested in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
after a fire destroyed elementary school
Elementary school
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
she once attended, and was unhappy with portrayal of her community in the coverage by the news media
Media of the United States
Media of the United States consist of several different types of communications media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based Web sites. The U.S...
. She went on to attend Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
and graduated with a journalism degree in 1966.
The New York Times
Maynard began her journalism career as a copy girlCopy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
and reporter with the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. She was hired in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in September 1968, at age 21. Almost immediately upon her hire, she was sent to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to help cover the Ocean Hill
Ocean Hill, Brooklyn
Ocean Hill is a subsection of Bedford-Stuyvesant in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Founded in 1890, the neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 3 and Brooklyn Community Board 16. The ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11233...
-Brownsville
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville is a residential neighborhood located in eastern Brooklyn, New York City.The total land area is one square mile, and the ZIP code for the neighborhood is 11212....
school decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
controversy, which drew accusations of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and resulted in a city-wide teachers' strike and the establishment of new school districts throughout the city. After less than one year at the Times, Maynard was hired as a full-time reporter, becoming the first African-American woman to work as a reporter at the newspaper.
During her first few years at 'The NEW YORK Times', Maynard covered important race-related stories such as race riot
Race riot
A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
s and Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
black student takeovers, as well as politically significant events like a memorial for Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
. She later wrote for the paper's education and science news departments, primarily on health-care coverage
Health care in the United States
Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Health care facilities are largely owned and operated by the private sector...
. In 1973, she spent a month in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
analyzing its medical system, including stories about the use of acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
in surgical operations
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. Among her other story topics were the Medicare system
Medicare (United States)
Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over; to those who are under 65 and are permanently physically disabled or who have a congenital physical disability; or to those who meet other...
, an explanation of the arrangement of whiskers on a lion's
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
face and coverage of Apollo program.
Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
Maynard and her husband Robert C. MaynardRobert C. Maynard
Robert Clyve Maynard was an American journalist, and newspaper publisher and editor, former owner of The Oakland Tribune and co-founder of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, California....
left their jobs and founded the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
The Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education , is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California emphasizing diversity in journalism...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
where she served as its first president in 1977. Since its founding, the institute has been credited with training and preparing hundreds of minority students for careers in news editing, newsroom managers, and other careers in journalism. Maynard served as a member of the board until 2002.
The Oakland Tribune
In 1983, Maynard and her husband purchased The Oakland TribuneThe Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune is a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group , a subsidiary of MediaNews Group...
, which was in poor financial shape at the time. The Oakland Tribune became the first and, at the time of Maynard's death, only major metropolitan daily newspaper to be owned by African-Americans. The two served as co-publishers for almost 10 years together, and were credited with bringing a significant amount of diversity into the newsroom. After Robert C. Maynard died in 1993, Maynard sold the paper, which was experiencing declining revenues, to ANG Newspapers
ANG Newspapers
Bay Area News Group is the largest newspaper publisher in the San Francisco Bay Area and has corporate headquarters based in San Ramon, California with publications offices in San Jose and Walnut Creek, although the Walnut Creek location is scheduled to be closed under a 2011 restructuring.BANG...
.
Personal life
Not long after graduation, Maynard was married to Daniel D. Hicks, with whom she had her first child, her son David. After Hicks's death in 1974, she married Robert C. MaynardRobert C. Maynard
Robert Clyve Maynard was an American journalist, and newspaper publisher and editor, former owner of The Oakland Tribune and co-founder of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, California....
in 1975 after meeting at a convention. He already had a daughter, Dori
Dori J. Maynard
Dori J. Maynard is the President of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, California, the oldest organization dedicated to helping the nation's news media accurately and fairly portray all segments of our society...
. As a couple, they had their third child, Alex.
Maynard, who made her home with partner Jay T. Harris in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
at age 61 after an extended illness.