In 1973, America ended its involvement in the Vietnam War, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in “The Battle of the Sexes” exhibition tennis match; bell bottoms
still ruled high fashion; Carly Simon sang “You’re So Vain”; and our fine organization, Wichita Professional Communicators, was established.
In the beginning we were Wichita Press Women, a local branch of the Kansas Press Women (1941), which is officially tied to the National Federation of Press Women (1937).
NFPW rose from a 1937 convention of the Chicago Women’s Club, formed in 1876 for “self and social improvement.” NFPW’s stated goals were “to provide a means of communication between woman writers nationally; make possible the expression of a common voice in matters of national interest to press women, and otherwise advance the professional standards of press women.”
In the early 2000s, both WPW and KPW changed their “Press Women” to “Professional Communicators” to encompass a larger group of communicators and be more welcoming to our male counterparts.
Our history is rich, and we’ll continue to tell the rest of our story. Please send historical tidbits and memories to shannon.littlejohn@gmail.com.
– Shannon Littlejohn, WPC historian
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