Vivian Castleberry

This biography details the life and career of Vivian Castleberry, a Dallas women's page editor, women's rights advocate, and newspaper pioneer in the post-World War II era. Her career demonstrates what women journalists were able to accomplish both behind the scenes and in the public sphere.

---

This biography of Dallas Times Herald women's page editor Vivian Castleberry documents how she made a change in her community, in women’s page journalism, and for women’s news. Considered by some as the most important woman in Dallas in the latter half of the 20th century, Castleberry was a force for women not only in Dallas but also nationally and internationally. In shining a light on her career, more becomes known about her fights and her victories. Through this biography, historians can better understand that the relationship of the women’s pages to the women’s movement between the 1950s and '70s was more complex than previously explored. Known as the “godmother” of the Dallas women’s movement, Vivian was a trailblazer. Yet, she was also a mother of five daughters at a time when working outside the home was still being challenged, and that was an experience many middle-class women struggled with. In that way, and in others, she represented many other women. Her role in the public sphere meant she often told the stories of others. This book is her story.