Lorena Hickok: Ardent Journalist, Passionate Lover

In 1893 in rural Wisconsin, Lorena Hickok was born into poverty. Kicked out at the age of 14 by her father after her mother died, she went on to become one of America’s greatest female journalists, helping document the Great Depression after being assigned to do so by Harry Hopkins, one of Roosevelt’s closest advisers and head of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA). Along with this, she was known for her intimate romantic relationship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and was known within the White House as a lesbian.

Hickok’s journalism career began in 1913 when she started writing for Battle Creek Journal, a local newspaper, and started writing for the Minneapolis Tribune in 1917. In 1926, she was also diagnosed with diabetes. By 1932, she worked for the Associated Press and was one of the nation’s best-known female journalists, marked by her unique blend of humor and candor. Yet when she covered the 1932 election, she became romantically involved with Eleanor Roosevelt, which compromised her journalistic integrity, so she left the field.

In 1933, soon after she had resigned from Associated Press, she got the position of Chief Investigator for FERA under Hopkins. Hopkins instructed her to travel the country and report the effects of the New Deal so that he could determine what course of action to take next.

“I want you to… go out around the country and look this thing over,” Hopkins said to Hickok in July 1933. “I don’t want statistics from you. I don’t want the social-worker angle. I just want your own reaction, as an ordinary citizen.”

Hickok visited 32 states, noting that almost a third of the nation faced poverty and/or malnourishment, generally reporting back to Hopkins the terrible state of life that many people lived in. With her astute advice and ability to get sharp comments from locals, Hickok helped the White House understand how policies they passed affected citizens from citizens’ point of view.

Though Hickok and Roosevelt remained friends for the rest of their lives till Roosevelt’s death in 1962, after Roosevelt became the First Lady she had less time for Hickok. Hickok desired more time alone and grew angry and jealous, and they continually grew apart.

After her diabetes worsened in 1945, Hickok essentially retired from public life, moving to Hyde Park so that she could be closer to Roosevelt. Hickok also wrote a few books, co-writing Ladies of Courage with Roosevelt in 1954. She passed away in 1968, leaving a legacy as a trailblazing journalist and as one of Roosevelt’s confidants.