HICKOK, LORENA

Lorena Alice Hickok (March 7, 1893–May 3, 1968), Eleanor Roosevelt's trusted confidante, was born in East Troy, Wisconsin. Beaten by a father who moved frequently to find work, Hickok left home at fourteen, and struggled to finish one year of college before joining a Battle Creek, Michigan, newspaper as a personal features writer. In 1915, she returned to Wisconsin to become the society editor for the Milwaukee Sentinel. Bored, Hickok convinced her editor to assign her to the city desk, where she developed a reputation as a skilled interviewer. She transferred to the Minneapolis Tribune in 1917 where, under the guidance of Tribune editor Thomas J. Dillon, Hickok became such a skilled political and sports reporter that in 1928 the Associated Press (AP) hired her as a wire reporter. At the AP, she became so adept at covering politics, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, and other dramatic assignments that her byline appeared atop her stories.

Hickok, who first met Eleanor Roosevelt in 1928 when Hickok covered the New York Democratic Committee, grew close to Mrs. Roosevelt during the 1932 campaign. The women soon trusted one another, with Mrs. Roosevelt speaking honestly to Hickok about politics, social issues, and her fears about her life should her husband win the election. The two woman become so close that Hickok let Mrs. Roosevelt see her stories before she submitted them, and in one case, agreed to Mrs. Roosevelt's request that a story be delayed. Their campaign experience led to a lifetime of devotion to one another.

In 1933, Hickok, who had fallen in love with Mrs. Roosevelt, left the AP because she felt she could not write objectively about the Roosevelts. The First Lady then recommended that Harry Hopkins hire Hickok to investigate for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) the conditions average Americans confronted during the Depression. From 1933 to 1935, Hickok visited thirty-two states and provided detailed reports on New Deal policy, living conditions, and politics to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Hopkins. An astute and engaged observer, Hickok assessed the problems a community faced quickly and solicited trenchant comments that helped the Roosevelts and Hopkins see their policies from a citizen's perspective.

Hickok provided invaluable advice to Mrs. Roosevelt as the First Lady struggled to adjust to White House life. Hickok recommended that Mrs. Roosevelt hold press conferences with women reporters and encouraged her to resume writing, most notably the First Lady's monthly column Mrs. Roosevelt's Page and her daily column My Day. Hickok also edited articles Mrs. Roosevelt submitted for publication, and served as her friend's trusted sounding board, especially after Louis Howe's death in 1935 and the president's death in 1945. Hickok's intense concern for unemployed coal miners spurred Eleanor Roosevelt's interest and helped introduce her to the West Virginia resettlement community later known as Arthurdale. In the early years of the New Deal, the two women vacationed together and Hickok accompanied Mrs. Roosevelt on her official visit to Puerto Rico. When Hickok's FERA assignment ended, the First Lady arranged for Hickok to work for the New York World's Fair from 1937 to 1940, to serve as executive secretary of the women's division of the Democratic National Committee from 1940 and 1945, and to live in the wartime White House.

Hickok's worsening diabetes forced her to leave her job with the Democratic National Committee. In 1947, Eleanor Roosevelt helped her friend secure a job with the New York State Democratic Committee. Hickok's health continued to decline, and in 1954, a frail, partially blind Hickok moved to Hyde Park to be closer to Mrs. Roosevelt. The two women collaborated on Women of Courage and Eleanor Roosevelt tried to stabilize Hickok's finances. Hickok would write a biography of Mrs. Roosevelt and six children's biographies before her death in 1968.

HICKOK, LORENA

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