# Ada Patterson

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{{Short description|American journalist (1867–1939)}}
{{distinguish|Ada Paterson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
|name        = Ada Patterson
|image       = AdaPatterson-JoeTracy-VanderbiltCup1905.jpg
|alt         = 
|caption     = Patterson in a race car, reporting on the 1905 [Vanderbilt Cup](/source/Vanderbilt_Cup)
|birth_date  = 5 July 1867
|birth_place = [Mount Joy, Pennsylvania](/source/Mount_Joy%2C_Pennsylvania)
|death_date  = 26 June 1939 (aged 71)
|death_place =
|other_names =
|known_for   =
|occupation  = Journalist
}}
'''Ada Patterson''' (5 July 1867 – 26 June 1939) was an American print [journalist](/source/journalist).<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Patterson, Ada|title=[American National Biography](/source/American_National_Biography)|chapter-url=http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-03398.html|publisher=Oxford University Press}} ''Subscription needed''.</ref>

==Early life==
Patterson was born in [Mount Joy, Pennsylvania](/source/Mount_Joy%2C_Pennsylvania), and received her education at [Franklin Academy](/source/Franklin_Academy_(Nebraska)) in [Franklin, Nebraska](/source/Franklin%2C_Nebraska).<ref name="Bennett2010">{{cite book|last=Bennett|first=Alma J.|title=American Women Theatre Critics: Biographies and Selected Writings of Twelve Reviewers, 1753-1919|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WTXn2WMkBngC|date=2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786460250}}</ref>

==Career==
Patterson wrote for the ''St. Louis Republican'', where she was dubbed "the [Nellie Bly](/source/Nellie_Bly) of the West".<ref name="Lutes2007-13">{{cite book|last=Lutes|first=Jean Marie|title=Front Page Girls: Women Journalists in American Culture and Fiction, 1880-1930|url=https://archive.org/details/frontpagegirls00jean|url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801474125}}, page 13</ref> She also wrote for the ''Salt Lake Herald'', the ''[San Francisco Call](/source/San_Francisco_Call)'', and the ''[New York American](/source/New_York_American)''.<ref name="Bennett2010"/> For several years, Patterson also wrote a column in ''Theatre Magazine'', which she signed as "The Lady with the [Lorgnette](/source/Lorgnette)".<ref name="Bennett2010"/>

Patterson covered a number of notable murder trials, including those of Anne Madison Bradley (charged with the murder of Utah Senator [Arthur Brown](/source/Arthur_Brown_(Utah_senator))) and [Charles Becker](/source/Charles_Becker).<ref name="Bennett2010"/> Patterson covered the trial of [Harry Kendall Thaw](/source/Harry_Kendall_Thaw) along with three other women ([Winifred Black](/source/Winifred_Black), [Dorothy Dix](/source/Dorothy_Dix), [Nixola Greeley-Smith](/source/Nixola_Greeley-Smith)) and together, they were given the dismissive nickname of the "sob sisters." The phrase became a term of derision for other female journalists, who were believed to be overly emotional or compassionate.<ref name="Lutes2007-65">{{cite book|last=Lutes|first=Jean Marie|title=Front Page Girls: Women Journalists in American Culture and Fiction, 1880-1930|url=https://archive.org/details/frontpagegirls00jean|url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=9780801474125}}, page 65</ref>

Patterson wrote a biography of [Maude Adams](/source/Maude_Adams) ''By the Stage Door'' and co-wrote a [Broadway play](/source/Broadway_play), ''Love's Lightning'', with Robert Edeson.

==Bibliography==
*''By the Stage Door''. New York, The Grafton press, 1902.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Ada}}
Category:19th-century American women journalists
Category:1867 births
Category:1939 deaths
Category:People from Mount Joy, Pennsylvania
Category:Journalists from Pennsylvania
Category:19th-century American journalists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ada Patterson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Patterson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Patterson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.