{{Short description|American fashion journalist}} {{other people|Elizabeth Penrose}} {{Infobox person |name = Elizabeth Penrose Howkins |image = |alt = |caption = |birth_name = Elizabeth Webb Penrose |other_name = |birth_date = {{birth date|1900|4|1|mf=y}} |birth_place = Johnson County, Wyoming, US |death_date = {{death date and age|1972|1|10|1900|4|1|mf=y}} |death_place = New York City, US |nationality = |other_names = |occupation = |years_active = |known_for = |notable_works = |alma_mater = Chestnut Hill College |spouse = Lloyd B Averill<br/> Walter Ashby Howkins }} '''Elizabeth Penrose Howkins''' (''née'' '''Penrose''', 1900–1972) was an American fashion journalist who was the editor of ''British Vogue'', and ''Glamour'', and women's news editor for ''The New York Times'' in the 1950s.
==Early life== She was born on April 1, 1900 in Johnson County, Wyoming, the daughter of James Norman Penrose and Julia Corcoran.<ref name="American National Biography"/> Wyoming was the family's summer home, and they otherwise lived in Philadelphia.<ref name="American National Biography"/> She was educated there at Chestnut Hill College (then known as Mount Saint Joseph College).<ref name="American National Biography">{{cite web |last1=Gottlieb |first1=Agnes Hooper |title=Howkins, Elizabeth Penrose |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1602772 |website=American National Biography |access-date=31 August 2024 |language=en |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1602772}}</ref>
==Career== Penrose began her career in 1924 working in the publicity department of the publisher E. P. Dutton. From 1931 to 1933 she worked as a merchandise editor of ''American Vogue'' magazine.<ref name="American National Biography"/>
In 1934, after Alison Settle was sacked, Penrose was sent to London to address ''British Vogue'''s "excessively sprightly nature".<ref name="Vogue">{{cite news |last1=Pentelow |first1=Orla |title=Vogue Editors Through The Years |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/past-british-vogue-editors-history |access-date=6 November 2021 |work=Vogue |date=10 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Culture Trip">{{cite news |last1=Millar |first1=Remy |title=A Complete History of British Vogue Editors-in-Chief |url=https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/vogue-100-a-complete-history-of-british-vogue-editors-in-chief/ |access-date=6 November 2021 |work=Culture Trip |date=10 April 2017}}</ref> Penrose was Condé Nast's "protégé and likely mistress".<ref name="Culture Trip"/>
In 1939, Penrose came to the United States and was unable to return to England due to the outbreak of the Second World War. She resumed working for ''American Vogue''.<ref name="Vogue"/> In 1941 she became managing editor of ''Glamour'' magazine.<ref name="American National Biography"/> She worked there until 1954.<ref name="Bender">{{cite web |last1=Bender |first1=Marylin |title=Elizabeth Howkins, Editor, Dies; Headed Times's Women's News |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/01/12/archives/elizabeth-howhins-editor-dies-i-headed-timess-womens-news-i-served.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=31 August 2024 |date=12 January 1972}}</ref>
In 1955 Penrose went to work for ''The New York Times'' as women's news editor, She retired in 1965.<ref name="Bender"/>
==Personal life and death== Her first marriage was to Lloyd B Averill (1891-1956), a First World War aviator and hotel businessman.<ref name="NYT 1938">{{cite news |title=Woman Editor Divorces Averill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/10/12/archives/woman-editor-divorces-averill.html |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=New York Times |date=October 12, 1938}}</ref> They divorced in 1938 "on grounds of extreme cruelty and neglect to provide".<ref name="NYT 1938"/> In 1952, she married retired British Army Officer and financial consultant Colonel Walter Ashby Howkins.<ref name="Bender"/>
She died on January 10, 1972 in New York City.<ref name="Bender"/><ref name="American National Biography"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howkins, Elizabeth Penrose}} Category:1900 births Category:1972 deaths Category:British Vogue Category:American columnists Category:American fashion journalists Category:American women columnists Category:Vogue (magazine) editors Category:Chestnut Hill College alumni Category:20th-century American women journalists