The History Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication is pleased to announce that Maurine Beasley is the first winner of the division’s Senior Scholar Award.

“Maurine Beasley has created not only a strong record of historical scholarship, but a legacy. Selected from a competitive field of nominations, she stands out as the clear choice to be the inaugural recipient of the Donald Shaw Senior Scholar Award,” the judges’ comments said. “She is a tireless scholar in pursuit of historical truth. More than that, she has helped produce multiple generations of scholars, both by inspiring them with her published work and by providing personal mentorship.”

The Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award, established in 2020, recognizes an individual for excellence in journalism history research who has a minimum 15-year academic career and a record of division membership. Beasley will be honored with a plaque and $200 check during the division’s Awards Gala on Friday, Aug. 7, during the AEJMC conference.

Beasley, who did not know she had been nominated, said she was “astounded” by the news and said it’s been a pleasure for her to get to know young scholars.

“I have been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from others and to help broaden the field of journalism/media history by embracing new faces, new concepts and new ideas,” she said. “I know our discipline has the intellectual vigor to remain relevant in these stressful times because of the creativity, dedication and imagination of those who have entered it.”

Beasley, a professor emerita at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland, specializes in women’s portrayal and participation in journalism. Her particular focus is Washington women journalists, including Eleanor Roosevelt, who considered herself a journalist, and the coverage of first ladies.

Her lengthy list of publications includes the books Ruby A. Black: Eleanor Roosevelt, Puerto Rico, and Political Journalism in Washington; Women of the Washington Press: Politics, Prejudice, and Persistence; First Ladies and the Press: The Unfinished Partnership of the Media Age; Taking Their Place: A Documentary History of Women and Journalism; One Third of a Nation: Lorena Hickok Reports the Great Depression; and The White House Press Conferences of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Those who know Beasley best argue that her legacy is directly tied to how much she has done for junior scholars.

“When I contacted Dr. Beasley’s colleagues and former students, the consistent refrain was, ‘No one is more deserving of this award than Maurine,’” said Lisa Burns of Quinnipiac University, who spearheaded Beasley’s nomination. “She’s had a profound impact on journalism history through her research as well as through her support of her students and fellow scholars.”

“Her work has shaped the evolution of the scholarship in our field, and few such prominent academics have been so generous in opening doors for future scholars,” said Carolyn Kitch of Temple University.

Beasley has been an active member of AEJMC’s History Division throughout her career, serving as division head in 1988-89 and later serving as the national president of AEJMC.

The Donald L. Shaw Senior Scholar Award is named in honor of the pioneering journalism theoretician, distinguished journalism historian and former head of the History Division, who taught for almost half of a century at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Media. 

Shaw will also be recognized for his achievements during the division’s Awards Gala.