Press & broadcasting
Helen Thomas
1920–2013 · journalist, White House correspondent, columnist
The pioneering White House reporter who covered ten presidents grew up in a Lebanese immigrant family in Detroit, studied at Wayne University and is buried in the city.
- Born
Winchester, Kentucky- Died
Washington, D.C.
aged 92- Birth name
- Helen Amelia Thomas
- Also known as
- First Lady of the Press
- Detroit years
- 1924–1942
- Field
- Press & broadcasting
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Thomas was four when her Lebanese Orthodox Christian family moved to Detroit, where her father ran a grocery store and she grew up as one of ten children. She went through the Detroit Public Schools and decided to become a journalist while working on the school paper at Eastern High School. She then studied English at Wayne University (today Wayne State), graduating in 1942 because the school had no journalism degree yet. From there she went to Washington, joined United Press and spent 57 years with UP and UPI, breaking barriers as the first woman officer of the National Press Club and first woman president of the White House Correspondents' Association. Wayne State created a diversity-in-media award in her name in 2000 but dropped it in 2010 after her remarks about Israel. After a funeral in Detroit, her ashes were buried in the city.
Highlights
- Covered ten presidents, from Kennedy to Obama
- 57 years with United Press and UPI, later a Hearst columnist
- First woman president of the White House Correspondents' Association
- Wayne University graduate (English, 1942)
- Buried in her hometown after an Antiochian Orthodox funeral in 2013
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1930s
Eastern High School
Closed
She decided to become a journalist while at Eastern High on Detroit's east side; the school later became Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School.
Studied here · 1938–1942
Wayne State University (then Wayne University)
She earned her English degree here in 1942; the university's award in her name ran from 2000 to 2010.
Buried here · 2013
Forest Lawn Cemetery
Her ashes were buried in Detroit after her funeral on August 15, 2013; Find a Grave lists her here.