Virginia Marmaduke

Virginia L. Marmaduke, was a reporter who covered Chicago sports, crime and corruption when most female journalists were relegated to the society pages. Marmaduke, nicknamed "Duchess" by an editor, was the first woman on the Chicago Sun's editorial staff, the first woman in Chicago with a sports byline and one of the city's first female crime reporters. Her first job was in 1930, working for the Herrin Daily Journal. She began covering crime for the Chicago Sun in 1943, and also worked for the Chicago Times and the Chicago Tribune. A 1940s series she did on cerebral palsy led to the setup of the Illinois Children's Home Hospital, the state's first institution designed to treat children with the disease. Marmaduke ended her print career to host a radio program called "Coffee With the Duchess." She retired in 1964. From 1970, she had served as Southern Illinois University's official ambassador.