Stuff You Missed in History Class

Episode Title: Jane Cunningham Croly, aka Jennie June
Date: September 1, 2025
Hosts: Holly Frey & Tracy V. Wilson

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the life and legacy of Jane Cunningham Croly, better known as Jennie June. Croly was a pioneering journalist, advocate for women's equality, and the driving force behind the early women’s club movement in the United States. The hosts trace her journey from England to America, her influential career in journalism, complex stances on gender roles, and her critical role in founding organizations that supported and promoted women's professional and social advancement.

Detailed Summary

Early Life and Family Background

[03:45 – 05:54]

• Born Dec 19, 1829, in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England, to Joseph Howes and Jane Scott Cunningham.
• Described as “buoyant and magnetic,” with a particularly close relationship with her Unitarian minister father.
• Family immigrated to the US around 1841 due to religious persecution of Unitarians; settled in New York State.
• Her father was generous in their new community, sharing surplus garden produce with neighbors and those in need.

Early Signs of Leadership

[05:09 – 06:39]

• Legends claim young Jane was a “club starter” from childhood. For example, she “founded” a temperance society at age nine (though evidence is shaky).
• As an adult living with her brother John (a pastor in Worcester, MA), she managed his household, taught school, and co-created a bimonthly paper for his congregation.

Launching a Journalism Career

[06:39 – 09:15]

• After her father’s death in 1855, Jane moved to NYC to pursue writing. Her first article appeared in the New York Tribune.
• She quickly landed a regular column—“Parlor and Sidewalk Gossip”—in the New York Sunday Times and Noah’s Weekly Messenger.
• Adopted the pen name Jennie June:
  • Notable Quote:
    "I was a sunny, happy little blue eyed girl... One of the poems was called January and another Jenny June. For a long time, I was known to my intimates as Jenny June. The name almost passed out of my mind as I grew older till I commenced contributing to the papers. And then I bethought me of Jenny June as a nom de plume." – Tracy V. Wilson, reading Jennie June, [07:19]
• Jennie June is recognized as one of the first women to syndicate a newspaper column nationally.

Marriage & Professional Partnership

[09:15 – 10:56]

• Married journalist David G. Croly in 1856. Their marriage was unusual for the era—David encouraged Jane’s career.
  • “David did not expect Jane to stop working once they got married or after they had children... Jane and David modeled a much more modern relationship…” – Tony Tracy V. Wilson [10:09]
• Had five children; juggled both a demanding professional and domestic life.

Early Organizing: Women’s Clubs Take Shape

[13:40 – 14:46]

• In 1856, Jane founded her first women’s club, the Women’s Parliament. Though not well-remembered, it foreshadowed her later activism.

Moves, Setbacks, and New Opportunities

[14:46 – 16:34]

• The Crolys briefly moved to Illinois for David’s job at the Rockford Register but quickly returned to New York due to homesickness and the paper’s lack of success.
• Jane became head writer for Madame Demorest’s influential fashion publications.
• Hosted weekly Sunday salons for diverse social and professional circles.

Complex Views on Women’s Roles

[16:34 – 21:40]

• Advocated for women’s equality but often expressed old-fashioned views on marriage and the domestic sphere.
  • Notable Quote:
    “Bad cooking is a crime. It is the cause of dyspepsia and a host of other evils. A woman convicted of it ought to be arraigned for manslaughter.” – Quoting Jennie June’s cookbook, [16:56]
  • “Girls ought not to marry unless they are ready and willing to accept the position of head of a household and capable of making a home what it should be…” – Tracy V. Wilson [17:17]
• Provided practical advice, like not buying all kitchen supplies at once and labeling children’s hats for safety (with much host skepticism).

Exclusion from the Press Club & Birth of Sorosis

[21:40 – 25:53]

• The Press Club of New York refused women (including Jane) entry to a prestigious event for Charles Dickens, despite some support from Horace Greeley.
  • Notable Quote:
    "Some ladies of literary proclivities asked for invitations and got themselves snubbed by the journalists..." – Holly Fry, quoting contemporary news, [21:40]
• Jane responded by founding her own women-only group with 12 founding members—eventually named Sorosis (after a fruit formed from many flowers—symbolizing unity).
  • “She wanted to ‘supply the want of unity and secular organization among women.’” – Holly Fry [23:19]
• Sorosis rapidly expanded nationwide, inspiring a wave of women’s clubs with a range of missions and causes.

Expanding Influence & Professional Challenges

[27:09 – 31:14]

• Jane’s success in journalism continued. After David Croly left his career in 1877 to pursue religious reform and fell ill, Jane became the family’s sole support.
• Purchased an interest in Godey’s Lady’s Book, but it eventually folded.

Legacy as Club Leader and Federation Founder

[31:37 – 32:25]

• After her husband's death, Jane founded the New York Women's Press Club (1889) and General Federation of Women’s Clubs (1890), a nationwide umbrella for clubwomen.
• Also launched a magazine, Cycle (aka "the Women's Cycle").

Shifting Advice to Women & Later Works

[32:25 – 34:00]

• Authored Thrown on Her Own Resources (1891) to guide women facing self-reliance; language was often ableist, but urged women to find and cultivate their professional abilities.
  • “Active work is the necessity of a healthful life. Are you equipped for your part in the battle?” – Tracy V. Wilson quoting Croly, [32:25]
• By this time, she encouraged women to focus not just on domesticity but on careers and self-sufficiency.

Chronicling the Women’s Club Movement

[34:00 – 36:56]

• Wrote The History of the Women’s Club Movement in America (1898), documenting not only Sorosis but many similar organizations, including Working Girls’ Clubs.

Final Years, Death, and Memorial

[35:08 – 41:08]

• Suffered a debilitating hip break at age 69, then left active club life.
• Died Sept 23, 1901, and was memorialized by Sorosis and the Women’s Press Club at the Waldorf Astoria.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “Mrs. Crowley had that particular sense of fellowship among women most unusual... There are no words to express that thought except those that are masculine. Fellowship, brotherhood, fraternity. Mrs. Crowley perhaps more than any other woman in the world had the sense of what fellowship or fraternity meant in women.” – Letter read by Demis Dennison at her memorial, [37:38]
  • “Woman was a new factor in journalism, and Jenny June was a new woman, a new creation.” – From biography by her brother, quoted at [38:48]

Lasting Legacy

[40:25 – 41:08]

• Sorosis chapters existed into the mid-20th century, some persisting even longer.
• The General Federation of Women’s Clubs is still active today.
  • Mission: “Dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On her pen name:
  “For a long time, I was known to my intimates as Jenny June. The name almost passed out of my mind as I grew older till I commenced contributing to the papers. And then I bethought me of Jenny June as a nom de plume.” – [07:19]
• On women’s role in marriage (with present-day pushback):
  “Girls ought not to marry unless they are ready and willing to accept the position of head of a household and capable of making a home what it should be to husband and children. I don't love that.” – Tracy V. Wilson [17:17]
  “No, that was a big yikes for me as a girl. We gotta have a talk, Jenny June.” – Holly Fry [18:26]
• On club naming and purpose:
  “They didn't want the group to be too focused on any single interest or ideology. So even names that borrowed from literature... were dismissed in an effort to make the group, in Jane's own words, 'hospitable to women of different minds, degrees, and habits of work and thought.'” – Holly Fry [24:00]
• On lasting legacy:
  “The General Federation of Women's Clubs, though, is still going strong today. Its mission is stated as, quote, ‘the General Federation of Women's Clubs is an international women's organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service.’” – Holly Fry [40:46]

Key Timestamps

• 03:45 – Jane Cunningham Croly’s early life and family
• 06:39 – Move to New York City, launch of journalism career, origin of “Jennie June”
• 09:15 – Marriage to David Croly and nontraditional partnership
• 13:40 – Founding of first women’s club, Women’s Parliament
• 16:34 – Mixed messages in Jennie June’s writing about women’s roles
• 21:40 – Exclusion from Press Club, founding of Sorosis
• 27:09 – Becoming sole breadwinner, support of family
• 31:37 – Expansion of women’s clubs, founding the General Federation of Women’s Clubs
• 34:00 – Writing the history of the women’s club movement
• 36:56 – Death, memorials, and legacy

Closing Notes

This episode offers a nuanced portrait of Jennie June—a woman who simultaneously broke professional ground for women while holding some conservative social beliefs, yet evolved over her lifetime to become a central figure in one of the most important women’s movements of the 19th century. The hosts, in their signature blend of warmth and candor, contextualize both her achievements and her contradictions, making clear why Jane Cunningham Croly, aka Jennie June, remains a pivotal—if sometimes complicated—historical figure.