If you do not know much about this famous Canadian journalist, you soon will. This year the Canadian Mint honoured "Kit" Coleman by producing coins celebrating the 125th anniversary of her "becoming North America's first accredited woman war correspondent." If you know of a young woman who is interested in journalism, "Kit" would be a good role model.
In the first part of this post, I will present the numismatic announcements along with some of the biographical information provided in them. In the second I will offer some information about her daughter and the apparently very brief relationship she had with the author Hulbert Footner.
The Coins and the Announcements
The silver coin shows her holding an open notebook and pen. "Within that silhouette are various elements that represent her life and career (from top to bottom): The Mail and Empire building in Toronto, Ont.; SS Circassian, the passenger ship that brought the Irish-born writer to Canada in 1884; a partial map of the Atlantic Ocean, to represent Coleman’s travels and dispatches; a view of Coleman writing at her desk; and a vintage typewriter that symbolizes her legacy and impact on Canadian journalism."
The gold one shows her "penning her weekly column. The map in the background traces the trailblazing reporter’s incredible journey—from her birthplace in Ireland to her life and career in Canada, and her travels as North America’s first accredited woman war correspondent."
Early in 2023 one finds this news release about the newly minted coins:
"Royal Canadian Mint Introduces Transitional Effigy on 2023 Proof Silver Dollar Celebrating Pioneering Woman Journalist Kathleen "Kit" Coleman," PR Newswire, Jan. 10, 2023.
OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - The Royal Canadian Mint has dedicated its 2023 Proof Silver Dollar to celebrating the inspiring life of Canada's first woman journalist, Kathleen "Kit" Coleman. Born in County Galway, Ireland and emigrating to Canada in 1884, Kit Coleman first joined the Toronto Daily Mail as a Women' Editor and later became North America's first accredited woman war correspondent, gaining international fame for her coverage of the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. She also helped establish the Canadian Women's Press Club, and served as its first President. Her fascinating journey is told through the artistry of Pandora Young, who used Kit's silhouette as the canvas upon which the main chapters of her life are richly illustrated on the reverse of the coin.
Pandora Young has fashioned another portrait of the pioneering journalist on the 2023 $100 Pure Gold Coin. The reverse features Kit Coleman writing at her desk. Behind her is a map showing North America and Europe, with dotted lines retracing her epic travels across both continents.
Soon after, the Canadian Mint offered this information:
"“Fine Silver Proof Dollar– Kathleen “Kit” Coleman: Pioneer Journalist,”
SILVER 2023 MINTAGE 35,000
"Pencil to Paper to Metal: The Journey of Journalism Pioneer Kit Coleman is Honoured on the 2023 Proof Dollar."
"Who was “Kit”? That’s what readers of the Toronto Daily Mail (later The Mail and Empire) were asking, as they pored over the writings of Kathleen Blake Coleman. An intrepid reporter with a lively journalistic voice, “Kit” Coleman rose above the fray in the male-dominated newspaper industry, tackling a wide range of issues as well as the topics typically covered in women’s columns. She made history 125 years ago by becoming North America’s first accredited woman war correspondent. Coleman also helped establish the Canadian Women’s Press Club in 1904 and served as its first president, and later became Canada’s first syndicated woman columnist.
In a time when women journalists were limited to writing about the female perspective and women’s issues, Kathleen Blake Coleman paved the way for better representation in newsrooms and a more equal standing for Canadian women in other aspects of life."
On January 12, the Mint published a blog post with this title: “Kathleen “Kit” Coleman: How Canada’s Early Presswoman Led the Way for Journalists Today."
The link has been provided and I hope it lasts. You should have a look at it. The picture at the very top was taken from the blog post where much more information about Coleman is found. As, well there is a link to a video by Dr. Barbara Freeman, the author of Kit's Kingdom: The Journalism of Kathleen Blake Coleman. The link to the video is also available here: https://youtu.be/euH7MiSU2I0. As Dr. Freeman indicates, "Kit" was a fascinating woman and you will enjoy the video.
Hulbert Footner
It is more likely that you knew about “Kit” than Hulbert Footner. He was born in Hamilton (where “Kit” lived as the wife of Dr. Theobald Coleman), but left at a very young age for the United States. He was a successful writer and is best known for his detective stories
He returned briefly to Canada and had some adventures in, and wrote about, the Northwest. That is where I discovered him and after reading New Rivers of the North, I went searching for more information. There wasn’t much, except for the Wikipedia entry for Hulbert Footner which was constructed mostly by his son, Geoffrey.
I ended up with a considerable amount of information about Footner and decided to present it in a book. Unfortunately Footner’s son died before I could give it to him, but I have since met his granddaughter, Karen, and some “Footner Fans.” In Calvert County, Maryland the Historical Society has created a room dedicated to Hulbert Footner where one can find Footner’s books and assorted memorabilia. I had the pleasure of meeting Karen and some of the “Footner Fans” at the CCHS, which is where the picture above comes from.
During my search for information about Footner, I ran across a piece that reported that “Kit” Coleman’s daughter Patsy had become engaged to Hulbert Footner. A later article indicated they were married. The former is probably true, while the latter is surely not. The relationship is not mentioned in Dr. Freeman’s book, or elsewhere. There was no awareness on the Footner side that Hulbert possibly had such a tryst, somewhere and at some time, in Canada. (He was, by the way, known as "Bill" among friends and it is somewhat easier to believe that a "Bill", rather than a "Hulbert" would have had such a fling.)
I am pleased that the commemorative coins honouring "Kit" Coleman were produced by the Canadian Mint. At least now the Footner family and his fans will know that I was not exaggerating when I told them that "Kit" was famous in Canada and that Footner had proposed to Patsy, her daughter.
Those of you who now wish to know more about Footner should look at the website of the Calvert County Historical Society (or visit the actual site at Linden.) On the website, you will find the "Hulbert Footner Sideshow", from which the picture above was borrowed. Created by Diane Harrison, it is also available via YouTube.
If you are interested only in the relationship between Patsy Coleman and Bill Footner, all that is known about it is found below. It comes from the book I published and before you rush to purchase it, you should know that this is the only, mildly prurient part within it. Here is the excerpt, from which you will learn about Footner's travels in Canada early in the last century and more about "Kit" and her daughter.
The Coleman “Affair"
"After exploring the “New Rivers” Footner and his travelling companion, Auville Eager, returned to the Edmonton area. During the fall of 1911 there are a few accounts of their activities found in Canadian papers and in one of them they were seen at a concert in Edmonton. It is likely that Footner was promoting Two On The Trail, which was based on his journey in 1906 and giving talks about the one just completed in 1911.
That trip "to the Land of the Silences, our great Lone Land to the North -- so much of which is as yet unexploited by railway or tourist….” was the subject of a piece by Kit Coleman, who wrote those words. They are found in “Kit’s Column,” in the section “Woman & Her Interests'' in the Brandon Daily Sun on Saturday, Nov. 18, 1911, p.5. She clearly enjoyed the account of the trip presented by Footner and the “quaintness and humor with which it was told.” It is unclear where Coleman met Footner and heard the story. Her column was widely syndicated and she travelled a lot, but they may have met in Hamilton, where he was born and where she lived.
Where Footner may have met Kit’s daughter is also unclear and it is she who is the subject of what I have labelled, “The Coleman Affair.” It is based on an announcement that was made in the following spring, on May 25, 1912: “Dr. and Mrs. Theo. Coleman (Kit) of Hamilton, Ont. announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Patricia to Hulbert Footner of New York.” Their daughter “Patsy” is marrying a “clever young fiancé, who is by the way, a successful author and well-known newspaper man…” Over a dozen years later in an article about expatriate authors one learns that “He [Footner] married Miss Coleman, daughter of “Kit,” whom, everyone knows, was one of the first and ablest writers in Canada.”
Those are the only two references to the relationship between Hulbert Footner and Patsy Coleman that even the most diligent researcher will find.Their engagement was announced, their marriage never was. I think the “affair” likely ended fairly quickly, perhaps after Footner returned to the United States. I think the author who assumed they were married, is incorrect. I have found no mention of Patsy Coleman in any other material about Footner, nor have I encountered any suggestion that Footner became engaged to a Canadian woman, or any other woman, prior to his marriage to Gladys Marsh in 1916.
Kit Coleman was a well-known Canadian journalist. She was “the first syndicated newspaper columnist in Canada,” the first President of the Canadian Women’s Press Club,” “Canada’s first advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist,” and the “world’s first accredited woman war correspondent,” who reported on the Spanish-American War. That information is from Ted Ferguson’s, Kit Coleman: Queen of Hearts, an early biography which has more information about her career than her family and very little about Kathleen “Patsy” Coleman. As one reviewer noted: ”If there is anything disappointing about Kit Coleman, Queen of Hearts, it is only that it contains so little biographical detail about its subject.” The same can be said for Barbara M. Freeman’s, Kit’s Kingdom: The Journalism of Kathleen Blake Coleman and many other more recent accounts that focus on her as a journalist and not a mother.
About Kit Coleman, a lot is known. Those who wish to learn more and attempt to find information about Footner’s fiancé can start with the Wikipedia entry for Kit Coleman or see Freeman’s profile of, “Ferguson, Catherine, Kit Coleman,” in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. See also this work, where a profile of Bob Edwards can also be found: Patrick Watson, ed. “Kit Coleman: Kit of the Mail,” Pt. Nine, p. 191 in The Canadians: Biographies of a Nation, Vol. II. There are many more sources which have been checked. An obituary is found in The Globe and Mail, on May 17, 1915 - “Kit Has Passed Away; Famous Woman Writer: Notable Pioneer in Journalism, Ill Only Two Days.”
About Kathleen “Patsy Coleman” not much is known. Kit indicated, in one of her columns, that Patsy was born on Oct. 4,1887 and she was often referred to in the articles written by Kit and sometimes travelled with her. A picture of her as a young child is found in the Freeman biography where it is mentioned that she attended Quaker College in Pickering, Ontario. There is little information about her as a young woman and Freeman notes that “Patsy” was, as an adult, quite reticent about the family's private life, even with her own children.” The engagement to Footner is not discussed in any of the sources consulted and the obituary for Kit in 1915 indicates that Patsy was married and now Mrs. John Gartshore."
The section above is found on pp.36-38 of the print edition of: Hulbert Footner: Author of Adventure Novels, Detective Novels and Historical Nonfiction: A Bibliographic Account of His Life and Work.
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