Biased
Newspapers
Newspapers falsely describe the intentions behind Marie Curie's work.
Peter Austin, PhD
Historian, Author
Interview, January 2021
The Delineator (1921)
The Delineator (1921)
"American women would be inspired to give to Curie, Meloney figured, only if her image as a scientist—which stereotypically suggested someone dispassionate, even severe—could be softened. So Meloney’s articles presented Curie as a benevolent healer, intent on using radium to treat cancer. Meloney also persuaded editor friends at other newspapers and magazines to emphasize the same image. Curie understood that radium might be useful in the clinic, but she had no direct role in using it for medical treatments. Nevertheless, Curie’s motivation for discovering radium, according to a headline in the Delineator, was “That Millions Shall Not Die.” Writers described her as the “Jeanne D’Arc of the laboratory,” with a face of “suffering and patience.”" Smithsonian Magazine (2011)
Most American newspapers portrayed Marie Curie as a stereotypical woman, a wife and mother, when she strove to be recognized as a scientist. They emphasized her romantic life. "Marie Curie's Work Shows Romance of Science," is one of the headlines of the New York Herald in 1921 which reflects the biased assumptions she had to assuage. Curie faced many challenges including depression as a result of these presumptions.
New York Herald (1921)
New York Tribune (1921)
"Curie disapproved of the publicity campaign. In lectures, she reminded her audience that her discovery of radium was the work “of pure science...done for itself” rather than with “direct usefulness” in mind." Smithsonian Magazine (2011)
Morgan County Press (1921)
New York Tribune (1921)