Dorothy Dignam

Dorothy Dignam, 1896-, early advertising writer, grew up in the Middle West. She worked in Europe in the 1920s on consumer relations and in the field of home appliances. Back in the United States she lived in Philadelphia during the depression of the 1930's, and worked in New York City during World War II. Her letters and diaries reflect the changing economic and social conditions, especially during the period 1920-1946. Her war diaries, 1941-1945, show action on the home front.

All her life she worked in advertising, especially in the fields of fashion, beauty, and homemaking. She is an active member of the Advertising Women of New York, and is its biographer. Her compilations of AWNY histories, papers related to women in advertising, and the collections of her own work illustrate the history of women's involvement in advertising.

From the guide to the Papers, 1876-1960, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)