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Jan (Mosley) Tomás BJ '59

Jan Tomás, BJ '59, was a mid-semester graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism when she began work on one of the monumental events in the School's history - the 50th anniversary celebration in 1958-1959. While the 16-hour days during such events as the World Press Congress were long, involvement in the festivities allowed her to meet some of the biggest names in journalism and the world, including Harry S. Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt. Read more about her memories as an insider during the 50th anniversary, as well as how it prepared her for a successful career as a journalist and teacher.

How did you become involved in the 50th anniversary celebration?
I needed a part-time job and was sent to Peggy Phillips (the office manager) at the 50th anniversary office. Peggy and I hit it off, and she hired me as a general typist, gofer, writer, filer, copywriter - whatever was needed. I had just graduated mid-term, and my new husband, Noel Tomás, BJ '59, needed to stay one more semester. Noel was a good photographer, so it wasn't any time until he also was part of the staff.

What was the environment like at the J-School while planning the event?
We were tucked away in a tiny office down the hall from the dean's office. Students went about pretty much as usual. But it was hectic inside the crowded office. Loads of mail, telephone calls, brushfires to be doused - just getting through the day was a goal. In lieu of amphetamines (prescription, of course), as yet unavailable, we took Geritol to keep up energy. Peggy, the second-in-command in our four-person office, doled out tablespoons of the foul stuff each morning so we'd have enough energy to cope with the day, some of which stretched into late evenings.

Centennial Timeline: 1950-1959 Tomás assisted with the World Press Congress held on the University of Missouri campus in March 1959, an event that brought journalism delegates from around the world to Columbia for a three-day convention. Photo by Noel E. Tomás. University Archives, C:11/15/1.

For that era, and even by today's standards, the event was unprecedented. Why do you think it was such a success?
The devil was in the details. Sam Montague (director of the 50th anniversary and a 1936 graduate) had a lot of experience persuading people to do things. Sam was a brusque, tightly wired guy with a pencil-thin moustache that quivered when he was thinking, or excited, which was often. He could be staring out the window, turn back to the office and spin his latest dream. Sam could think way out of the box, and he could think big. That's why the Press Congress was such a success. (The World Press Congress brought more than 100 delegates from journalism organizations throughout the world to the School in March 1959.)

What were some of those details that made the Press Congress in 1959 a success?
For example, every participant got a neat ceramic ashtray with his/her name embossed in gold beneath a drawing of the School. Sam had copped the signatures from the letters received. For most of the participants, it was a delightful surprise, along with the souvenir pages of journalism stamps inside a leather folder. Every detail of each event was attended to. Participants were bused to and from hotels for meals and workshops. We found them phones. We brought them stamps and postcards. We arranged transportation or side trips. I remember stealing a bottle of wine off the table so the men could have a cocktail before dinner. I think even the most blasé participant must have been thrilled at the scope of the event. Editors and publishers came from everywhere around the world. What a delight it must have been to exchange information and ideas within this elite group.

What are your favorite memories from the event?
At the final banquet held at the gym, Harry Truman made his usual jaunty entrance with a wide grin, his cane and straw hat. As the swarm of photographers got their shot and melted away, Noel was left fumbling with the lens of his two-and-a-quarter camera. Truman advanced on him, waving at the cheering crowd. However, one eye was on Noel. Impatiently, through his teeth, Truman hissed "shoot, (expletive deleted) shoot!" During the World Press Congress, which lasted a week, we ran ourselves ragged all day. At night we used the darkroom to process pictures taken of people and events for publicity and posterity. I remember drinking sauterne wine at every meal at a time when wine was not a popular drink for Americans. It was dry and a step removed from vinegar, but we felt very sophisticated as we drank it. I wonder what the Europeans/Asians/South Americans/Africans thought?

Centennial Timeline: 1950-1959 Inez Robb, BJ '24, a columnist for United Feature (left) and Eleanor Roosevelt (right) were two of the headliners for the Women in Journalism Conference held in 1959 as part of the School’s 50th anniversary activities. Photo by Noel E. Tomás. Used with permission.

You also helped work the Women in Journalism Conference featuring Eleanor Roosevelt. How did that experience influence your career?
Columnists Sylvia Porter and Inez Robb, BJ '24, made it very clear that women had a harder road to acceptance in the journalism business. I thought the notions of these two "old ladies" were outdated. I thought hard work would deliver the promotions and salaries equal to men. Little did I know. Their words in 1959 came back to haunt me as women's issues in the workplace were highlighted in the feminist movement later on. Women in journalism have forerunners like Porter and Robb to thank for greatly improved conditions in regard to gender in newsrooms today. Eighteen years later, when I entered a newsroom for the first time, there were as many women as men, but there was a glass ceiling on advancements. That has changed, although I don't hear of too many women who are publishers or executive editors.

Centennial Timeline: 1950-1959 At the dedication of the Freedom of Information Center in 1959, Dean Earl English, left, and FOIC Director Paul Fisher, center, accepted Walter Williams' Bible from son Edwin Moss Williams and Grit publisher George Lamade, BJ '16, right. University Archives, C:11/15/1.

The Freedom of Information Center was dedicated in May 1959 at the end of the celebration. What was the importance of that event?
I believe this started as a small room in the journalism library. As I looked over the sparse collection of books on a few shelves that spring, I naïvely thought, "Ha, what could this possibly come to?" But, hey, I was 20 years old. I had never tried to pry information out of a judge, a detective or a politician. I had never been denied access to important files. I'd never argued over information given to a competing reporter and not to me. That would come much later, and access had definitely been eased by the legislative activities of this Center.

As we prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary, what are the biggest changes you've seen in the School and/or industry?
I see how the buildings and course offerings have changed on campus. But the effect of the Internet has caused the newspaper industry to scramble to keep readers. Negative results have been overwritten stories, stories featured on front pages that shouldn't be there, and too much editorial comment worked into the copy with little credible backup. Photos are too big, many with little meaning. You know the photographer cruised around until he found action in the local park or on a sidewalk. Newspapers are cutting editorial staff and that leads to many lost state and local stories. For me, that is the deal-breaker. Lack of substantive news may cause me to cancel my newspaper subscription eventually and depend on Internet, TV and newsmagazines. It's a Catch-22. On the other hand, positives include greatly improved graphics, headlines aren't as restricted, and features placed prominently.

How did working on that event change your life and/or career?
After that totally exhausting, exciting, nerve-wracking experience, I swore I would never work in a public relations office again. But what I learned there about ideas, planning, and follow-through would serve me all through my journalism/teaching career. Since then I've always been able to think ahead, plan carefully and not feel sorry for myself when I had to work 16+ hours a day. I knew from this experience that you did whatever it took to get a job done.

What did you do in your career after working the 50th anniversary?
I married right out of J-School, and after working on the 50th anniversary staff, I dropped out of the working world to rear two children. However, during that time, I freelanced for several magazines (and paid the doctor bill for my first baby with my first sale). Until the kids were in college and high school, I owned, operated and taught a Montessori school.

You decided to go back to journalism later in life. Where did you work?
In 1978, my first newspaper job was for a weekly newspaper that folded after about four months. But the staff was excellent, and I had a good mentor. Then I became assistant editor/reporter to an antiques publication, The Wooden Nutmeg, out of Glastonbury, Conn. It was there I learned to use a camera. I bought a Sears 35mm for about $20 from a pawn shop. It didn't even have a metering system, so I wasted a lot of company film and burned through a lot of photo paper until someone gave me a few pointers. Later, the Glastonbury Art Guild gave me a Best of Show award for a photo. It was the first time they had ever given that award to a photographer. I have to give credit to my ex-husband Noel Tomás, BJ '59, for his good editorial and photo tips.

Where was your next newspaper job?
I went to work for the Hartford Courant after a few years teaching at a Montessori school. They hired me as a correspondent, and I liked it that way. I earned about as much as staff reporters, but I was free to sell elsewhere. I quickly learned how to spot or dig up a story that would place better, which made more money. The Courant hired me for staffing during the weekends, which was great because any story that broke became mine during the week. They also published my photos, if one of their photographers wasn't available.

What are you most proud of in your work at the Courant?
One of my best stories at the Courant was an investigative piece about how New England antique dealers organize and appoint one man to bid on all the items they want. After the auction, they distribute the items in a "knockout." I knew the feds were investigating my story, but they weren't talking. Two years later, 10 dealers were convicted in Pennsylvania with a $10,000 fine each under anti-trust laws. I believe dealers in New England were wise, so the feds moved to Pennsylvania to catch dealers in the act as I had done.

Another turn in life took you to Texas. Did you stay in journalism?
I took a job at the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times as a feature writer. While the job was a lot of fun, I tired of the fluff and lobbied to get back on the news side. I won a Harte-Hanks award for breaking news about a tornado that hit Saragosa, Texas (Houston Harte, BJ '15, was co-founder of the Harte-Hanks newspaper group. The family established the Houston Harte Chair in Journalism at the School in 1997). I won an Anson-Jones award (a communication award sponsored by the Texas Medical Association) for a feature on autism. I also was chosen to write a 14-page tabloid on the West Texas oil crisis of 1986.

What investigative journalism opportunities did you have in Texas?
Shortly before I left San Angelo in 1987, I did an investigative piece exposing an oil company for mistakenly pouring sulfur dioxide into a holding tank, then distributing that gas throughout West Texas. Hundreds of car engines broke down. To compound the error, they directed mechanics to fix the ruined fuel distributor systems by scrubbing the parts with soapy water. The public relations department had no comment when I pointed out that sulfur dioxide combined with water eats through nickel and aluminum. The oil and savings and loan crisis precipitated a financial crisis with the newspaper, and several reporters left for other jobs, which left me as one of the most experienced reporters on staff. Until I left, I was assigned all the juicy stories of the summer of 1987. Knowing the ax would eventually fall on me, I found a job teaching in McAllen, Texas.

Returning to teaching was bittersweet for you. Why?
While I enjoyed teaching, I will always regret not staying in journalism. I went back to school, earned a teaching certificate and a master's degree in English as a Second Language (ESL). I taught high school English, ESL and journalism for 16 years. The last eight years I was in charge of the school yearbook. Each year I supervised the publication of a 240+ page yearbook, which usually cost between $38,000 and $45,000 each year to produce. The district provided no financial support for the book, so I had to depend on teenagers to write, photograph, raise funds and sell ads! Most years we earned excellent ratings from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, and one year we earned Yearbook of the Year from Jostens in the south Texas region. One of the enormous satisfactions of that really stressful job was that several students chose journalism/graphic arts as a career. Another thrill was watching my journalism students win awards at regional and state University Interscholastic League meets.

Did you ever return to journalism?
In the summer of 1995, I went to the McAllen (Texas) Monitor to place a classified ad. The smell of printer's ink triggered so many pleasant memories that, on a whim, I visited the managing editor and asked if I could work through the summer, maybe replacing reporters on vacation. He asked for a resume and clips, which I sent and forgot about the visit. A few weeks later, he called and asked if I would come to work as a copy editor. It was impossible to resist. I gave notice to the school district and reported for work. At that time I didn't know a pica from a gutter. Because it was a small-city daily with limited staff, few people had time to teach me. To complicate things, the company had purchased an obscure graphics program that took even the most experienced editors about a year to fully learn. I could write good headlines, and eventually I quit missing errors, but after a year I returned to teaching. Part of the reason was the schedule. Everyone was asleep when I was awake and vice-versa. At least the newspaper training gave me what I needed to produce decent yearbooks.

What do you do now?
I retired in 2004 and returned to Connecticut where my children live. I traveled through Europe for six weeks and joined a Sweet Adelines chorus. In August 2007, I did a 52-page program for their biannual concert. Now I am about halfway through writing a novel.

What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?
Stay neutral, stick to the story until every possible angle has been considered and run down, and leave your ego (not your brain) at the door of the newsroom.

What advice do you have for current students?
Take every advantage the School offers you - make great grades - because the top reputation of the J-School is very real. Every newspaper person who found out where I attended J-School has commented positively. "Good school," they'd say.

What is your favorite J-School memory?
One day in 1959, I arrived at the copy desk to find copy I'd edited badly tacked to the bulletin board. "Abominations and a one-way trip to Poughkeepsie on Miss Mosley" the professor had written. I thought, "uh oh" - then I thought what a cute little put-down. Eleven years later, I visited Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and right away, I recalled and understood what that long-ago posted incantation meant. Poughkeepsie was close to Hyde Park where Franklin Roosevelt lived. Poughkeepsie was a grimy town with little to offer. Its streets climbed and descended long hills. It was the only place reporters could have stayed while covering events at Hyde Park. It must have been a bad-luck-to-you joke among reporters assigned to that dreary place.