For Women’s History Month, we talk with author and historian Brooke Kroeger, whose recent article, “The Go-Between,” shines new light on one of World War II’s most fascinating and least understood correspondents: Helen Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick was everywhere the war burned hottest: London during the Blitz, North Africa, Italy, Normandy, and Paris. She broke major stories, moved with unusual ease among political, military, and diplomatic circles, and became the only woman among 1,600 accredited American correspondents to receive the U.S. Medal of Freedom for her wartime service. How did she gain such access? And why do some of her accomplishments still sit in the shadows of classified files and unanswered questions?
Kroeger also draws attention to a troubling ambiguity: her younger brother, Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Jr., became a high-ranking figure in U.S. intelligence after WWII, and the degree to which his and her careers overlapped raises unanswered questions about whether journalism and espionage sometimes blurred.
Brooke Kroeger will walk us through the life and service of this remarkable reporter who straddled the worlds of journalism, intelligence, and wartime diplomacy. It’s a story of courage, connection, and mystery told by the scholar who knows it best.
Helen Kirkpatrick broke barriers at the eve of World War II when the Chicago Daily News hired her for its London bureau.
As war unfolded, Kirkpatrick reported across Europe. Her dispatches appeared sometimes several times a day, and she was credited with breaking sensitive news based on high-level, confidential sources.
When asked later why she merited awards such as the U.S. Medal of Freedom and France’s Légion d’Honneur, Kirkpatrick often replied with humility — sometimes claiming she didn’t even know. Her wartime papers, now archived, remain thin on direct explanation.
We’re grateful to UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!
