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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, August 8, 2025, pg. 7 When thinking about this theme, I immediately thought of three Albion persons who would qualify, and they all happen to be women. How about biography-based historical site markers as a local project with the State of Michigan historic site marker program for the following persons: Anna Howard Shaw, Gwen Dew, and M.F.K. Fisher? Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919) was the president of the National American Women's Suffrage Movement. She was also an ordained minister with the Methodist Church. The National Women's Hall of Fame biography of her states: "Reverend Doctor Anna Howard Shaw, minister, physician, ardent feminist, and masterful orator, worked to improve individual morality through her ministry, tried to improve society by moving into the temperance and suffrage movements, and finally campaigned vigorously for the League of Nations to promote world peace." She also attended Albion College from 1873 to 1875, and then moved to Boston in 1876 to attend Boston Theological Seminary. The Anna Howard Shaw Center for Gender Equity is named in her honor at Albion College. How about an historical State of Michigan historical marker for Anna, to be placed somewhere at Albion College? Gwen Dew (1903-1993), was a prolific writer, journalist, and photographer. An Albion native and 1920 graduate of Albion High School, Gwen lived an adventurous life. She is best known for her writings and photographic abilities. She attended Albion College and was active in writing there before attending and graduating from the University of Michigan with a degree in journalism. Gwen then worked for the Albion Evening Recorder in the 1920s. Following that she was the first publicity agent for F.T.D. Florists in Detroit. During the 1930s she wrote for various national magazines, and for the Detroit News as a columnist traveling around the world. Her weekly column was read by thousands of persons. When she returned, she was interviewed on national radio by Cecil B. DeMille regarding her travels. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong in December, 1941, Gwen was caught there while working as a correspondent for the Detroit News, and Newsweek magazine. She photographed the fall and surrender of Hong Kong, and herself was taken prisoner. She was released several months later in 1942 as part of a prisoner exchange. She then wrote about her ordeal in newspapers across the country in serial form, and toured the country for the remainder of the War working for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (predecessor of the C.I.A.), raising over $2 million for the War effort. Gwen wrote the book "Prisoner of the Japs" in 1943, which was transformed into an NBC radio program as part of its "Words at War" series. Following the War Gwen was the first female reporter allowed back into occupied-Japan. Her home at 410 E. Michigan Avenue across from Washington Gardner High School is still standing today. A marker out front would be highly appropriate in her memory. M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992) was a prolific food writer who happened to have been born here in Albion during a heat wave on July 3, 1908. Her father, Rex Kennedy, was co-owner of the Albion Evening Recorder, who subsequently moved the family to California a few years after her birth. Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher was the author of numerous books about food which involved more than just recipes. One reviewer wrote in 2020, "Her books and essays on food and wine remain a powerful testament to a woman who built a literary genre that transformed culinary writing from simple lists of ingredients into evocative literature that explored everything from the psychology of taste to food as a cultural metaphor." Some of her books include: "Consider the Oyster (1941)," "How to Cook a Wolf (1942)," "The Gastronomical Me" (1943)," and "The Art of Eating (1954)." Her birth home at 202 Irwin Avenue is still standing today, and would make an excellent location for an historical marker in her memory. From our Historical Notebook this week we present photographs of these three aforementioned ladies worthy of State of Michigan historical site markers here in Albion. A project to accomplish this will take some leadership and funds, but we've got enough ingenuity here in Albion and civic pride to make it happen. Who will step up? How many of our readers have read the writings of these three women with Albion ties?  Anna Howard Shaw portrait at Albion College
 Gwen Dew
 M.F.K. Fisher
All text copyright, 2025 © all rights reserved Frank Passic
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