Frances Burke Murphey, 1922-1998

Frances Burke Murphey, a Beacon Journal reporter for 55 years, brought home many honors and awards over her long career but her greatest contributions to the city were the stories she left behind. While other reporters and editors were covering the "big" stories, Murphey liked to tell the "little" ones, the ones about ordinary women and men building the city.

Murphey was born into journalism. Born in Macedonia on Dec. 24, 1922, Murphey was the daughter of Philip A. and Marie L. (Thompson) Murphey. Her mother was a reporter for the old Akron Times Press. When she was in junior high, Murphey tagged along with her mother when she covered political meetings. Murphey graduated from Hudson High School. She planned on a journalism career when she enrolled at Kent State University.

When she graduated, she got a job at the Beacon Journal as a reporter. (Even as a student, she had worked for the Beacon as a stringer covering Kent, Brimfield and Brady Lake.) But the editors never thought she'd last long. In fact, Murphey had to sign a contract saying her job was temporary. When the men returned from World War II, the editors expected Murphey to give up her job. She didn't but she did have fall-back plans. She learned how to operate the Beacon's elevator and switchboard, just in case, the newspaper reported.

There weren't very many woman reporters at the Beacon Journal at the time. Ruth McKenney, an early reporter, had already moved on, so Murphey needed to develop her own style. She was best known for her dress -- bib overalls and boots. Murphey was also known for her dogged determination in getting a story. Murphey is credited with single-handedly forcing both The University of Akron and the Akron-Summit County Public Library to open their board meetings to the public.

She was known for her "Good Afternoon" and "Good Morning" columns that told about retirements and weddings, college reunions, outings and anniversaries - the stuff that made Akron a community. She was also known for insisting on including a married woman's first name in a news story, even though the style of the day was to identify them only by their husband's name. She was also known for her travel columns that highlighted the state of Ohio - and her outhouse photos.

It was this reputation that brought literally hundreds of readers out for the Fran Murphey retirement party at the Civic Theatre, the largest place the Beacon could find in the city.

Murphey won many awards during her career. In 1996 she won Knight Ridder Newspapers' John S. Knight Excellence Award for Community Service. In 1993, she won a special recognition award from the Associated Press Society of Ohio.
Over her career, Murphey held many jobs at the Beacon - school editor, spelling bee editor, State Desk reporter-photographer and, of course, columnist and travel writer.

When she died on Nov. 9, 1998, she was mourned as a city "original." Ohio Gov. Bob Taft acknowledged her many contributions by giving her the Governor's Award for Journalism. The state also dedicated a rest stop along Interstate 77 in Summit County to her.

Photos courtesy of the Beacon Journal.

--Kathleen L. Endres