“M.A.L” The Journalism and Writing of Madeline Alberta Linford

Madeline Linford (1895-1975) was the first woman on the Editorial Board of the Manchester Guardian, working for the newspaper from 1913 to 1953. She wrote theatre, film and book reviews as well as numerous articles on topics ranging from the Manchester sales to the clothing of the Victorian baby. In 1919 and 1921 she visited France, Austria and Poland, reporting on the efforts of the Friends' Relief Mission to combat suffering and disease. In the autumn of 1939 she wrote articles on how the war was affecting women in Manchester. Madeline edited the first column for women in the Manchester Guardian from 1922 to 1939, was a picture editor on the paper in the 1940s and, finally, was the editor of the backpage opinion column. Somehow she also found time to write short stories and five novels as well as a biography of Mary Wollstonecraft. When she died at the age of 80 the Guardian in its obituary described her as "...one of the most remarkable newspaperwomen of her time, the creator in the Manchester Guardian of the first women's page for the 'intellectual' woman, and probably, the first woman to become pictures editor of a national newspaper." This is the first anthology of her work to appear in print.