From covering the New York World Fair to almost getting shot at outside a mobster’s hospital room, a journalist named Virginia Marmaduke paved the way for other women in her field across the nation.

“She was at the forefront of her field as a female reporter in Chicago and in Illinois. She had the opportunity to cover stories that most other females of her time weren’t able to cover and that’s because of both her reputation and the attention to detail that she paid,” said Molly Hudgins, executive director of SIU Alumni Association.

Many notable females have impacted the SIU community. Marmaduke inspired female journalists then gave back to the school through scholarships and service. 

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“She was very caring about students. She didn’t have any children of her own so anything she could do to help advance the career of an SIU student, she would do that. So she set up a scholarship in her name through the school of journalism,” said Jak Tichenor, Statehouse Correspondent for Illinois Lawmakers public TV series. 

Maramaduke started her journalism career in Southern Illinois at the Herrin Daily Journal. There, she covered every type of story from socialites to crime. After spending many years there, she moved up to Chicago and began working for the Chicago Sun.

“She was a very good reporter and had some years of experience before she went to Chicago and she actually wrote about organized crime in Southern Illinois during the 1920s,” Tichenor said.

During the time, female reporters were typically assigned fashion and society stories to report on. Maramaduke asked to write about crime and sports. She was the first female reporter at the Chicago Sun to cover those topics, as well as one of the first female reporters in the nation.

“That was unheard of, you know, for a female to do that at that point in time. One of the things that she had said was a quote from her that she wanted to “cover the blood, the guts and the sex,” said Toibretta Reiman, corporate board secretary and assistant to executive director at the alumni association.

At the Chicago Sun, Marmaduke worked to investigate her stories first hand. 

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“The head of the crime family was in the hospital dying, so she and her photographer went to the hospital and found the guy. They spotted her peeking from the closet and the mobster who was still in the hospital bed pulled a gun and he was going to shoot her. She pulled off her high heel shoes and plopped the guy with it. She and her photographer were able to make a hasty retreat out of there,” Tichenor said.

In the newsroom, Marmaduke was given the nickname “Duchess” by her editor at the Chicago Sun. The nickname stuck with her throughout her career and she was known by that nickname throughout the nation.

“He said ‘well you got Mara-Duke as your last name so I’ll just call you the Duchess’ and that’s how they came to call her the Duchess. She went by that nickname throughout her entire career,” Tichenor said. 

The nickname was used for her radio talk show called Coffee with the Duchess and when her radio show moved to television, it was called Date with the Duchess. Both shows took place after she finished her journalism career. 

“She got to interview not only the president and probably gangsters, you know those things, I mean she interviewed Queen Elizabeth at one point, which I thought was pretty fascinating,” Reiman said. 

Marmaduke was connected back to Southern Illinois when the president of the university, Delyte Morris, reached out to her about writing about the expansions of SIU. 

“She wrote a series of articles about SIU and really helped Morris get the word out about Southern Illinois University. In those days, and that was a time when SIU was going through major expansion and there’s all sorts of different connections with her here, but that was always one of her favorite stories,” Tichenor said. 

After retirement, Marmaduke moved back down to Southern Illinois to live in a log cabin in Pinckneyville. She spent her free time involving herself in the SIU community, WSIU and Public TV fundraising. 

“She was an unofficial spokesperson for SIU. Anything she could do to promote the university she was happy to do. She would help people with the news media and search connections to get stories out about the university back in the day and she was always willing to help raise money for the university,” Tichenor said. 

While working for WSIU, Marmaduke co-hosted broadcasts and covered events throughout Southern Illinois. She even commentated on parades that were broadcast on TV. 

“I went to the apple festival parade and it was her and another guy from WSIU and they were the commentators for the parade, it was on TV through WSIU. I remember because you could hear her as you’re going by in the parade and she’d say oh there’s our queen and she’d say my name and she goes ohh she’s from my hometown where I live and it was just fun,” Reiman said. 

Marmaduke received many awards for her accomplishments during her career. She was the recipient of a Lincoln Academy Laureate and was noted in the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame, as well as being the first woman on the Chicago Sun editorial staff. 

“She was well respected enough at a time when there weren’t a lot of journalism awards given to women,” Hudgins said.

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