Echo Zahl that “Wild Young Female” – reporter to the Seattle Star
From the desk of Shawn Schollmeyer
May 18, 1917 Echo Zahl starts work for the Star
“Wild Young Female Person is going to tell Star readers how Seattle looks to Co-Ed fresh from University campus…”
As the World War I began in Europe and the US began preparing for the eventual entry to the war in 1917, the Seattle Star was bringing a little levity to the front page news. In May they introduced, Echo June Zahl, a recent graduate from the University of Oregon Journalism School and a fresh young feminist face to their readers.
With a feminist eye and a nutty sense of humor she wins over a new audience and quickly gains 
regional notoriety. One poor woman is thrown out of a lake retreat full of spiritualists for unknowingly appearing as Echo’s doppelganger, a known personality of the media.
She shows how the latest bathing fashions are just not suitable for a practical, modern girl who actually wants to swim. Echo loved adventure and would venture out on horseback, travel long distances, and even surf for a good story.
While many of her assignments were interviews with actors, actresses and local business folk, she drew attention to many, more serious topics important to the working Seattle community and the everyday, regular guy with her articles on visiting soldiers at Fort Lawton, & Camp Lewis, building support for local Red Cross activities supporting the war effort and the struggles of the city carmen during the big labor strike. When you start your research of the WWI era, consider following some of Echo’s pursuits of daily life in Seattle and the citizens of Washington affected by the news of their boys going off to war and the people who stayed home to keep their families and way of life as normal as possible. 
Introducing Echo: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 18 May 1917. Chronicling America:
Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
Braving the Bucking Board: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 16 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
“Echo Zahl Visits Fort Lawton” :The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 04 June 1917. Chronicling
America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
“Spurns Nifty Bathing Suits” as not suitable for swimming: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 15 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
“Echo Zahl See’s Carman’s Home: Tells How Family with 7 Children Struggles to Live on Inadequate Wage Paid By Traction Company.”: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 18 July 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
And before it was popular – she even made her own emoji!: The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 12 June 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
Find more from this great early 20th Century journalist on ChroniclingAmerica.com in Washington’s own Seattle Star.
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