Judith Robinson

Judith Robinson (April 6, 1897 – December 17, 1961) was a Canadian journalist, feminist and activist. She was known as 'Brad' by family and friends. Robinson was best known as an investigative Canadian journalist during the Depression, the Second World War and until her death in 1961. Daughter of a prominent Canadian newspaperman, she went to work for The Globe of Toronto in 1928 where she was to make her name as a progressive journalist, a fighter for social justice, and a lifelong watchdog on the actions of governments. She specialized in social causes, particularly pushing for help for the underprivileged, wounded veterans or victims of short-sighted bureaucracy. She was also the author of a well-known biography Tom Cullen of Baltimore (1949) about the leading Canadian gynecologist and cancer surgeon, Thomas Stephen Cullen. She died in Glenora, Ontario, in 1961. Biography Judith Robinson was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1897. She was the daughter of John Robinson a former editor of The Telegram. As a child, she suffered from rheumatic fever as well as typhus and gave up school at the end of grade eight, although she continued learning through wide reading, keen discussion and a practice of precise observation. After her father's death in 1928, she cut her long hair into a business-like bob and applied for a reporter's job with The Globe, on the understanding that she would not work on the society or women's pages. Consequently, she started her reporting career in the sports department. In 1932, Judith traveled to England and freelanced for The Globe at $6 a column. In 1934 she was put in charge of letters to the editor and began to write editorials. She also covered special events, and soon after was writing a daily front-page column under her own byline. During the Depression she wrote compassionately on behalf of the unemployed and homeless, criticizing the government for its lack of concern for the poor. She was an instigator and main proponent of the drive to collect money to open the John Frank house in Toronto, which offered shelter in Toronto for those who had none. Following the Munich Agreement, Robinson's proposed columns criticizing the policy of appeasement were routinely turned down by her editor. In response, Judith offered to take three weeks vacation to save The Globe from the need to refuse to print her bitter denunciation of Neville Chamberlain. Her offer was accepted.