Mildred Ladner Thompson facts for kids

Mildred Ladner Thompson (born June 24, 1918 – died June 25, 2013) was an American journalist, writer, and columnist. She worked for major news organizations like The Wall Street Journal, where she was one of the first women reporters, and the Associated Press. She also wrote for the Tulsa World.

Early Life and Learning

Mildred Diefenderfer was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in 1918. She was the only child of Orlando and Mary Diefenderfer. While she was studying for her first college degree at Moravian College, she also worked at a local newspaper in Allentown. After that, she earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

A Career in Journalism

Thompson started her career at the Associated Press in 1945, right after finishing graduate school. She worked from the Associated Press office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While working there, she interviewed U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, First Lady of the United States Eleanor Roosevelt.

Her work for the Associated Press caught the eye of The Wall Street Journal. They hired her in 1945 as a reporter for their office in Washington D.C. This made her one of the newspaper's first female reporters. At the time, she was the only woman on the WSJ reporting staff. She covered important topics like aviation, the Truman administration (the time when Harry S. Truman was president), and transportation. In November 1947, Thompson flew to California to report on a special event. She witnessed and covered the only flight of the Spruce Goose (Hughes H-4 Hercules), a huge airplane built by Howard Hughes.

Life in Oklahoma

While working in Washington, Thompson met her first husband, John Ladner. He was a commander in the U.S. Navy from Tulsa, Oklahoma. After they got married in 1950, they decided to move to Oklahoma. John Ladner later became a judge in Tulsa.

In Oklahoma, Mildred Thompson continued to write. She worked as a writer for several national magazines and newspapers. She also wrote for local groups in Tulsa, such as the Tulsa Boys Home and Tulsa Ballet. The Gilcrease Museum hired her to write stories about artists. These stories were later published by the University of Oklahoma. She also wrote a history book about the Tulsa City-County Library, which was published in 1991.

In 1977, Thompson joined the Tulsa World newspaper as a book editor and columnist. She was very active with the Tulsa Press Club during her time there.

She lived in Tulsa for 45 years until 1995. Then, she moved to Sarasota, Florida, with her second husband, T.K. Thompson. Even in retirement, she kept writing biographies of new people who moved into her Florida community.

Later Years and Passing

Mildred Thompson passed away in Sarasota, Florida, on June 25, 2013. She was 95 years old. She was survived by her three children: Mary Pat Robertson, Helen Ladner, and Edward Ladner. Both her first husband, John Ladner (who died in 1983), and her second husband, T.K. Thompson, had passed away before her.