Marion Carpenter

Who was Marion Carpenter?

Marion A. Carpenter, also known as Marion Anderson, was the first woman national press photographer to cover Washington, D.C. and the White House, and to travel with a US President. She broke the gender role stereotype in the 1940s but left Washington in 1949 after her second marriage.

After divorce in 1951, Carpenter returned to St. Paul, Minnesota, where she worked as a nurse to support her mother and son. While she did some photography, by her death at age 82, she was little known in the national memory. Since her death, there has been recognition of Carpenter as a pioneer.