Home > Carnegie Center > Arizona Women's Hall of Fame > Inductees > Hammer, Angela Hutchinson
Angela Hutchinson Hammer
1870 – 1952
Inducted in 1983
"I liked typesetting. When I learned to set type, on the early
day newspapers I had no idea that I would ever become so identified with
the Fourth Estate and publish newspapers of my own, but from that one
little excursion out of my chosen profession of school teaching, I got
into something I have never been able to get out of." -- Angela
Hutchinson Hammer talking about how she began her career in newspapers.
Angela H. Hammer has the distinction of holding membership in two Halls
of Fame in Arizona. In addition to the Women's Hall of Fame, she was named
to the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1965. The members of the Arizona
Newspaper Association gave her that honor in recognition of her long and
colorful career as publisher of weekly newspapers in a number of Arizona
towns.
Angela Hutchinson was born on November 30, 1870, in Virginia City, Nevada.
In 1883, at the age of 13, she and three sisters traveled by rail to Arizona.
The girls were met by their father, who took them by covered wagon to Picket
Post, where the family home was located. Mr. Hutchinson was a mine construction
engineer, and the family lived in several small mining towns, including
Silver King and Wickenburg.
In 1889, at the age of 19, Angela obtained her teaching certificate from
the Clara A. Evans Teachers' Training College in Phoenix. During the next
few years, she taught school in Wickenburg and Gila Bend. In the 1890s,
while she was living with her family in Phoenix, she had her first taste
of journalism, taking a job as a typesetter and proofreader for The
Phoenix Gazette and The Arizona Republican, forerunner of The
Arizona Republic.
In 1896 she married J. S. Hammer, a building contractor. The couple had
three sons before they divorced after eight years of marriage. In 1905
Mrs. Hammer made the first of her newspaper purchases, buying the Wickenburg
Miner for $500. At first it looked like a poor investment, but after
one and one-half years of hard work, she turned it into a moneymaker and
was able to support her family on the profits. From 1908 to 1910, Mrs.
Hammer worked to establish a chain of newspapers in four rapidly growing
mining towns. In her printing plant at Congress Junction, she published
the Wickenburg Miner, Swansea Times, and Wenden News.
Then in 1912 she moved her printing plant to Casa Grande and joined Ted
Healey to publish the Casa Grande Bulletin. The partnership, however,
was not made in heaven. The two took opposite sides during a bitter dispute
over water reclamation for the Casa Grande valley. According to one newspaper
account, during the night of December 23, 1913, Mrs. Hammer had all her
printing equipment moved out of the Bulletin building, and when
Healey came to work the next morning all he found was his desk.
Determined to have a newspaper in which to express her opinions, Mrs.
Hammer founded the Casa Grande Dispatch on January 1, 1914. The Dispatch supported
the Casa Grande Water Users Association and the Democratic Party. For nearly
10 years, the Bulletin and the Dispatch tangled over
political and water issues. Mrs. Hammer quickly earned a reputation for
aggressive, honest reporting and her strong editorial opinions. In 1925
Mrs. Hammer moved to Phoenix and the following year established the Messenger
Printing Co., operated by her two sons, William and Marvin. That company
merged in April 1951 with Arizona Printers Inc., and Mrs. Hammer became
a board member of the combined operation.
In 1938 she was appointed by Governor R. C. Stanford to the State Board
of Social Security and Welfare, a position she held until 1943. Having
earned the respect of journalists throughout the state, Angela H. Hammer
was a valued member of many professional organizations, including the Phoenix
Business and Professional Women's Club, the Phoenix branch of The National
League of American Pen Women and the Phoenix Writers Club.
Mrs. Hammer died April 9, 1952, at the age of 81.
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