First to Berlin: Virginia Irwin in 1945

In this installment of ‘Profiles in History,’ we meet a talented, fearless journalist, who entered Berlin before Americans were allowed in.

Virginia Irwin at her desk at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Public Domain

Virginia Irwin (1908–1980) seemed to have an innate gift for writing. Born in Quincy, Illinois, she grew up excelling in academics. In the eighth grade, she won the state spelling contest, and she graduated in 1924 from Quincy Senior High School as the class valedictorian. Her grades were so impressive she was offered scholarships to three colleges. She accepted the scholarship from Lindenwood College, located in St. Charles, Missouri. After a year at Lindenwood, however, she returned home and attended Gem City Business School.

She married in April 1930, but within two years she was divorced and, by March 1932, was working as a file clerk at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper. It was with the newspaper that she would establish her historic legacy, but it would be from writing in places far from St. Louis.

Food, Then War

Soon, Irwin began writing articles for St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s magazine Everyday. When a staff member vacationed one summer, Irwin replaced the writer. Her topic, which she knew next to nothing about, was food. Nonetheless, her writing was so good that she was given the editorship of the magazine’s Food Page. By 1934, she was placed on staff with the magazine.