Angela Hutchinson Hammer

Angela Hutchinson Hammer (Nov. 30, 1870 – April 9, 1952) was an American newspaperwoman. She was born in 1870, and entered the newspaper industry in the late 1890s. Hammer founded several newspapers, the most prominent being the Casa Grande Dispatch. Hammer has been inducted into both the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame and the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame in 1983.

Early life Angela Hutchinson was born to William Tallentyre and Sarah (née O'Higgins) Hutchinson on November 30, 1870, in Virginia City, Nevada. As William was a mine engineer operating stamp mills, the family frequently moved around. As mines dried up and after Angela's brother Joseph, the only boy in the family, died in a tragic accident, William went to Arizona looking for new opportunities. In 1879, he settled in Picket Post, where he worked as a blacksmith. In 1881, Sarah and their youngest child, Monica, joined him. Angela and her other three sisters lived at a convent in Virginia City. From 1893 to 1894, she taught at Gila Bend, Arizona. However, she learned that the list of advertisers and subscribers were inflated, making the paper less valuable. She was able to make the paper prosper by using a bartering system as payment for ads and copies of the paper. Each town had its own front page attached to the regular issue of the Miner.

Hammer worked to improve Wickenburg's reputation. The town held a cleanup day, and Hammer used her newspaper to help create a town library.

In 1913, in order to better assist Ted Healey with publishing the Casa Grande Bulletin, she moved the plant from Congress Junction to Casa Grande. The two argued over a water rights issue, disrupting their partnership. Hammer learned that Healey was making derogatory remarks about her ability to run a newspaper and had plans to steal her newspaper equipment. Overnight, she and her sons hid the printing press in a horse barn, leaving the plant empty except for the subscription list that Healey had brought into the partnership for his half of the business. On January 1, 1914, Hammer founded the Casa Grande Dispatch, housed in the barn.

In 1938, Hammer received an appointment to the Arizona State Board of Social Security and Welfare by Rawghlie Clement Stanford. She remained in this position until 1943.

Death and legacy Hammer died on April 9, 1952 in Phoenix.

In 1965, Hammer was the first woman inducted into the Arizona Newspapers Hall of Fame. In 1983 Hammer was inducted into The Arizona Women's Hall of Fame.

In the 1940s, Hammer began writing her memoirs. Though she never published them, in 2005, her granddaughter, Betty Hammer Joy, published a biography of Hammer based on the memoirs.