Dorothy Hosmer

Dorothy Hosmer (1911–2008) was an American photographer and travel writer, known as the first woman freelance contributor to the National Geographic magazine. During a career that extended from the 1930s through the 1940s, she published her work in geographic and travel magazines as well as news media and books.

Born in Wisconsin, she grew up in Illinois, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey as her father moved his architectural practice from one location to another. In 1936 she made a spur-of-the-moment decision to travel by bicycle through central and southern Europe with an eye to preparing illustrated articles about her encounters along the way. In 1938 National Geographic published one of her articles, and over the next few years published three more. The first three covered her travels in Poland, Romania, and the western parts of Ukraine that were then in Romania. The last of them, which appeared four months before the United States entered World War II, covered her travels in the Aegean Islands of the Eastern Mediterranean. She continued to publish photos and articles while living in Mexico and Guatemala during the years of the war and its aftermath. Hosmer's career as a photographer and travel writer ended soon after her marriage in 1949. Late in life she told an interviewer that she still knew five languages, including Esperanto, and recalled about half the Italian in which she had previously known.

Education

Hosmer completed primary school in Wilmette, Illinois. She was in Sarasota, Florida, in 1929, when she graduated from high school. The following year she lived in Houston, Texas, attending Rice Institute (later Rice University) and in 1931 she completed the secretarial course at the Scudder School in Manhattan.