Mary C. Curtis

Mary Cecelia Curtis (born September 4, 1953) is an American journalist who has been a reporter and editor at major publications including The New York Times, Baltimore Sun, and the Arizona Daily Star. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Region IV National Association of Black Journalists in 2004. Curtis is now a columnist for Roll Call and a senior facilitator for The OpEd Project. She is known for her coverage of politics as it intersects with race and culture, and for being a pioneer and advocate for diversity in U.S. news media.

Early life

Curtis was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Thomas and Evelyn Curtis.

Several of her siblings and her mother were politically active. She credits her start in journalism to being around that activism: "Because I was around all that activity when I was very young and I was very encouraged to take part in those discussions, I feel as though I always was an observer and a journalist, in a way. I liked to observe," Curtis commented.

She graduated from Seton High School in 1971 where she was an editor for her school paper. She went on to Fordham University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in communications in 1975. She covered the politics and family of U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, and how their relationship shaped their politics.

In 2013, Curtis did an interview with The History Makers, a "digital repository for the black experience."

Personal life She is a wife and mother, and lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Awards and honors 2004 Green Eyeshade Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists 2005 Carmage Walls Prize for commentary from the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association 2006 Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University 2011 Kiplinger Fellow at the Scripps Journalism School Multiple honors from the Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications, most recently for the 2018 for her column in Roll Call Curtis was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Region IV National Association of Black Journalists in 2004.