Peggy Peterman

Peggy Mitchell Peterman (née Mitchell; ca. 1936 – August 19, 2004) was an African American journalist and columnist at the St. Petersburg Times in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. She was known for initiating the integration of the news that had previously been on a page devoted to blacks throughout the newspaper. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award both from the National Association of Black Journalists and the International Women's Media Foundation in 1999.

Personal Peggy Mitchell was born . She was the daughter of William P. Mitchell, a civil rights activist and was raised in Tuskegee, Alabama. Peggy Peterman died at the age of 67 on August 19, 2004, at Bayfront Medical Center, St. Petersburg, as a result of heart disease. Soon after, Peggy wrote a 14-page letter to the executive editor saying that this page should be terminated. By 1994, Peterman wrote columns conveying the experiences of black Americans. "My ambition as a journalist was always to help the public understand who and what the African-American family and culture was all about." Peterman received hateful letters for trying to stop the discrimination towards blacks. In her articles, she mainly wrote about what was close to her heart - social and children's issues - until her retirement in 1996. After her retirement, Peterman became a minister. During her career, she wrote about such issues as racially motivated attacks on youth to working on the improvement of St. Petersburg's community. She covered black issues with an approach that most journalists did not. Peterman said she could look at a community known to many as a low-income neighborhood in St. Petersburg, and report about it as a place that many people would call their home. Later, she told members of the National Association of Black Journalists, "You're almost extinct. The conservative voice is the one they're looking for." She was urging them to remain true to conveying the black perspective as she and others had done.

Impact In 1997, the Times made the Peggy Mitchell Peterman scholarship, that is awarded to a journalism student at Florida A&M University every year. The award includes an internship at the paper and $5,000.