Sylvia Porter is considered a strong, independent woman and a key figure in the women’s rights movement of the 1960s — yet people rarely know her name today. Tracy Lucht, assistant professor in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, has written a book about Porter that receives broad media attention.

“I discovered Porter when I was in graduate school researching the way women were portrayed in news magazines after World War II,” Lucht said. “One book mentioned that Sylvia Porter ‘tidied up the world of statistics like a housewife cleaning up her husband’s den.’ That really intrigued me.”

Porter was the first person to write a personal finance column, at first under the initials S.F. Porter to hide the fact she was a woman.

“The Associated Press wouldn’t hire her, so it was very difficult for her to get a job,” Lucht said. “It was common believe that readers wouldn’t trust information that came from women.”

Eventually Porter’s articles received broader attention and became very popular with readers.

“They really liked the fact that she made economics understandable to average people,” Lucht said.

After a while, Porter decided to promote the fact that she was a woman.

“She started publishing under her full byline,” Lucht said. “That was something that people hadn’t seen before — a woman writing about finances.”

Lucht said Sylvia Porter started to use the growing media attention to her advantage. Headlines called her “Super Sylvia” and she was portrayed as a strong sassy woman. That came with a disadvantage though, Lucht said.

“In my book, I also had to deal with the fact that she wasn’t the most ethical person, especially later in her career,” Lucht said. “She started using ghostwriters and ended up not crediting them for their work.”

Furthermore, Lucht said Porter decided she wanted to be a brand and market herself.

“As a result, her content became a lot more simplified and much more streamlined, which was a departure from her early career choices.”

For Lucht, the book, titled “Sylvia Porter: America’s Original Personal Finance Columnist,” became more than just a research project.

“It was hard work that took many years for me to finish, but it was so much fun, because it was such a good story to tell,” Lucht said.

She said that it was hard for her to put her work out there, because she spent so much time working on it.

“The feedback has been very positive though, which is very gratifying for me,” Lucht said. 

Lucht said that there is some valid criticism people could make.

“I didn’t go all too far into Porter’s personal life, partly because I wasn’t interested in that, but also because it was very hard to find personal information about Sylvia Porter,” Lucht said. 

Lucht’s book has attracted national attention. Aside from various reviews, Michael Martin, of “Tell Me More,” will do an interview with Lucht on National Public Radio on Dec. 2.

“Many books get published each year, and no one even notices, so I am especially grateful that my book is getting so popular now,” Lucht said. “But it’s not like I’m going to need an agent soon. Not yet.”

Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School, said he nominated it for a prestigious prize in their discipline.

“I have read many journalism biographies, but none in recent memory captures the person, the time and the legacy of a woman’s empowerment through her very own brand,” Bugeja said.

He said that he was especially proud of her accomplishment and excited by the reviews and attention Lucht is receiving.

Lucht did a book talk with her journalism class two weeks ago. Lynnely Parker, senior in apparel, merchandising and design, said she enjoyed the passion Lucht had about her book and her research.

“I thought it was particularly interesting when she talked about how it’s so easy but also so dangerous to fall in love with your subject,” Parker said. “That’s when you start to write more for the subject rather than your audience and can become skewed or biased regarding the truth.”

Parker said she hasn’t read the book itself yet.

“But hearing how enthusiastic professor Lucht is about it made me curious to read about it,” Parker said. 

Lucht said her book talk gave her the opportunity to use her book as a good example of why Wikipedia can’t be trusted as a source of information.

“Silvia Porter has a Wikipedia page that is full of mistakes,” Lucht said. “I haven’t corrected them, so the false information about Porter is still out there.”

After all the interviews Lucht has given, she said there is still one question that she wished had been asked more — should Sylvia Porter be a role model for today’s students?

“As far as the earlier part of her career goes, I’d definitely say yes,” Lucht said. “People starting out in the media business today should find something that few other people have tackled before and specialize in it. The message is be unique.”