Irene Kuhn papers, 1919-2000

Irene Corbally Kuhn was born in New York City in 1900. She attended Marymount College and received a fellowship to Columbia University. In 1919, she began her career as a journalist with the Syracuse Herald and the New York Daily News. From there she went to Paris where she was fashion editor for the Paris edition of the Chicago Tribune. In 1922 she moved to Shanghai where she became one of the first women foreign correspondents in China. She wrote for the China Press, an American newspaper. In China she met and married Bert Kuhn. A year later, in 1923, they moved to Hawaii where they had a daughter, Rene Kuhn, before returning to China. During this time, Irene Kuhn was a correspondent for the International News Service. Bert Kuhn died suddenly in 1926, while Irene Kuhn was on leave in Canada with their daughter.

She moved to New York City where she was a feature writer for The Daily News. In 1929 she returned to Hawaii to work for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. She then went to Hollywood for two and a half years to work on movie scripts for several film corporations. She moved back to New York and worked for the “New York World Telegram” and was managing editor of “The New York Woman.” In 1939 Kuhn wrote her memoirs in a book titled, "Assigned to Adventure." During the same year she helped found the Overseas Press Club of America.

Kuhn worked for NBC from 1940-1949, working as a war correspondent in the China-Burma-India Theater. Her radio broadcasts included programs such as, "Irene Kuhn's Feature Page," and later, "The Kuhns," which she hosted with her daughter, Rene Kuhn Bryant. In the 1950s, she wrote several articles about communism and socialism in America for publications such as “The American Legion” and “American Mercury”. In 1953 she co-authored the book, “The Enemy Within” with Raymond J. de Jaegher. She wrote a syndicated column, "It's My Opinion," from 1953-1969. She continued writing articles and columns throughout the 1970s and 1980s, publishing in magazines such as “Gourmet” and “Travel.” Irene Kuhn died in 1995.