Collection is open for research.
Donated to the Whitman College and Northwest Archives by Virginia Bryant Bedinger in 2000. The accession number associated with this donation is retro-0083.
Virginia Bryant Bedinger was born on January 27, 1921 to Grady and Connie Bryant in Walla Walla, Washington. Virginia graduated from Walla Walla High School and went to Whitman College in 1938. She continued her degree in Journalism from the University of Oregon from 1940 through 1943. Virginia met her husband Phyl Payne at Whitman and they were married in 1944, and later had a son, Kirby Payne. They moved to Brazil shortly after where Virginia worked as a journalist for Time Life and Phyl managed a hotel. They were later transferred to the Dominican Republic. Shortly after, Phyl and Virginia were divorced. She later met her second husband, Ben Bedinger, on a trip to Mexico. They married in 1961. Virginia continued to work as a journalist in Seattle, Washington and Austin, Texas until her retirement. Virginia was an avid golfer and world traveler. She died on February 14, 2013.
The Virginia Bryant Bedinger Scrapbook spans from 1938 through 1944. This scrapbook contains letters, programs, photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera related to student life at Whitman College and at the University of Oregon. Materials on Virginia Bedinger's summer jobs, travels, post-college employment, and engagement in these years are also included. This collection gives an insight into the life of a college-educated woman.