First Black Woman Hired At Washington Post Donates $10K To Laid Off Workers

Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first Black woman hired at "The Washington Post," is among the top contributors to a GoFundMe campaign created to support recently laid-off WaPo staffers.

Retired journalist Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first Black woman hired at The Washington Post, is among the top contributors to a GoFundMe campaign created to support recently laid-off members of the Washington Post Guild.

After learning about the newspaper’s mass layoffs in February, Gilliam quickly donated $10,000 to the GoFundMe, Washingtonian reports.

Her contribution joins two other $10,000 donations—the largest gifts for the fundraiser—coming from journalist Kara Swisher and an anonymous donor.

In early February, The Washington Post drew backlash after laying off about one-third of its workforce, one of the largest reductions in the paper’s history. Since the cuts, which shuttered sections and programs across the newsroom, a GoFundMe campaign for Guild members has raised nearly $594,000.

“It made me very sad, even upset, because I know many people read the Post and depend on the Post, and this certainly is one of those times when we need some balance in the information that’s available,” Gilliam, 89, said of the layoffs.

The retired journalist has kept The Washington Post close to her heart since becoming the paper’s first Black woman reporter in 1961. Gilliam, 89, worked there from 1961 to 1965 before leaving to freelance while raising her three children. She returned in 1972 as an assistant editor in the Style section and remained until retiring in 2003.

Her 2019 memoir, Trailblazer, introduced a new generation of journalists to her efforts to diversify American newsrooms.

After learning about the recent layoffs, Gilliam said she felt compelled to help, explaining she made the donation because she was “inspired by the people who work at the paper who continue to make a significant difference in the city.”

Having faced discrimination throughout her newsroom career, Gilliam made it her mission to expand opportunities in journalism. In 1977, she helped establish the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education to train reporters and push for greater diversity in American media. She also helped shape the next generation of reporters by launching the Young Journalists Development Program at The Washington Post, mentoring local high school students for nearly two decades.

But Gilliam said her lifelong goal of making the media “look more like America” has faced setbacks in recent years. Following the Trump administration’s strong push against DEI efforts, newsroom diversity efforts have slowed, and the Post‘s layoffs disproportionately impacted journalists of color, according to the Washington Post Guild.

Gilliam called the shift in newsroom demographics “very, very disappointing,” adding that it’s vital for readers to encounter a range of diverse perspectives. After a more than 50-year career that began during the Civil Rights movement, Gilliam said the current moment feels “particularly alarming.”

She remains steadfast in her belief in the need for activism in the face of adversity.

“It’s important for me not to let the things that are happening stop me from doing those things that I know are correct, those things that are positive, those things that can help,” she said. “That’s why I’m glad I was able to make a reasonable, monetary contribution.”