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Elinor Langton-Boyle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Elinor Alice Veilleux Langton-Boyle (died 13 July 1946), also known as Ma Boyle, was a Hawaiian businesswoman and journalist, who operated the Paradise of the Pacific magazine from 1902 to 1944.[1]

Life and career

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Elinor Boyle was born in Irasburg, Vermont, and came to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1900.[2] While the magazine Paradise of the Pacific had been founded by King Kalākaua in 1888,[3] Boyle-Langton and her husband, William Langton, took ownership and began publishing the paper four years after arrival.[2] Even after the death of her husband in 1910, and during her second marriage to James S. Boyle, she continued to publish the paper until health issues (sustained from a fall[3]) required she stop in 1944.[2] After long serving as its proprietor,[4] she sold the magazine to fourteen of its employees.[3] Her husband died in 1945, and she died on 13 July 1946.[5] In death, the Honolulu Sunday Advertiser described her as kamaʻāina,[5] literally meaning a child of the land.[6]

As the owner of the magazine, it circulated widely both inside and outside of Hawaii.[7] Described by a contemporary of hers, Maile Kearns, as a "pioneer" in color reproductions of artwork for magazines, she routinely solicited artists to create color covers for the magazine (often reproductions) and selected them herself: For Kearns, this was a defining element of Boyle-Langton's ownership of the magazine.[7] Under her leadership, the magazine was largely full of color, and it devoted significant attention to topics relevant to Hawaii.[8]

At one point, Paradise of the Pacific may have been among the largest printing plants owned and run by a woman in the United States.[9]

References

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Citations

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Bibliography

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  • Belknap, Jazz (28 January 1967). "When Ma boiled over". Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
  • Bremer, Leah L.; Mandle, Lisa; Trauernicht, Clay; Pascua, Puaʻala; McMillen, Heather L.; Burnett, Kimberly; Wada, Christopher A.; Kurashima, Natalie; Quazi, Shimona A.; Giambelluca, Thomas; Chock, Pia; Ticktin, Tamara (2018). "Bringing multiple values to the table: Assessing future land-use and climate change in North Kona, Hawaiʻi". Ecology and Society. 23 (1). doi:10.5751/ES-09936-230133.
  • Kearns, Maile (13 October 1963). "An old-time personality... 'Ma' Boyle". Sunday Star-Bulletin & Advertiser.
  • "Brevities". Hilo Daily Tribune. 12 October 1917.
  • "Christmas number of the Paradise". Honolulu Advertiser. 1 December 1934.
  • "Ma Boyle". Honolulu Advertiser. 18 July 1946.
  • "Women in business". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 23 April 1938.
  • "Paradise Pacific magazine, plant sold to workers". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 31 March 1944.
  • "'Ma' Langton Boyle dies; made 'Paradise of the Pacific' famous". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 15 July 1946.
  • "Funeral announcements". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 17 July 1946.
  • "Elinor Boyle, kamaaina, dies at home". Honolulu Sunday Advertiser. 14 July 1946.