Sensational Press Exhibit

This exhibit offers a rare view of the changing and sometimes unpredictable newspaper coverage Mary Baker Eddy faced while gaining national fame and prominence as a publisher, preacher, writer, teacher, public speaker, and healer. The exhibit also highlights the motivations behind the global newspaper Eddy started at the age of 87, The Christian Science Monitor.

As with many well-known public figures, Mary Baker Eddy endured years of public scrutiny that most people would have found stressful and disheartening. Newspapers everywhere were writing stories about Eddy’s personal life, health, and habits. Some were accurate, but others were often wildly sensational or fictitious. In 1899, rumors spread that she was dead. The Boston Journal newspaper denied those claims with a headline that read, “I AM ALIVE! So Mrs. Eddy Says.”

Many people had lost trust in the press as reporting grew more slanted and sensationalized in an effort to increase sales. This “yellow journalism” was widespread during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1908, 87-year-old Eddy responded by starting The Christian Science Monitor newspaper and established its objective: “To injure no man, but to bless all mankind.”

Today, 100 years later, The Christian Science Monitor maintains its reputation as one of the most respected and fair-minded newspapers in the world. It still holds to the original mission Eddy established by reporting on major news events and stories from every corner of the globe with a solution-oriented perspective.

Many of the articles and items in the exhibit have never before been displayed.