By FRANK FEE
School of Journalism and Mass Communication

CHAPEL HILL --- Dr. Margaret A. Blanchard, an outstanding media historian, teacher and First Amendment scholar on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty, died May 25 at her home in Hillsborough, N.C., after a long illness.

Blanchard, 60, was a William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor in the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where she had taught since 1974.

Dr. Richard Cole, school dean, called Blanchard "a giant in the field of freedom of expression, respected internationally. She talked softly and smiled, but her books sang out the rights of individuals and the press against restrictions.

"In addition to her own scholarship, she nurtured scores of doctoral and master’s students who are now outstanding professors and journalists across the United States and in other countries," Cole said.

Blanchard’s 1992 book "Revolutionary Sparks: Freedom of Expression in Modern America" was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in history. She wrote two other books, "Freedom of Expression in the United States" and "Exporting the First Amendment: The Press-Government Crusade of 1945-1952." She was editor of the "Mass Media History Encyclopedia," which the New York Public Library listed as one of the 20 best reference books of 1999. In addition, Blanchard wrote more than 50 scholarly articles, chapters and other publications.

She taught media history, freedom of expression and various professional skills courses in the school and was affectionately known as "Ma Blanchard" by her students, who called themselves "Peggy’s people." In 1999 and 2000, she won Favorite Faculty awards from the senior class, General Alumni Association and Division of Student Affairs, and she received the school’s David Brinkley Teaching Excellence Award in 1998.

Although she had entered the university’s phased retirement program, she continued to advise a number of doctoral students.

Dr. David A. Copeland, a former advisee who is now on the communications faculty at Elon University, said Blanchard "cannot be replaced, but she will always be remembered for her unselfish giving of her time, talents and concern to others."

A staunch supporter of press freedom, Blanchard received the N.C. Press Association’s William C. Lassiter First Amendment Award in 1996. The next year she won the Frank Luther Mott-Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award for her book "Exporting the First Amendment."

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s (AEJMC) Committee on the Status of Women named Blanchard one of the top women communication scholars. At the time of her death, she was book review editor of AEJMC’s Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly.

"She leaves big gap in American journalism education," said Dr. John Adams, dean emeritus of the school. "Her work in the field of journalism history, particularly in the First Amendment area, evolved to the point that she became one of the nation’s pre-eminent researchers, and her books were recognized as tops in her field."

In 2002, Blanchard became only the sixth person to receive the American Journalism Historians Association’s (AJHA) highest honor, the Sydney Kobre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism History. The following year, the group named its annual award for the outstanding media history dissertation the Margaret A. Blanchard Dissertation Award. Blanchard was AJHA president in 1988.

"Her high standards and devotion inspired a generation of young scholars," said Dr. John Ferré, current AJHA president. "A lot of the talent in the field today is directly traceable to her personal influence."

Blanchard was a reporter for the Palm Beach Post-Times in West Palm Beach, Fla., from 1963 to 1965. She was a reporter at the Miami Herald from 1966 to 1969 and woman’s editor of the paper’s Broward County edition from 1966 to 1968. She worked in public relations in various positions from 1969 to 1971.

Born in Schenectady, N.Y., Blanchard received an associate’s degree in 1963 from Palm Beach Junior College, a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1965 from the University of Florida, a master’s in communications in 1970 from Florida, and a doctorate in history in 1981 from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Professor John Semonche, Blanchard’s dissertation adviser, said, "She surpassed her mentor — to my delight."

"Peggy was my most gifted Ph.D. student," Semonche said. "In making the transition from newspaper copy to scholarly work, she was able to take the criticism of her written work and generalize it, something very few, even very able students, are able to do."

At the time of her death, Blanchard and Semonche were working on a book to be called "Speak No Evil: Sin, Sex, and Free Speech from Comstock to Helms."

A member of Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, Blanchard edited a book on the church’s history and edited the Sunday church bulletins before printing.

Survivors include her parents, Earl C. and Gladys M. Blanchard of Graham, N.C.; a brother, Stephen Blanchard and his wife, Sherilyn, of Ticonderoga, N.Y.; three nephews, Joshua Blanchard of Atlanta, Ga., Timothy Blanchard of Fort Gordon, Ga., and Jonathan Blanchard of Ticonderoga; two aunts, Jennie Hickok of Schenectady and Rachel Phillips of Ballston Lake, N.Y.; and an uncle, Robert Hickok Jr. of Potomac, Md. Her sister, Deborah Blanchard, died in 1959.

A fund in Blanchard’s name has been started in the school, and checks may be sent to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Campus Box 3365, UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3365. Checks may be made out to the Blanchard Fund or to the school (with "Blanchard Fund" on the memo line).

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