By Alejandro Alvarez de Alva

Before starting the Minnesota Women’s Press, Mollie Hoben learned the importance of community newspapers from her time at the Park Bugle.

Hoben joined the Bugle after she moved to St. Anthony Park 46 years ago. She volunteered as a writer and worked as an editor for two and a half years at a time when there were very few women journalists.

Hoben said her role as Bugle editor was to convey every month a picture, voices and information that people needed to know about the neighborhood.

Hoben, now 80, said the Bugle taught her that a community newspaper can impact people.

“The newspaper maintains connections in the community and encourages people to do things that are interesting,” Hoben said. “There’s so many stories, even in a small neighborhood like this, that people may not know, but are happy to know.”

Hoben dedicated the first part of her career—some 15 years—to teaching. When she was ready to take a break from the classroom, she turned to journalism and went to work for the Park Bugle in 1980.

One of the biggest stories Mollie remembers covering was about the impact a tornado had when it hit St. Anthony Park in 1984. Although the tornado didn’t destroy houses, it caused a lot of damage to the neighborhood, she said.

 “We went around and took pictures and published a special edition, kind of breaking news that took us three days to get out,” Hoben recalled. “It was important information for people.”

Despite having a teaching degree, her interest in journalism dates back to high school. She was actually encouraged by her mentor in high school to pursue a degree in journalism, but Hoben initially opted to take a different career path because she was discouraged there were so few women journalists.

While Hoben worked at the Bugle, she attended the University of Minnesota and took classes in feminist and literature studies. During that time, she realized there was a lack of women’s voices in newspapers.

After two and a half years working as the Bugle editor, Hoben left to start the Minnesota Women’s Press with Glenda Martin.

Hoben said she has great memories of the Bugle.

“I am proud of the work I did there and I am thankful for my time at the Bugle.”

Hoben and Martin started the Minnesota Women’s Press as a biweekly newspaper to promote women’s words, ideas, values and stories, according to Hoben.

Hoben said the Minnesota Women’s Press newspaper also helped people get to know other women in the community.

“For 30 years, there would be a one-page main news story and next to it there would be a profile of a woman,” Hoben said. “The profiles wouldn’t be about famous women. We would do a profile about any women we wanted, to prove that every woman has a story.”

The Minnesota Women’s Press was sold to Mikki Morrissette six years ago, but Hoben and Martin decided to keep a section called BookWomen, a magazine created 29 years ago to publish different women’s stories and their work.

Hoben said the new owners are now set to take over Book Women. “Once in a while, I might write something for the BookWomen magazine, but we are kind of done,” Hoben said. “We will be consultants for the new people; there’s a lot of stuff they need to learn.” The BookWomen is a quarterly magazine and currently has 28 volumes. Recently, Hoben published a story on her 80-mile walk through St. Paul in anticipation of her 80th birthday. 

Alejandro Alvarez de Alva is a University of Minnesota journalism student and an intern reporter for the Bugle.