Synopsis "Ain't It Awful"
"Ain't it Awful" was a favorite phrase of a Milbank matron who was known for her active role in the community grapevine. Phyllis Dolan Justice adopted that phrase as the title of her new column that appeared in print for the first time in the July 16, 1936, issue of the Grant County Review. The Review was a newspaper published in Milbank, South Dakota, and owned by Phyllis' father, William Dolan.Phyllis began collecting news for her father at the age of 11. She interviewed travelers at the train station, and reported on their comings and goings. She began writing "Ain't it Awful" just prior to transferring to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to study journalism. She had previously attended South Dakota State College in Brookings for two years.Phyllis continued the column once in college, and for the next 10 years, no matter where she roamed, she wrote the column for the Review. It was a time of change for the country, and Phyllis' columns reflect the times. From the first full-length Walt Disney picture, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," to presidential press conferences she attended, "Ain't it Awful" covered a wide range of topics. She wrote of gas rations and food coupons as well as the shortage of butter and sugar.Through her job at a Minneapolis newspaper she met many celebrities, and wrote about interviewing Judy Garland, James Cagney, Dick Powell and others. She spoke to famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera on a trip to Mexico. He was working on a huge mural in the National Palace in Mexico City, and he eagerly stopped painting to talk to an inquisitive Phyllis. Phyllis changed jobs several times from 1936 to 1946, and in-between her career shifts she landed back in Milbank to aid her father with the production of the Review. When residing in Milbank her columns often included funny mishaps of the residents of Grant County. When she resided elsewhere, she frequently ran into people from Grant County, and reported on their happenings in the column. For 10 years, Phyllis wandered around the country, enjoying her experiences and writing about them in her "Ain't it Awful" column. She continued to write the column after returning home to run the newspaper, but these early columns produce nostalgia for a simpler time in our country's history when patriotism was high, and everybody pulled together.
