Martha KEARNEY Visits Ellis All the Way From England
BBC journalist and broadcaster Martha KEARNEY visited the Ellis campus on November 3, 2016. The main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news program The World at One, Kearney was in Pittsburgh to work on a piece about the 2016 presidential election. She was particularly interested in exploring the region’s diverse constituencies, “I wanted to see how the presidential race was playing out in western Pennsylvania. It was very interesting to go to a Hillary Clinton rally in Pittsburgh, but then to visit smaller towns where a number of people were supporting Donald Trump.”
Born in Dublin, Ireland, Kearney grew up in an academic environment; her father, the historian Hugh Kearney, taught first at Sussex and later at University of Edinburgh. Kearney came to Ellis during her third grade year from 1966–1967 when her father was on sabbatical at the University of Pittsburgh.In an interview by Jonathan Sale for The Independent, she recalled the welcoming environment and superb academics, “I remember being terrified of arithmetic and fractions. [… but Ellis] was a lovely school with imaginative teaching. On my last day there, I was sent on an errand and when I came back there was a large cake, and presents, on my desk.”
The Ellis School’s warm and welcoming environment felt like an embracing home for the new girl from Dublin. Kearney remembers, “I was made to feel so welcome by all of the girls in my class. I remember visiting their homes for birthday parties where the presents were much more lavish than I was used to back home! I can also remember building a miniature log cabin and a school play in which I played a Bessemer burner––it was the story of steel. One girl appeared in a gigantic Campbells soup tin which I remember being amazed by. We visited a steel plant, the Heinz factory and a bakery. I was also baffled by Valentine's Day because in the United Kingdom only adults exchange cards and they are always very romantic.”
Kearney was struck by the familiarity of the energy on campus that she recalled from fifty years ago. Kearney said, “There seemed to be the same warm friendly atmosphere that I recall so well from Ellis with groups of excited chatting girls everywhere […] I was pleased to see that some of the buildings were the same as I remember. In particular, it was great to stand on the stage and remember the production of Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britten in which I had a small non-singing role as the sun.”
Joining a long tradition of Ellis students who have used their gifts for great artistic and social achievements, Kearney was nominated for a BAFTA award for her coverage of the Northern Ireland Peace Process in 1998. She was nominated, along with Jenni Murray, 2004 TRIC radio presenter of the year, and won a Sony bronze award for a program on child poverty. Kearney is also an example of the Ellis legacy of lifelong learners with diverse interests that include the environment. Kearney developed a passion for bees, after being married in a cottage named “Beehive.” She became a beekeeper and presented The Wonder of Bees on BBC Radio 4 about the worldwide disappearance of bees in 2014. Her love of reading has continued as well; she has chaired and judged many writing competitions, including the women-only Orange Prize for Fiction and the Man Booker prize. In 2015, she presented The Secret World of Lewis Carroll on BBC Radio 2.
Martha Kearney’s daily broadcast can be heard and downloaded online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio.
Envision Her at Ellis
If you're interested in exploring Ellis for your daughter, let's connect! Request information about enrollment, attend one of our upcoming events, or hear about Ellis from those who know it best: our students.
