Reconstructing journalism history is as important for contemporary mass communication professionals as it is for scholars and their students because looking at the past from a minority standpoint--in this case women circa the turn of the century--presents social issues which form the background of controversies going on today, such as the argument over abortion. A list of guidelines for achieving more culture-based journalism histories is presented. These include not just recognizing stereotyping and trivialization of women and their activities, but also determining both male management's and female journalists' attitudes toward women; being aware that issues which were segregated to the women's pages of newspapers should be redefined in terms of their meaning and impact on society, both ours and in the past, so that scholars can move away from a front page definition of news; selecting a geographical sample of source material, not just status-based publications such as the "New York Times," and giving alternative publications more importance as source material. Used as an example is press coverage of the 1906 General Federation of Women's Clubs meeting in St. Paul, Minn. The GFWC had a dynamic president, Sarah Platt Decker, who was sophisticated in her view of the press and its role in helping the club movement to grow and to achieve social reforms. Pursuing minority topics in journalism's history should not replace "mainstream" media research. However, the value of such minority focus may diminish in conservative times such as the present and so the rigor and the importance of such scholarly effort must be valued and protected. (Author)