Estate of Late Boston Globe Reporter Gloria Negri Continues Her Legacy with More Than $800k Gift
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org
The New England First Amendment Coalition recently received the largest gift in the organization’s history from the estate of Gloria Negri, the late trailblazing journalist at The Boston Globe.
The estate bequeathed $818,125 to the coalition for journalism education and programming.
NEFAC will be renaming its annual New England First Amendment Institute — an annual multi-day investigative journalism training program — after Negri in her honor.
Negri, who died in 2017, spent 53 years at the Globe working in several roles including columnist and foreign correspondent. In the words of her colleague Thomas Farragher, she was a “pioneering newspaper woman” who in her early days at the Globe regularly asked for assignments not traditionally given to women.
“She was whip-smart, funny, feisty, stubborn, loyal, deeply appreciative of any kindness to come her way, and wonderfully absent-minded,” recalled Farragher in a tribute to Negri. “She also was a poet at her keyboard. The woman could flat-out write. Lyrical.”
NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan called the bequest a “game-changer” for the coalition.
“Gloria was a dedicated journalist always seeking to report the truth, depth and complexity of each story she wrote,” Sullivan said. “Her legacy will now support others in New England who are doing the work she loved and passionately pursued throughout her lifetime.”
The bequest will be used to support and grow NEFAC’s current journalism education programs and services, such as the New England First Amendment Institute, NEFAC Mentors and 30 Minute Skills. It will also be used to create additional much-needed resources for journalists and newsrooms in the region.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.
Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.
Leadership Circle donors include the Rhode Island Foundation, The Boston Globe, Paul and Ann Sagan, and the Robertson Foundation. Major Supporters include Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Boston University, the Academy of New England Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation, Genie Gannett for the First Amendment Museum, Linda Pizzuti Henry, the Champa Charitable Foundation Fund, Connecticut Public and WBUR-Boston.