Schoonover, Jean

Jean Way Schoonover (1920–) was president of Dudley-Anderson-Yutzy (D-A-Y), the first major public relations firm in New York City to be owned and managed by women.

D-A-Y traces its history to its founding by Pendleton Dudley in 1909. Schoonover and her sister Barbara Hunter purchased the firm from the original partners in 1970. It was acquired by Ogilvy & Mather in 1983.

Schoonover grew up in Westport on Lake Champlain, New York. She graduated with a B.A. from Cornell University in 1941, majoring in English and education. Her first jobs were as an English teacher and librarian at Castleton Union School in Hudson, New York, from 1941 to 1943.

Schoonover moved to New York City in 1943 in hopes of finding a job as a newspaper reporter. She worked as a ticket seller at Penn Station until she was finally hired as a reporter for Food Field Reporter, a biweekly trade paper for food industry executives. Schoonover interviewed Clarence Birdseye, who had sold his frozen food business to General Foods. Her story was noticed by George Anderson, a partner at D-A-Y, who hired Schoonover as an account executive in 1949.

Schoonover and Hunter purchased D-A-Y when it was ranked 15th among national public relations companies. They incorporated the company, with Schoonover as president and Hunter as executive vice president. When Schoonover signed the first paychecks, she discovered that the male executives were making $25,000 a year while she and Hunter were making $18,000. Later, Schoonover became chairman and CEO and Hunter became president of D-A-Y.

D-A-Y had the first home economics department and test kitchen in the agency business, with a staff of home economists developing recipes for food and wine accounts. Clients included Acécent International, Florida Citrus Commission, Gelatine, Nestle Co., SuCrest Corporate, Taylor Wine Co., United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, Wash'n Dri, and Canaan Products, Inc.

Under the leadership of Schoonover, D-A-Y won a number of Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvil awards. On a budget of $25,000, D-A-Y handled the publicity for the bicentennial reenactment of the capture of Fort Ticonderoga from the British.

D-A-Y pulled off the public relations triumph of 1983 with the 100th birthday party for the Brooklyn Bridge. Over 2 million New Yorkers and tourists came out for the eight-block-long parade, and 1,200 journalists reported on the story around the world.

After a botulism incident occurred, D-A-Y helped the Tuna Research Foundation with counsel on acting responsibly and making changes to maintain customer confidence and product loyalty, containing the crisis that could have destroyed sales.

D-A-Y clients received help with the women's market through programs on Women as Economic Equals, in cooperation with Ladies' Home Journal and a credit card company. D-A-Y assisted AT&T with a conference titled Women in the Workforce.

Upon selling D-A-Y to Ogilvy & Mather in 1983, Schoonover managed D-A-Y, which eventually folded into O&M public relations offices, with offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles. In 1988 Schoonover became vice chairman of the Ogilvy & Mather Public Relations Group and a senior vice president of Ogilvy & Mather U.S.

...