Kickstarter

Help finance a sculpture of legendary journalist and Arab American Helen Thomas by sculptor and former White House photojournalist Susan Tinsley McElhinney to be displayed at the Arab American National Museum.

Helen Thomas was born to Lebanese immigrant parents in Winchester, Kentucky and raised in Detroit, Michigan, where she attended public schools and graduated from Wayne State University. She launched her journalism career as a copy girl for the Washington Daily News and joined wire service United Press International (UPI) in 1943. Thomas took on the White House beat for UPI as President John F. Kennedy took office in 1961; she remained with UPI until 2000, when she became a columnist for Hearst Newspapers. Thomas has been “first woman to…” on many occasions. Thomas is an honorary Member of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, where one of her vintage typewriters is on display in the permanent Making an Impact exhibit.

Susan Tinsley McElhinney is an Arlington, Virginia-based sculptor whose private commissions in clay and bronze may be found in homes and formal gardens throughout the U.S. She was a rare female photographer at Newsweek magazine in the 1970s, covering the White House, Capitol Hill and presidential travels and currently works as photo editor for the National Wildlife Federation. McElhinney attended The Maryland Institute College of Art &The Corcoran School of Art.