Edith Kinney Gaylord was a small woman in stature who carried herself with an air of assured sophistication. She was quiet in voice and seemed modest or shy, but she was a giant in so many other ways. She was a gifted journalist and writer with a brilliant mind. She had compassion for others and willingly gave of her time and money to people and causes in which she believed. Her quiet philanthropy continues today through the Inasmuch Foundation, which benefits charitable, scientific and educational pursuits in Oklahoma and Colorado Springs, and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, which supports projects designed to improve the quality and ethical standards of journalism. 

Born in Oklahoma City on March 5, 1916, to Inez and E. K. Gaylord, she grew up in a newspaper family. She was the only woman on the general news staff at the Associated Press in New York in the summer of 1942. Edith covered first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, the first wife of any U.S. president to hold news conferences. In 1944, Edith was elected president of the Women's National Press Club. In that position, she also served as secretary of Mrs. Roosevelt's press conference committee and liaison between the President's wife and members of the press.

 

Beginning in the 1960s, Edith Gaylord quietly began supporting numerous community organizations and projects with her time and money. In 1982, she founded the Inasmuch Foundation as a vehicle for giving to education, the arts, health and human services, historic preservation and environmental concerns. She took the name from a biblical passage in Matthew where Christ said, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me." That same year, she established the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation to support projects to improve the quality and ethical standards of journalism in media. It reflected her lifelong devotion to journalistic excellence. On January 28, 2001, Edith Kinney Gaylord died at St. Anthony's Hospital in Oklahoma City, the same hospital where she was born 84 years earlier.