Dunnigan was the first black female correspondent for Congress and the White House. Although she originally wanted to be a teacher and got a degree in education, journalism appealed to her more, and she wrote as much as she could, especially for the Associated Negro Press. The ANP was a network of news of interest to African-Americans, and she did stories on topics ranging from racism to high-society affairs. Eventually, she became the Chief of the Washington Bureau for the ANP.
In 1946, the editor of the Chicago Defender offered her a job as a Washington correspondent, but paid her much less than her male peers because he didn't trust her work. But Dunnigan proved herself, and besides getting herself accredited as an official correspondent for Congress, she was instrumental in getting the Capitol to admit other black reporters. With her own money, she followed and reported on President Truman as he travelled the country campaigning for re-election. She learned to ask hard questions, and became well-known among other Washington correspondents. In 1951, she was the first woman to be named the best African-American reporter in Washington.Her beat not only covered Congress and the White House, but also the Supreme Court, the State Department, and other legislative departments.
But Dunnigan experienced a lot of racism while she covered presidents and national politics. She sat through Congressional hearings where blacks were referred to as "niggers," was barred from covering a speech by President Eisenhower in a certain theater, and had to sit with the servants to cover Senator Taft's funeral. She was such a hard-hitting reporter that Eisenhower refused to call on her to ask questions during press conferences, because he was afraid to be embarassed by her difficult questions, which often involved racial issues. The White House asked her to submit her questions to them beforehand, but Dunnigan refused, since no other reporter had to do that. But once President Kennedy took office, he ended the practice of ignoring Dunnigan, and honestly answered her questions about discrimination and segragation. Besides writing about politics, she also worked for President Johnson's Youth Council, writing speeches for their leaders and reporting on their work.
Dunnigan paid a lot of attention to Congress and the President, always looking out for discrimination against African-Americans. She especially focused on Jim Crow laws, which segregated whites and blacks in public areas. Watch a presidential press conference on TV, and see if the President calls on non-white reporters equally. See if the questions they ask involve topics such as affirmative action (a practice that helps women and minorities get jobs) or other racial issues. Do white reporters ask these questions too? Do women reporters ask more questions about discrimination against women? See if the reporter's race or gender influences what kinds of questions they ask the President.