Examining the Meaning of ‘Mrs.’

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To us, she has always been Amelia Earhart, but there was a time when The New York Times called her Mrs. Putnam in newspaper articles, linking her identity to that of her husband, George. She wasn’t the only one: Frida Kahlo was sometimes called Mrs. Diego Rivera; Coretta Scott King was Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr.; and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was Mrs. John F. Kennedy.

The practice of referring to a married woman — even a famous one — by her husband’s name wasn’t unique to The Times. Much of society often referred — and sometimes still refers — to women this way. It was not until 1986 — after a vociferous debate — that The Times began using the less polarizing title “Ms.”

This year, a team of reporters and editors at The Times decided to take a deeper look at honorifics with a project called the Mrs. Files, which will appear online on Friday and in print this Sunday, with the potential for additional installments. In examining history with a contemporary lens, we asked: What do honorifics mean for us as a society? And how do they help women shape their identity in the world?

Jennifer Schuessler, a Culture reporter, writes about what sharing a name meant for the partnership of the artists and designers Charles and Ray Eames, who were often referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Eames. Kathleen Massara, an editor on the Culture desk, explores how queer women interpret “Mrs.” when considering terms like “wife” and “marriage.” Another essay examines how even when we put less emphasis on “Mrs.,” pop culture still treats marriage like a prize. We also asked poets to write about these themes, and showed them examples from The Times’s card catalog for inspiration. And Anika Burgess, our photo editor, illustrated the package with stunning photographs from our archives.

We also set out to learn about the history of honorifics and spoke with several gender historians. Some thought of “Mrs.” as an erasure of a woman’s identity.