Washington DC

She was the first Black woman accredited to cover Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, and the State Department, and the first Black woman to join the Women's National Press Club. She interviewed the first Black Congressional page and the first Black secretary in the White House; she witnessed the first Black officer join the Capitol Police Force, the swearing-in of the first Black Senator since Reconstruction, and the graduation of the first Black midshipman from the Naval Academy. However, despite her impressive credentials, Dunnigan frequently faced discrimination while on the job. During a 1948 fundraising dinner, the Democratic National Committee refused to include Dunnigan at the press table, and instead seated her among the janitors and mail clerks at the "colored employees" table. Dunnigan also encountered sexism—after being informed that the DC Boxing Commission refused to allow women to sit ringside and Griffith Stadium barred women from the press box, Dunnigan conducted a months-long battle to become Washington's first woman sportswriter.