By Ryan Murphy
The Working Press
The Society of Professional Journalists’ Legal Defense Fund raised nearly $2,000 from a silent auction, according to a Working Press tally.
Bids on items, including historic newspapers, T-shirts and journalism organization memberships, ranged as high as $225 for a two-night stay at the Harbor Beach Marriott. Four of the more than 70 lots received no bids.
Auction items are on display at the Legal Defense Fund silent auction.
Yasmeen Smalley/The Working Press
Alessandra Malito, president of the student chapter at Stony Brook University in New York, walked away as one of the auction’s big winners.
She’s taking home a collection of original Washington Post and Evening Star front pages about the Apollo 8 and 11 moon missions for just $46.
“It’s a gift for my dad. He’s a really big space enthusiast,” Malito said. Her father frequently told her stories about Apollo 11 when she was a girl.
That manned space flight to the moon happened 22 years before she was born.
“I’ve never participated in a silent auction,” the 21-year-old said. “I’ve never won anything.”
Attendees will get another chance to bid on seven high-profile lots when the defense fund holds its live auction on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Available items include a director’s chair signed by The Washington Post staff members who uncovered the Watergate scandal, a coaching session with Pulitzer Prize winner Lane DeGregory and a last-minute addition — a baseball autographed by notable Negro League baseball players, including John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil and Alfred “Slick” Surratt.