In 1922, she began her career as a
journalist with the
Charleston Gazette, a
West Virginia newspaper. In 1924 she moved to Atlanta as a
correspondent for that paper. She was affiliated with the
Atlanta Georgian, one of
William Randolph Hearst's
string of newspapers, Seydell was twice married. Her first marriage which lasted from 1910 to 1944 was to Paul Bernard Seydel, a Belgian chemist/scientist whom she met while studying at the Sorbonne. It was her first major story. She interviewed
Harold E. "Red" Grange, and was pictured doing his
hand reading, a technique she used to "break the ice" with an interview subject. During the Scopes trial, Seydell was sent a picture of a monkey's hand, and she was photographed comparing the hands of the Bible toting judge
John T. Raulston,
Clarence Darrow and
William Jennings Bryan to it. During her career, she interviewed
Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini in 1926, Other notable personages interviewed by her included (in alphabetical order): the wife of
Edvard Beneš,
George Cukor,
Ève Curie,
Marion Davies, and
Bette Davis. Other columns included
What Would You Do? (advice column from 1926 to 1931) renamed as
Mildred Seydell Says... in 1933, Other women's organizations in which she was active included: the
League of Women Voters, the League of American Pen Women (on March 13, 1931, after meeting with its national president, she was one of 15 Charter members of the Atlanta Branch), the
National Federation of Press Women, the
Pan American League, the Atlanta
Women's Chamber of Commerce; and the
Atlanta Woman's Club. From 1941-43, Seydell served as President of the Atlanta Federation of Women's Clubs. Seydell was active in the
Federation of American Women's Club Overseas (in Belgium) and the
American Woman's Club of Brussels. "the only school in the United States which is owned and operated by a state federation of women's clubs." It was founded in 1909 by the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs. As Seydell wrote in the Atlanta Georgian, "The school is called the 'Light in the Mountains' because ignorance is darkness and knowledge is light." She was an accomplished traveler, having gone to at least 52 "far lands during her career." In 1973, she was honored with the
Order of Leopold by the Belgian government for her cultural exchange contributions between Belgium and the United States. She wrote and planned to publish her autobiography
The Record on the Wall. It was not published. The manuscript is at the Emory Library. ==Post mortem==