Although a bright and capable student, she dropped out of high school at her fathers instigation, and spent time working as a maid in order to provide financial assistance to her family.
After moving to Pennsylvania in the early 1920s, her father began working as a coal miner and the family eventually settled in Belle Vernon in 1932.
However, before she could complete high school, her father requested that she drop out to allow a younger brother to continue, with the intention of his eventually attending college.
Hill found work as a maid, while her younger brother would eventually refuse a college scholarship in favour of a failed relationship.
[2] Hill later recalled that her father was not in favour of female education, stating that it was a waste of money as they would eventually get married and stop working anyway.
[1][3] In 1951, Garland became a member of the Pittsburgh chapter of The Girl Friend's, Inc.,[6] a prestigious African American women's civic society.
Along with her friend and colleague Toki Schalk Johnson, in 1961 Garland became one of the first African-American members of the Women's Press Club of Pittsburgh.
In 1943 she was on the publicity committee for the local YWCA when the reporter due to cover a tea held in honour of the first black staff worker at the association became lost on the way and only arrived after the event had finished.
[1][2] The editors at the Pittsburgh Courier were impressed, and asked her to cover similar community events for them as a stringer, for which she was paid $2 an article.
[1][2][3] Garland produced so much material that her articles were eventually combined into a column called Tri-City News, which began appearing in the Pittsburgh Courier in late 1943.
At the time, mainstream media rarely carried any positive news about African-American communities or accomplishments, and Garland's naturally conversational tone and community-centric focus on weddings, honours, jobs and even tragedies[3] along with her increasing reputation for professionalism, reliability and skilled writing[1][2] quickly earned her a positive reputation.
By 1946, the Pittsburgh Courier was one of the most widely read black newspapers in the United States, and published a total of 14 editions, both local and national, as well as employing international reporters in cities around the world.
However, eventually, versions of Things to Talk About would also be printed in both local and national editions of the paper, running right up to the month before Garland's death, for a total of 42 years.
Garland's subsequent series of reports, entitled The Three I's: Ignorance, Illiteracy and Illegitimacy won a 1953 New York Newspaper Guild Page One Award for Journalism.
At a time when the majority of mainstream TV columnists paid little attention to media diversity, Garland's column made particular note of occasions when black performers or broadcasters were dismissed, or when relevant shows were cancelled.
[2] Although the column largely focused on programs featuring African Americans, it still covered all the popular shows and Garland interviewed actors, writers or producers of any color who happened to be in Pittsburgh, such as actress Eartha Kitt.
[9] "Video Vignettes" ran from 1955 to one month before Garland's death in 1988, a total of 33 years, one of the longest-running newspaper television columns in history.
[5] The role was a demanding one and Garland spent many hours away from her family, reorganising the paper into a more up to date format, developing new beats and expanding some existing sections to appeal to a broader audience.
[2] Although there had been other women in high-profile positions at the Pittsburgh Courier, Garland was the first to achieve a hands-on management role, and had daily input into the running of the paper.
In 1977 Garland retired from her editorial post due to ill health, but she continued writing her columns and took on an advisory role to Sengstacke one day a week.