Who Is Gloria Steinem?
By Sarah Fabiny
Illustrated by Max Hergenrother
Grosset & Dunlap An Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC
To all my Smith sisterspast, present, and futureSF
For Dr. Diane Hergenrother. You have shown by example during your life and career that gender does not need to determine the outcome of our goals. You are a great role model, MomMH
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Text copyright 2014 by Sarah Fabiny. Illustrations copyright 2014 by Max Hergenrother. Cover illustration copyright 2014 by Nancy Harrison. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC. Printed in the USA.
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ISBN 978-0-698-18737-5
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Contents
Who Is Gloria Steinem?
On June 4, 1982, over one thousand people attended a birthday party at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City.
The birthday party wasnt for a person; it was for Ms. magazine. The magazine was celebrating its tenth birthday. But the partygoers werent just there to celebrate Ms . They were there to honor the women who had started itespecially one woman in particular: Gloria Steinem. Gloria was the force behind the magazine. She had become the face of womens rights in the United States. When the magazine started, Gloria claimed she would only be there for two years. She wasnt sure she wanted to be involved longer than that. And she wasnt sure the magazine would last much longer than that, either. But after ten years, both Gloria and Ms . were going as strong as ever.
At the party, Gloria made a speech reminding the partygoers how far women had come since the magazine started. Women were no longer just housewives and mothers; they were astronauts, doctors, police officers, and even US Supreme Court justices.
The anniversary of Ms . was a proud moment for Gloria Steinem. Shed had a difficult childhood, yet Gloria was determined to improve her lifeand she did. And she used that same determination to help improve the lives of millions of women around the world.
Chapter 1
A Wandering Family
Gloria Marie Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio, on March 25, 1934. Her parents, Leo Steinem and Ruth Nuneviller, had met at the University of Toledo in 1917. They both worked on the college newspaper. After college they married. Ruth taught college math for a year. It wasnt the career she really wanted. But she had promised her mother that shed try teaching.
After a year, Ruth quit and got a job doing what she wanted to do. She became a reporter for the Toledo Blade . At that time, people didnt think a woman could be as good of a reporter as a man. So Ruth used a mans name, Duncan Mackenzie, for her work at the newspaper. Ruth loved being a journalist, but she took a year off when their daughter Susanne was born in 1925.
Leo worked odd jobs after college. The year that Susanne was born he bought some land in Clarklake, Michigan. Clarklake was in a rural area about fifty miles northwest of Toledo. Leo built a resort in 1928. It was called Ocean Beach Pier. Leo hoped big-name bands would come and play for all the guests. But Leos timing was bad. The Great Depression hit in 1929, and many people lost their jobs. They werent able to spend money on things like weekends dancing at a lake resort. In 1930, to help save money, the Steinems sold their house in Toledo and moved to Clarklake.
Ruth liked city life, and it was hard to give up her job at the newspaper. But she agreed to make a home at Ocean Beach Pier.
Soon after the move, Ruth gave birth to a baby boy who did not live long. That same year Ruths father died, too. Lonely and isolated in the town of Clarklake, Ruth had a nervous breakdown. The medication she was prescribed helped, but she slept for hours when she took it. Ruth was no longer able to work or look after her children the way she once did.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
THE GREAT DEPRESSION BEGAN ON OCTOBER 29, 1929, WHEN THE STOCK MARKET CRASHED, CAUSING MANY BANKS AND BUSINESSES TO SHUT DOWN. IT WAS THE WORST ECONOMIC CRISIS OF MODERN TIMES. UNEMPLOYMENT PEAKED IN 1933, WHEN ONE-QUARTER OF ALL AMERICANS WERE OUT OF WORK. MILLIONS OF AMERICANS LOST THEIR SAVINGS. LIFE WAS VERY DIFFICULT, AND MANY PEOPLE CAME TO DEPEND ON THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE THEM WITH FOOD AND HOUSING. THE GREAT DEPRESSION LASTED NEARLY TEN YEARS. IT AFFECTED NOT ONLY THE UNITED STATES, BUT COUNTRIES ALL AROUND THE WORLD.
For years, Susanne had been begging for a baby sister. When Gloria arrived on March 25, 1934, everyone in the family was excited. Leo thought that perhaps a new baby would help make Ruth happy again. Ruth loved her new daughter, but she found it difficult to look after Gloria.
Gloria spent a lot of her childhood running wild at her familys resort in Michigan. She was free to play on the beach and catch turtles and minnows. She sometimes searched for coins that people had dropped in the lake. Gloria would also spend time in the dance hall watching the dancers and musicians. Ruby Brown, a dancer at the resort, taught Gloria how to tap-dance. Gloria was pretty good at it, and once she learned the basic steps, she couldnt stop dancing. Gloria even dreamed of becoming a dancer when she grew up, just like Ruby.
