Women’s History Month: Maggie Kuhn
In honor of Women’s History Month 2011, I’ve selected one woman to profile every day from March 1st - March 31st, 2011.
Maggie Kuhn: Founder of the Gray Panthers
At age 65, when many people prepare for quiet years, Maggie Kuhn embarked on the greatest adventure and most important work of her life. In 1970, forced to retire from her career with the Presbyterian Church at age 65, Kuhn and a group of her friends in similar circumstances organized and founded an organization which became the Gray Panthers. The organization was created to work on issues of concern to the elderly, such as pension rights and age discrimination, but also to concern itself with larger public issues, such as the Vietnam War and other social concerns. At the core of the Gray Panthers’ message was that older people needed to seize control of their lives and be in the active world working for issues in which they believed. Kuhn’s candor, charisma and lively approach to the needs and problems of the old drew major media attention, and the group was successfully launched, coming to represent in the public mind that power and energy that the elderly can represent. Kuhn fought off efforts by everyone from politicians to the managers of nursing homes to treat the elderly like amusing children, instead insisting on a place at the table and voice in decision-making that affected the lives of the old. Kuhn’s advice to activists interested in creating social change shows the strength of her convictions: “Leave safety behind. Put your body on the line. Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes. When you least expect it, someone may actually listen to what you have to say. Well-aimed slingshots can topple giants. And do your homework.” — Bio from the National Women’s Hall of Fame
What happens when you put a bunch of active, pissed off elderly people in a room? OH RIGHT. THE GRAY PANTHERS, THAT’S WHAT.
Links: Wikipedia page
Gray Panthers (website)
Gray Panthers (Wikipedia)
Gray Panthers Facebook fan page
Gray Panthers Blog
Answers.com bio
Google archives search for Maggie Kuhn
Maggie Growls
No Stone Unturned: Maggie Kuhn
New Outlook for the Aged (6.2.75)
Gray Panthers Toast Special Day, In Prison Maggie Kuhn Celebrated Her 88th Birthday At Graterford, The Group’s Only Chapter Behind Bars. (8.20.93)
The Greening of the Gray Panthers
Vote Yes on Proposition 215
No stone unturned :the life and times of Maggie Kuhn (autobiography)
Maggie Kuhn, 89; Iconoclastic Founder of Gray Panthers (LA Times obit)
