Gloria Steinem

Gloria Marie Steinem was a force of nature — a journalist, author, and organizer whose wit, warmth, and unflinching moral clarity helped reshape the social fabric of America. Born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, to Ruth Nuneviller, a reporter, and Leo Steinem, a traveling antiques dealer, Gloria grew up in circumstances that would have defeated a lesser spirit. Her family lived much of the year on the road in a trailer; she did not attend school regularly until she was nearly twelve. When her parents separated in 1944, a ten-year-old Gloria became her mother's primary caregiver — an experience that gave her an early, intimate understanding of the ways social inequality fell hardest on women. After graduating from Smith College in 1956 with a degree in government, she spent two formative years in India on a Chester Bowles Fellowship, engaging in village organizing that would shape her approach to grassroots activism for the rest of her life. Back in New York, she built a freelance career writing for Glamour, McCall's, and The New York Times. Her breakthrough came in 1963 with "A Bunny's Tale," a daring undercover exposé of working conditions at the Playboy Club published in Show magazine. It was the kind of journalism that changed things. In 1969, attending an abortion speak-out organized by the Redstockings, Steinem experienced what she called a "big click" — the moment she stopped calling herself a humanist and started calling herself a feminist. Her landmark essay "After Black Power, Women's Liberation," published that year in New York magazine, brought her national recognition and established her as a leading voice of second-wave feminism. The 1970s were a decade of building. She co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971, alongside Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan, and that same year helped launch Ms. magazine — the first national feminist publication. She called herself "an entrepreneur of social change," and that description fit. Whether crossing the Korean Demilitarized Zone on a peace mission at age 81, co-founding the Women's Media Center with Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan in 2005, or hosting Talking Circles at her Upper East Side home for younger organizers, she never stopped working. In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She passed away peacefully at home on October 2, 2026, at age 92. Her legacy lives on through Gloria's Foundation, dedicated to preserving her archives and supporting feminist organizing worldwide.