Maggie Kuhn
| Maggie Kuhn | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
August 3, 1905 Buffalo, New York |
| Died | April 22, 1995 (aged 89) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Elder rights activist |
| Known for | Founding the Gray Panthers |
Maggie Kuhn (August 3, 1905 – April 22, 1995) was an American activist known for founding the Gray Panthers movement, after she was forced to retire from her job at the then-mandatory retirement age of 65. The Gray Panthers became known for advocating nursing home reform and fighting ageism, claiming that "old people and women constitute America's biggest untapped and undervalued human energy source." She dedicated her life to fighting for human rights, social and economic justice, global peace, integration, and an understanding of mental health issues. For decades, she combined her activism with caring for her mother—who had a disability which required her to receive assistance in her care—and a brother who suffered from mental illness.
Maggie Kuhn was born in Buffalo, New York, and she spent her childhood in Cleveland, Ohio as well as Memphis, Tennessee.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Kuhn taught at the YWCA, where she educated women about unionizing, women's issues, and social issues. She caused controversy by starting a human sexuality class in which she discussed such topics as the mechanics of sex, birth control, sexual pleasure, pregnancy, and the difficulties of remaining single in a culture where marriage is the norm. She encouraged women to really study their own lives and their world. She once wrote to companies for samples of their products and incited a discussion of the products, "truth in advertising," the profits made from cosmetics and drugs, the conditions under which they were made, and the role of women as "purchasing agents."
During World War II, she became program director for the YWCA-USO, which was a controversial career choice due to her opposition to the war. In spite of this, she continued to advocate a progressive stance on issues such as desegregation, urban housing, McCarthyism, the Cold War, and nuclear arms.
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