Dorothy Pitman Hughes (1938-present) is a community organizer and child welfare advocate, who was a leader of the Women’s Movement in the 1970s.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes (1938-present) is a community organizer and child welfare advocate, who was a leader of the Women’s Movement in the 1970s.
This month, we’re highlighting Women of Resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, reproductive control, or any number of other ills, these women created paths for change.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month on Womanica, we’re highlighting women who led extraordinary lives of resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, or reproductive control these women created paths for change.
Today’s Womanican is a community organizer and child welfare advocate, who was a leader of the Women’s Movement in the 1970s. Though many stories of second-wave feminism center white women, Dorothy was there, too, leading a resistance rooted in community.
Please welcome Dorothy Pitman Hughes.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes was born on October 2nd, 1938. She was the third of six girls in a small farming community called Charles Junction, in Lumpkin, Georgia.
Dorothy later wrote: “I was fortunate to have been raised in a time and place where the ‘village’ raised the children.”
If Dorothy was playing at a friend’s house, for example, and it was time for dinner, someone fed her. If she needed discipline and her parents weren’t there, other parental figures stepped up. She also grew up going to a school that was one big church room, where all of the children from all of the grades sat.
Dorothy learned to listen, to decide who she looked up to as a role model, and to discuss big ideas with her classmates. It was there, in the classroom, where Dorothy’s personality took shape.
But school wasn’t the only formative experience for Dorothy. In 1948, when she was just 10 years old, her father was badly beaten and left on the family’s doorstep, presumably by KKK members. This, too, would shape Dorothy’s perspective.
Nine years later, when she was 19, Dorothy moved to New York. She wanted to become a nightclub performer. To pay the bills, she took on day jobs – salesperson, laundress, house cleaner.
Then Dorothy became a mother. She had trouble finding care for her daughter while she was working. She also noticed that the children in her neighborhood often stayed home during the day while their parents worked. The kids were cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the babies.
So Dorothy shifted her life to serve her community. She started a drop-in daycare in her apartment and advocated for better housing conditions for working families.
“The tasks of my new career were daunting,” she later wrote, “but I was very young, and very creative.”
Soon the daycare center grew and she moved it to a building on Manhattan’s West Side. It was the first co-ed and multi-racial center in New York City. And Dorothy wanted to expand the services she offered to the community. There was little job training in the area, the housing was poorly maintained, and her neighbors faced racial discrimination and poverty. So her daycare center became a community center suited to address these needs. She created a network of community-owned resources that focused on housing and food assistance. And adults could go to the center to take classes and get job training.
One February day in 1969, a young reporter from New York Magazine showed up at the daycare center. She saw firsthand just how much the center provided for the community.
That reporter was Gloria Steinem. And that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between her and Dorothy.
Years later, in an interview, Gloria described Dorothy as a genius street organizer. “I knew that Dorothy was absolutely fearless. It was always clear that if she was running the revolution you wanted to go to it.”
In the 1970’s, both Dorothy and Gloria got involved in the women’s movement. Because she had experience as a performer, Dorothy gave Gloria advice on public speaking and helped her get over her stage fright.
The two toured the country speaking about feminism, civil rights, and issues affecting working families. But they needed publicity to get more people to their talks. So a photographer named Dan Wynn provided some for free.
In 1971, Dorothy and Gloria stood in front Dan’s camera. They both wore turtlenecks, and they both held their fists up, a symbol of resistance throughout the Civil Rights movement. You’ve probably seen this photograph.
Today, it lives in the National Portrait Gallery. For many at the time, it represented a multi-racial resistance to the oppressive status quo.
Dorothy and Gloria went on to co-found Ms. Magazine and the Women’s Action Alliance together.
By the 1980s, Dorothy transitioned to being a business owner and entrepreneur. But even after she left the West Side, she still centered the needs of her community in everything she did. She even wrote a book titled: “Wake Up and Smell the Dollars: One Woman’s Struggle Against Sexism, Classism, Racism, Gentrification and the Empowerment Zone.”
The Empowerment Zone referred to a government program started by Bill Clinton in 1994. At the time, Dorothy was living in Harlem, where she ran a community-owned business supply store. She originally saw the Empowerment Zone as an opportunity for investment in community business. She later realized that the program mostly benefited big chains, and her own Harlem Office Supply store was displaced by a Staples. Her book was like a roadmap for other people. In the preface she wrote:
“I have written this book to show that economic empowerment is achievable for our people and that, no matter how long it takes and what degree of hardship the struggle for it entails, it must be achieved. It is my hope that sharing my story and insights with you will quicken and ease the process for all of us.”
Dorothy now lives in Florida. She continues to do community work, especially with community gardens to feed people. She is 84 years old.
All month, we’re highlighting women of resistance. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator. Talk to you tomorrow!