Gray panthers
Gray Panthers is an American organization that advocates the rights of older citizens. It was founded in 1970 by Maggie Kuhn in response to her forced retirement at the age of 65.
In August 1970, Maggie Kuhn gathered a group of five friends, all of whom had retired from national, religious, and social organizations. This first network of friends met to discuss common problems retired people had - loss of income, loss of social contacts, and the loss of the most important social role in society, the job one had. They also discovered a new kind of freedom in their retirement - the freedom to speak personally and passionately about what they believed in, such as their mutual opposition to the Vietnam War .
They met with college students protesting the Vietnam War , and this new group, called the Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change , met in Philadelphia for their joint Discuss beliefs and values. A year later, more than 100 people took part in the advice. The original name lives on in the Gray Panther slogan "Age and Youth in Action".
This new group met and acted. A New York TV talk show producer invented a nickname to describe the group's lively, quick-witted, controversial, and action-oriented approach. The name stuck and was quickly adopted by the media, particularly after Maggie Kuhn's "improvised" speech in 1972. Maggie Kuhn had been asked at the last minute to replace a speaker to speak at the 184th General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in Denver . Thanks to this speech, the Gray Panthers became a national organization. The new organization's headquarters in Philadelphia received calls from across the country.
In 1985 the Gray Panthers opened their first public policy office in Washington, DC , and in 1990 most central functions were concentrated there.