Maggie Kuhn

Margaret Eliza (Maggie) Kuhn (born August 31, 1905 in Buffalo , New York, † April 22, 1995 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania) was an American human rights activist and founder of the age rights movement Gray Panthers .

Life

Childhood and youth

Margaret Eliza Kuhn was born on August 31, 1905 in Buffalo, New York, to Minnie and Samuel Kuhn. But from an early age she preferred to listen to the short form Maggie . In 1921, at the age of 16, she successfully graduated from West High School in Cleveland to study at Western Reserve University in Cleveland. At that time, according to Maggie, higher education was only available to women as they grew up. When they grew up, there were only two career options, the nursing career or as a teacher, and it was undisputed that any career was broken off early because of a marriage. In 1926 she finished her studies of English literature, with a minor in sociology and French, at the Western Reserve University with an honorary degree.

YWCA + youth education

In 1930 she got a teaching position at Cleveland's Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), which she held for the next 11 years. At YWCA she took care of the youth education and training of young women, helped them organize themselves and developed an initial interest in social activism. She particularly liked the belief in the group's ability to strengthen the individual and to be able to change society together. She caused quite a stir with her course on human sexuality. There she discussed the mechanisms of sexuality, birth control, pregnancy, and the difficulties of being single in a society that has made marriage the norm. She encouraged young women to examine their own living conditions and their environment.

Presbyterian Church + USO

In 1941, when the United States took part in World War II, she changed jobs and started at the Presbyterian Church in New York City. There she was a secretary, a program coordinator in the Department of Churches and Racial Affairs, and an editor and writer for the church magazine Social Progress .

Gray panthers

Main article: Gray Panthers

Generational model of ideas

The generation model is intended to bring different generations together and to network their mutual help, skills and support. In concrete terms, for example, senior citizens let young people live with them rent-free and the young people help the senior citizens in an agreed framework. It works the other way around, seniors take on the role of grandparents to a certain extent in families with many children with tutoring, supervision, handicrafts, handicrafts or, for example, repairing bicycles and can therefore live cheaper. Scientist Brenda Krause Eheart in Rantoul , Illinois implemented this on a larger scale . She was able to obtain government grants for a housing project with 84 apartments at the former Chanute Air Force Base, where she organized living together and helping families who also took in foster children and fostered children and looked after and raised the elderly with the elderly.

Awards (selection)

• 1974 Award for justice and human development, given by the Witherspoon Society
• 1978 Humanist of the Year, awarded by the American Humanist Association
• 2005 Ollie Randall Award given by the NCOA

Quotes

The following quotes and sayings are from Maggie Kuhn.

• "Express your opinion even if your voice is shaking." • Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes.
• "Well-placed snares (traps) can also bring down giants." • Well-aimed slingshots can topple giants.

Maggie Growls (film)

Maggie Growls is a 65-minute documentary from 2002 directed by filmmakers Barbara Attie and Janet Goldwater . The film title is an allusion to the warning growl of the panthers as a critical reaction to the social changes in the USA towards the end of the 1960s. The film observes how the work and the living being of Maggie Kuhn have revived the social respect for the elderly.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Greenpeace magazine
2. ↑ Humanists of Utah ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ NCOA ( Memento of the original of October 28, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ^ Homepage Maggie Kuhn
5. ↑ "Positive Aging" by Kenneth and Mary Gergen ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

literature

• Maggie Kuhn: Get Out There and Do Something About Injustice. Friendship Press, New York 1972. ISBN 0-377-02121-0
• Dieter T Hessel, Maggie Kuhn: Maggie Kuhn on Aging - a dialogue. Westminster Press, Philadelphia 1977. ISBN 0-664-24146-8
• Maggie Kuhn, Christina Long, Laura Quinn: No Stone Unturned. The Life and Times of Maggie Kuhn. Autobiography. Ballantine Books, New York 1991. ISBN 0-345-37373-1

Web links

• Maggie Growls in the Internet Movie Database (English)