ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am deeply indebted to Dorothy and her daughters, Delethia, Patrice, and Angela. The proceeds from this book go to Dorothy Pitman Hughes. Dorothy has been incredibly generous with her time. She and her family welcomed me into their lives, shared their memories, letters, special locales, and photographs. I appreciate their trust and their support for this project over the past seven years.

This book relies heavily on oral histories and interviews. Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Delethia Ridley-Malmsten, Patrice Quinn, Angela Hughes, and Mildred Dent were all gracious with their time and very patient with my persistent questions. Conversations with Gloria Steinem, Marlo Thomas, Bob Gangi, Alice Tan Ridley, Gabourey Sidibe, Ruth Messinger, Tommie Dent, Gina Dent, Yvonne Rose, Devon Baptiste, and Sean Ridley helped me to understand how to develop this narrative. So, too, were Kaylene Peoples, Lencola Sullivan Verseveldt, Josh Kobrin, and Susan Yohn, who shared their expertise.

Destiney Linker, a wonderful historian in her own right, accompanied me on my visit to Dorothy’s home in Lumpkin, Georgia, and expertly transcribed our recorded conversations, as well as being an incredible research assistant and critic.

I am very grateful to Dan Bagan for allowing me to reprint his photo of Dorothy and Gloria from 2017. Dorothy and her family also generously scanned many images from their family albums for this book.

Karen Kuklik, Kathleen Nutter, and the staff at the Sophia Smith Collection, always so welcoming to me and my students, truly went beyond the call to help me during my visits and even when I couldn’t be at the archives in person. I am especially grateful that Elizabeth Myers at the Sophia Smith Collection agreed to accept Dorothy’s papers and add them to the record of women’s history. Rob Cox, Danielle Kovacs, and Anne Moore of the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, were some of the best friends a researcher could wish for.

The staff at Beacon has been wonderful. I appreciate the editorial support and careful feedback from Gayatri Patnaik, as well as Maya Fernandez and Susan Lumenello. Emily Dolbear’s copyediting was superb. Cecelia Cancellero’s editorial assistance was invaluable in helping me to write for a nonspecialist public.

As I worked on this book, I presented parts to various academic audiences. I appreciate the useful comments and suggestions from the audiences at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, the University of Pittsburgh Department of History, and the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, Agnes Scott College.

I have been fortunate to receive research and writing support from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Dartmouth College; and the University of Pittsburgh.

Annelise Orleck, Colleen Boggs, and Alexis Jetter provided insightful feedback as I conceptualized and researched this project. Fellow writers and researchers have helped all the way through, offering the kind of support and what my advisor called “rescue reads,” helping when I was stuck or unsure. Mary Renda, Manisha Sinha, Françoise Hamlin, and Mari Webel: I have been able to keep going because of your generosity. At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Banu Subramaniam, Alice Nash, Laura Briggs, Jennifer Hamilton, Diana Sierra Becerra, Joye Bowman, John Higginson, Joyce Berkman, Brian Ogilvie, Jennifer Heuer, Marla Miller, Priyanka Srivastava, Miliann Kang, Joya Misra, Joel Wolfe, Elizabeth Armstrong, Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, Holly Hanson, David Glassberg, Crystal Webster, Johanna Ortner, Susan Tracy, and Lynda Morgan gave me timely and helpful feedback on specific chapters or on particular ideas.

At the University of Pittsburgh, Irina Livezeanu, Ruth Mostern, Gregor Thum, Laurence Glasco, Keisha Blain, Michel Gobat, Alaina Roberts, Alexandra Finley, Alissa Klots, Chelsey Smith, Krysta Beam, and Lara Putnam offered engaged and encouraging questions that helped me finish this book. I am also deeply appreciative of Sandy Mitchell’s support and friendship.

Robin Morris saw fit to include Dorothy in an important conference on Women and Politics, and the critique I received on the presentation from Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Nishani Frazier, Leah Wright-Rigueur, Marisa Chappell, and others expanded how I understood her context.

Kelly Giles and Kaniqua Robinson have kept me going with their enthusiasm for the project. My daughter, Lydia Lovett-Dietrich, brought her architectural love of precision to her mother’s often rambling prose, especially at key moments in time. Arlena Lovett-Dietrich has lived and traveled with this project. I am grateful for her keen understanding of its political importance. Most importantly, I am grateful for my partner’s support; Michael Dietrich, thanks for the soup, and so much more.