Gray Panthers - by Roger Sanjek (Paperback)

About the Book

Prize-winning author Roger Sanjek tells the story of the Gray Panthers, an intergenerational activist group founded in 1970. He depicts struggles against mandatory retirement and Social Security cuts, and for universal health care and peace, by this national movement representing tens of thousands of supporters.

Book Synopsis

In 1970, a sixty-five-year-old Philadelphian named Maggie Kuhn began vocally opposing the notion of mandatory retirement. Taking inspiration from the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements, Kuhn and her cohorts created an activist organization that quickly gained momentum as the Gray Panthers. After receiving national publicity for her efforts--she even appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson--she gained thousands of supporters, young and old. Their cause expanded to include universal health care, nursing home reform, affordable and accessible housing, defense of Social Security, and elimination of nuclear weapons.

Gray Panthers traces the roots of Maggie Kuhn's social justice agenda to her years as a YWCA and Presbyterian Church staff member. It tells the nearly forty-year story of the intergenerational grassroots movement that Kuhn founded and its scores of local groups. During the 1980s, more than one hundred chapters were tackling local and national issues. By the 1990s the ranks of older members were thinning and most young members had departed, many to pursue careers in public service. But despite its challenges, including Kuhn's death in 1995, the movement continues today.

Roger Sanjek examines Gray Panther activism over four decades. Here the inner workings and dynamics of the movement emerge: the development of network leadership, local projects and tactics, conflict with the national office, and the intergenerational political ties that made the group unique among contemporary activist groups. Part ethnography, part history, part memoir, Gray Panthers draws on archives and interviews as well as the author's thirty years of personal involvement. With the impending retirement of the baby boomers, Sanjek's book will surely inform the debates and discussions to follow: on retirement, health care, and many other aspects of aging in a society that has long valued youth above all.

Review Quotes

"Gray Panthers makes a substantial contribution to the literature of aging, social movements, and U.S. history."-- "Renée Rose Shield, Director, Resource Center for Geriatrics Education, Brown University"

"Gray Panthers offers a sweeping yet intimate view of one of the most important yet misunderstood social movements in the United States after the Second World War. As someone who, like the author, worked closely with and was shaped by these 'wrinkled radicals, ' it is clear to me that we owe the Gray Panthers a huge debt of gratitude for shaking up the way we view aging and older people in America. Sanjek has made a lasting contribution to the annals of aging and social history by capturing this fascinating story in all of its colorful and at times zany detail."-- "Stephen McConnell, The Atlantic Philanthropies"

"A fascinating study of the radical grassroots organization that had, as its founder stated, 'success out of proportion to our numbers.'"-- "Peace Studies"

"An important contribution. . . . Roger Sanjek examines Gray Panther activism for over four decades-their leadership, purpose, organizing, and networking."-- "American Anthropologist"

"Roger Sanjek's book is a personal-and heartfelt-memoir of the activities and philosophy of the Gray Panthers, a political, economic, and social justice advocacy group that has often focused on elderly issues from its formation to the present."-- "American Historical Review"

"This book is an original and unique contribution to the literature on the Gray Panthers and will be a definitive resource for anyone interested in its organization, its leadership, or its impact on legislative policy."-- "Maria D. Vesperi, New College of Florida"

About the Author

Roger Sanjek is Professor of Anthropology at Queens College, City University of New York. He is a J. I. Staley Prize winner, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, and the author of The Future of Us All: Race and Neighborhood Politics in New York City.