Corrine Grad Coleman (1927–2004) was an American writer and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist. She was a founding member of the

women's liberation The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminism, feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resu ...

organization

Redstockings Redstockings, also known as Redstockings of the Women's Liberation Movement, is a radical feminist nonprofit that was founded in January 1969 in New York City, whose goal is "To Defend and Advance the Women's Liberation Agenda". The group's name ...

and helped to write the group's manifesto. She was also a member of

New York Radical Women New York Radical Women (NYRW) was an early second-wave radical feminist group that existed from 1967 to 1969. They drew nationwide media attention when they unfurled a banner inside the 1968 Miss America pageant displaying the words "Women ...

. She participated in the 1968

Miss America protest The Miss America protest was a demonstration held at the Miss America 1969 contest on September 7, 1968, attended by about 200 feminists and civil rights advocates. The feminist protest was organized by New York Radical Women and included put ...

and the occupation of the offices of ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

'' in 1970. She was a co-founder and editor of the literary magazine ''Feelings: A Journal of Women's Liberation''. As a freelance writer, her works were published in the ''

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...

'' and ''The Brooklyn Phoenix''. Coleman graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and taught English in New York public schools.

Early life and education

Corrine Grad was born in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

on June 30, 1927. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from

Career and activism

Coleman taught English in public schools in New York. According to

Kathie Sarachild Kathie Sarachild (born Kathie Amatniek; July 1943) is an American writer and radical feminist. In 1968, she took the last name "Sarachild" after her mother Sara. Kathie coined the phrase "Sisterhood is Powerful" in a flier she wrote for the keyn ...

, Coleman's interest in feminism stemmed from reading

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

's ''

The Second Sex ''The Second Sex'' () is a 1949 book by the French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, in which the author discusses the treatment of women in the present society as well as throughout all of history. Beauvoir researched and wrote th ...

''. She was also a freelance writer and poet, with her works published in the ''

'' and ''The Brooklyn Phoenix''. In the late 1960s, Coleman was active in the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued till the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which resulted in g ...

. She was a member of the second-wave

radical feminist Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other ...

organization

, which had its beginnings in 1967. In 1968, Coleman participated in a women's liberation protest organized by the New York Radical Women against that year's

Miss America pageant Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

. In November 1968, she attended the national Women's Liberation Conference in

Lake Villa, Illinois Lake Villa is a village in Lake County, Illinois United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 8,741. Lake Villa lies within Lake Villa Township and about 50 miles north of Chicago and is part of the United States Census Bureau's Chica ...

and conducted a workshop on 'Alternatives to Marriage'. Alongside

Shulamith Firestone Shulamith Bath Shmuel Ben Ari Firestone (born Feuerstein; January 7, 1945 – August 28, 2012) was a Canadian-American radical feminist writer and activist. She was a prominent figure in the early development of radical feminism and second-wave ...

and Ellen Willis, she founded the radical women's liberation organization

, an offshoot of New York Radical Women. She one of the editors of the ''Redstockings Manifesto'' of July 7, 1969. She was a leader of the hundred feminists who occupied the offices of the women's magazine ''

'' for a day in 1970, demanding that the magazine release an issue on women's liberation. Coleman was a co-founder of the literary magazine ''Feelings: A Journal of Women's Liberation'' and served as its editor. Some of her poetry is included in the magazine. Coleman was married to Joseph K. Coleman and had four children. Anticipating her 1977 divorce from him, she devised guidelines for making the process of divorce equitable for women and wrote an article about divorce for the ''Ladies' Home Journal''. At a memorial for

in New York in 1986, Coleman was among the women who spoke and gave testimonies. She died of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

on July 4, 2004, in Manhattan.

References

External links

Audio of Coleman speaking at the Redstockings Memorial Speakout for Simone de Beauvoir
Archive.org. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Corrine Grad 1927 births 2004 deaths American women's rights activists American feminist writers 20th-century American writers New York Radical Women members Redstockings members Schoolteachers from New York (state) Writers from the Bronx New York University alumni