Dorothy Norman (née Stecker; 28 March 1905 – 12 April 1997) was an American photographer, writer, editor, arts patron and advocate for social change.

Biography

Born Dorothy Stecker in Philadelphia to a prominent Jewish family, she was educated in arts and languages from her youth. In 1925, she married Edward A. Norman, the son of an early Sears & Roebuck entrepreneur. They lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where Mrs. Norman immersed herself in social-activism groups: as a researcher for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

; with

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

, the

National Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...

, and the Group Theatre. In the meantime, they had two children together, Andrew and Nancy.

Education

She attended

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

, then transferred to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, remaining there from 1922 until her 1925 marriage.

Arts patron and Stieglitz devotee

Her life was motivated by "a desire to advance both art and action". She actively cultivated an interest in people who were involved with either the artistic arena or efforts at increasing social equity. In this role, she became acquainted with photographer

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...

, who was already a towering influence in the nascent field of art photography when they met in 1927. Although both were married at that time — she to Norman and he to modern artist

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 March 6, 1986) was an American Modernism, modernist painter and drafter, draftswoman whose career spanned seven decades and whose work remained largely independent of major art movements. Called the "M ...

— they entered into a long-term affair after Stieglitz began mentoring her. Their relationship continued until his death in 1946. Her marriage to Edward Norman ended in divorce in 1951.

Photographer

Norman never worked as a professional photographer; instead, she captured images of friends, loved ones and prominent figures in the arts and in politics. People she photographed included

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

(with his wife Katia, or Katy),

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

, Bernard Berenson,

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalism (literature), naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despi ...

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a ...

and

Sherwood Anderson Sherwood Anderson (September 13, 1876 – March 8, 1941) was an American novelist and short story writer, known for subjective and self-revealing works. Self-educated, he rose to become a successful copywriter and business owner in Cleveland and ...

. She also photographed special sites, trees, harbors, churches and buildings. She detailed the interior of An American Place, Stieglitz's last gallery, in photographs included in ''America and Alfred Stieglitz, A Collective Portrait'', published in 1934. She created an extended portrait study of Stieglitz (he returned the favour by creating a similar study of Norman). Norman's photographic work is noted for its clarity of vision, masterful blend of light and shading, and professional-quality printing techniques.

Social activism

During the 1930s and 1940s, Norman was active in various liberal causes, particularly

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

, education, and independence for India; she was also a Zionist. In order to draw attention to these causes, such as racial discrimination in America, Supreme Court decisions, and Nazi medical atrocities, she wrote different publications. She was a founding member of New York City's Liberal Party and a member of the

Americans for Democratic Action Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating progressive policies. ADA views itself as supporting social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting p ...

, and served on the boards of both the New York Urban League and the

Writing career

Norman was a productive author. She wrote a weekly column for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' (1942-1949) and for ten years (1938-1948) edited and published the literary and social activist journal '' Twice a Year'', whose contributors included Richard Wright,

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

. Norman chose provocative aphorisms by contemporary and historical writers, male and female, and from various cultures, to accompany the thematic groups of photographs in sections of

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

's world-touring exhibition The Family of Man for its curator

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (; March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter and curator and a pioneer of fashion photography. His gown images for the magazine ''Art et Décoration'' in 1911 were the first modern ...

,Multiple sources: * * * a long-term associate of Alfred Stieglitz. She wrote or edited numerous books, including ''The Selected Writings of John Marin'' (1949); ''Nehru: The First Sixty Years'' (1965), a two-volume collection of the Indian leader's writings; ''Alfred Stieglitz: An American Seer'' (1970), the first full-length biography of the American modernist; and ''Indira Gandhi: Letters to an American Friend'' (1985). Her memoir, ''Encounters'', was published in 1987. She also wrote the book ''The Spirit of India.''

References

External links

"Dorothy Norman, 92, Writer Who Sought Social Change" by Roberta Smith, New York Times, April 14, 1997

at Syracuse University
Dorothy Norman Papers
at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York, NY
Dorothy Norman materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
* Dorothy Norman Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Dorothy 1905 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American photographers People associated with Planned Parenthood 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American women photographers Writers from Philadelphia Memoirists from Pennsylvania Smith College alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni