Dorothy Sterling (née Dannenberg; November 23, 1913 – December 1, 2008) was an American writer and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

. After college, she worked as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and writer in New York for several years, including work for the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers and to develop a history and overview of the United States, by state, cities and other jurisdictions. It was ...

Biography

Sterling worked for ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' from 1936 to 1949 and was then assistant bureau chief in Life's news bureau from 1944 to 1949. Starting in the 1950s, she authored more than 30 books, mainly non-fiction historical works for children on the origins of the women's and anti-slavery movements,

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 ...

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

, and nature, as well as mysteries.

Personal life

In 1937, she married Philip Sterling (died 1989), also a writer. Her daughter, Anne Fausto-Sterling, is a noted

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, the Nancy Duke Lewis Professor of Biology and Gender Studies at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, and is married to playwright Paula Vogel. Her son, Peter Sterling, is a well-known neuroscientist and coiner of the term allostasis. Sterling belonged to the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

in the 1940s. Even after leaving the party, she said

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

was her long-term goal. In early 1968, Sterling and her husband joined 448 writers and editors in placing a full-page ad in the ''New York Post'' declaring their intention to refuse to pay taxes for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. In 1984, she challenged President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's decision to award the Medal of Freedom to Whittaker Chambers, writing, "With all due respect to the dead, is this man, who has left behind him so many doubts about his own role, an appropriate recipient of the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award?"

Bibliography

Nature

:(1951) ''Sophie and Her Puppies'' :(1955) ''The story of mosses, ferns, and mushrooms'' :(1961) ''Ellen's Blue Jays'' :(1961) ''Caterpillars'' :(1966) ''Fall is Here!'' :(1967) ''The Outer Lands Natural History Guide to Cape Cod & Islands by Dorothy Sterling and Winifred Lubell''

Mysteries

:(1952) ''The Cub Scout Mystery'' :(1955) ''The Brownie Scout Mystery'' :(1958) ''The Silver Spoon Mystery'' by Dorothy Sterling :(1960) ''Secret of the Old Post-Box'' :(1971) ''Mystery of the Empty House (Org. Secret of the Old Post Box) by Dorothy Sterling and Jane Goldsborough''

Black history and civil rights

:(1953) ''United Nations, N. Y.'' :(1954) ''Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman'' :(1959) ''Mary Jane'' :(1963) ''Forever Free: The Story of the Emancipation Proclamation'' :(1964) ''Lucretia Mott'' :(1965) ''Lift Every Voice: The Lives of Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary Church Terrell and James Weldon Johnson'' :(1969) ''Tear Down the Walls!: A History of the American Civil Rights Movement'' :(1978) ''Captain of the Planter: The Story of Robert Smalls'' :(1984) ''We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century'' :(1994) ''The Trouble They Seen: Story of Reconstruction in the Words of African Americans'' :(1994) ''Ahead of Her Time: Abby Kelly and the Politics of Antislavery'' :(1996) ''The Making of an Afro-American: Martin Robison Delany 1812-1885'' :(1998) ''Speak Out in Thunder Tones''

Autobiography

:(2005) ''Close to My Heart: An Autobiography''

Awards

* Inclusion in the 1960-1961 William Allen White Children's Book Award Masterlist of ''Captain of the Planter: The Story of Robert Smalls'' * 1977 Carter G. Woodson Book Award winner for ''The Trouble They Seen: Story of Reconstruction in the Words of African Americans''

References

External links

Guide to the Dorothy Sterling papers at the University of Oregon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Dorothy American writers of young adult literature American non-fiction children's writers Historians of African Americans Historians of the United States 20th-century American historians 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American autobiographers American women autobiographers American nature writers American mystery writers American women mystery writers American women children's writers American children's writers American women historians American women novelists Jewish American historians Jewish American novelists Jewish women writers Jewish socialists Carter G. Woodson Book Award winners Members of the Communist Party USA American tax resisters 1913 births 2008 deaths American women writers of young adult literature