Susan Ellen (Tanenbaum) Stern (January 31, 1943 – July 31, 1976) was an American political activist.The Susan Stern Papers. She was a member of the prominent

anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social move ...

groups

Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...

(SDS),

Weatherman Weatherman or Weather man may refer to: Professions or roles * Weatherman, a member of Weather Underground, an American left-wing organization active 1969–1977 * Weather forecaster, a scientist who forecasts the weather * Weather presenter, ...

and the

Seattle Liberation Front The Seattle Liberation Front, or SLF, was a radical anti-Vietnam War movement, based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. The group, founded by the University of Washington visiting philosophy professor and political activist Michael Le ...

(SLF). Stern was tried in 1970 on charges of conspiring to damage a federal courthouse as one of the Seattle Seven. The trial ended in a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...

due to the defendants' disruptive courtroom behavior.Anarchy in Tacoma
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'', December 28, 1970 The prosecution's main witness, FBI informer Horace Parker, gave unreliable and problematic testimony against the defendants, particularly under strong cross-examination by Chip Marshall, who defended himself ''pro se''. Stern and her co-defendants; Roger Lippman, Joe Kelly, Jeff Dowd,

Michael Lerner Michael or Mike Lerner may refer to: * Michael Lerner (actor) (1941–2023), American actor *Michael Lerner (angler) (1890–1978), American angler and businessman * Michael Lerner (rabbi) (born 1943), social activist *Michael Benjamin Lerner (born ...

, Chip Marshall, and Mike Abeles were summarily convicted only of contempt of court and sentenced to six months in prison, of which Stern served three.Susan Stern, a Radical Activist And Writer, Dies at 33 on Coast
''

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'', August 2, 1976 She wrote a memoir about her experiences, titled ''With the Weathermen: The Personal Journey of a Revolutionary Woman''. It was reprinted in September 2007 by

Rutgers University Press Rutgers University Press (RUP) is a nonprofit academic publishing house, operating in New Brunswick, New Jersey under the auspices of Rutgers University. History Rutgers University Press, a nonprofit academic publishing house operating in New ...

with an introduction by Laura Browder as part of the series Subterranean Lives. Stern died of drug related heart and lung failure on July 31, 1976, at University Hospital in Seattle, at the age of 33.Stern death: Alcohol, drugs cited in report
''

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the ...

'', August 3, 1976

Early years

Susan Stern was born Susan Ellen Tanenbaum, on January 31, 1943, to David and Bernice (Bunny) Tanenbaum in Brooklyn, New York. Stern was the elder of two children, her younger brother is named Roger. Her parents divorced and after a custody dispute, her father was awarded custody of both children.David T. Courtwright, ''No Right Turn: Conservative Politics in a Liberal America'', Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2010, p. 103 Stern and her brother subsequently moved to New Jersey with their father when she was nine. Stern's father, a wealthy Jewish businessman, had high expectations of his children, which was difficult for Susan Stern.

College and married life

Upon graduating from high school, Stern entered

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in New York in the early 1960s. In November 1964 she met Robert F. Stern, her future husband. They married in July 1965. Stern finished her undergraduate work as a Liberal Arts Major and immediately began her Master's study in Urban Education. She taught the sixth grade in a ghetto school in New York. Five months into her studies, Stern was expelled for preaching "communist and subversive doctrines." In 1966 Susan and Robert Stern drove across country, relocated to Seattle, and enrolled in advanced studies at the

University of Washington School of Social Work The University of Washington School of Social Work is the social work school of the University of Washington, a public research university in Seattle, Washington. The School offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate degree programs in socia ...

. Robert F. Stern entered the

University of Washington School of Law The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington. The 2023 '' U.S. News & World Report'' law school rankings place Washing ...

while Susan Stern pursued a Master's degree in social work which she completed in June, 1968.''With the Weathermen''. By then, after nearly three years, the Sterns' marriage had begun to decline. In June 1968, Stern separated from her husband and moved to California.

Students for a Democratic Society

Stern's political activism began around the time that she and her husband moved to Seattle in 1966 when both began to attend classes at the Free University. Following Stern's introduction to political activism, she became involved in the anti-war movement through peaceful protest. In August 1967 both Sterns went to Chicago to attend the New Politics Convention, which she said:

consisted of endless debates between the black militant caucus which controlled the majority of the votes, and the white liberals who were horrified by the black militants. The important thing about the New Politics Convention for Robby and me was that we came in contact with other white radical organizers, among them,
Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...
(SDS).

Upon returning to Seattle in the fall of 1967, Stern joined the Seattle chapter of SDS. Throughout the 1967 academic year both Sterns attended meetings.

Weatherman

Stern attended the SDS National Convention in Chicago in June 1969, where the organization's members split into various factions. At the convention there was great discussion of the Weatherman paper and arguments amongst the various chapters of SDS and other activists such as the

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Cali ...

erupted throughout the meeting.''With the Weathermen'' p.66 When Weatherman split off from the SDS, Stern joined Weatherman. After the convention Stern went back to Seattle and began to prepare for

Days of Rage The Days of Rage were a series of protests during three days in October 1969 in Chicago, organized by the emerging Weatherman faction of Students for a Democratic Society. The group planned the October 8–11 event as a "National Action" ...

which would take place in Chicago, on October 8–11, 1969. Stern worked to recruit individuals to join Weatherman for

riots. Stern joined the Seattle Weatherman collective, where her extensive use of drugs, provocative style of dress and habit of supporting the collective by topless dancing earned her enemies among the group's more solemn female leadership. She was expelled after five months because the leadership distrusted her inability to function anonymously within a group and her unwillingness to give in to the group's regular tyrannizing " criticism–self criticism" sessions.The movers, the moved and the Movement: ''With the Weathermen'' (review)
''

'', June 15, 1975 According to

Maurice Isserman Maurice Isserman (born 1951), formerly William R. Kenan and the James L. Ferguson chairs, is a long-time Professor of History at Hamilton College and important contributor to the "new history of American communism" that reinterpreted the role of ...

's review of Stern's 1975 memoir,

Notes

References