Grace Atkinson (born November 9, 1938), better known as Ti-Grace Atkinson, is an American

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 ...

activist, writer and philosopher. She was an early member of the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(NOW) and presided over the New York chapter in 1967–68, though she quickly grew disillusioned with the group. She left to form The Feminists, which she left a few years later due to internal disputes. Atkinson was a member of the

Daughters of Bilitis The Daughters of Bilitis (), also called the DOB or the Daughters, was the first lesbian civil and political rights organization in the United States. The organization, formed in San Francisco in 1955, was initially conceived as a secret soc ...

and an advocate for political lesbianism. Atkinson has been largely inactive since the 1970s, but resurfaced in 2013 to co-author an open statement expressing radical feminists' concerns about what they perceived as the silencing of discussion around "the currently fashionable concept of gender."

Early life and education

Atkinson was born on November 9, 1938 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, into a prominent Cajun Republican family. Her father, Francis Decker Atkinson, was a chemical engineer for

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

, and her mother, Thelma Atkinson, was a homemaker. Named after her grandmother, Grace, the "Ti" is

Cajun French Louisiana French (Louisiana French: ''français louisianais''; ) includes the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisiana French is primarily use ...

for , meaning "little". She traveled extensively in her childhood, and attended multiple schools in Europe and the United States. Atkinson married her high school boyfriend,

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

captain Charles Leeds Sharpless, whom she divorced around 1961 or 1962. Atkinson earned her

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...

(BFA) from the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1805, it is the longest continuously operating art museum and art school in the United States. The academy's museum ...

in 1964. While still in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, she helped found the Institute of Contemporary Art, acting as its first director. Atkinson was also a sculpture critic for the periodical ''

ARTnews ''ARTnews'' is an American art magazine, based in New York City. It covers visual arts from ancient to contemporary times. It is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. ''ARTnews'' has a readership of 180,000 in 124 co ...

,'' as well as a painter, and associated with artists such as Elaine de Kooning. In 1969, a photograph of Atkinson was published in a series by Diane Arbus in the '' London Sunday Times.'' She later moved to New York City where, in 1967, she entered the PhD program in philosophy at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where she studied with the philosopher and art critic

Arthur Danto Arthur Coleman Danto (January 1, 1924 – October 25, 2013) was an American art critic, philosopher, and professor at Columbia University. He was best known for having been a long-time art critic for ''The Nation'' and for his work in philosop ...

.Lynne E. Ford
"Ti-Grace Atkinson"
entry, ''Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics'',

Infobase Publishing Infobase is an American publisher of databases, reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...

, January 1, 2009, pp. 40–41, ''accessed August 2013''. She received her Master's degree in 1990, but did not complete her dissertation. Atkinson later moved on to study the work of

Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic philos ...

with philosopher Charles Parsons. She taught at several colleges and universities over the years, including the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

and

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

Feminism

As an undergraduate, Atkinson read

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'', and struck up a correspondence with Beauvoir, who suggested that she contact Betty Friedan. Atkinson became an early member of the National Organization for Women, which Friedan had co-founded, serving on the national board, and becoming the New York chapter president in 1967. Her time with the organization was tumultuous, including a row with the national leadership over her attempts to defend and promote

Valerie Solanas Valerie Jean Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988) was an American radical feminist known for her attempt to murder the artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas appeared in the Warhol film '' I, a Man'' (1967) and self-published the '' SCU ...

and her ''

SCUM Manifesto ''SCUM Manifesto'' is a self-published manifesto by American radical feminist Valerie Solanas. Published in 1967, it argues that men have ruined the world, and that it is up to women to fix it. To achieve this goal, it suggests the formation of ...

'' in the wake of the

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

shooting. In 1968, she became critical of the organization's inability to confront issues like

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

and marriage inequalities; she also felt it replicated patriarchal power structures, and resigned from her presidency after her proposal to abolish NOW's executive offices was defeated in a vote. She founded the October 17th Movement, named for the date of her resignation, which would later become The Feminists, a radical feminist group active until 1973; however, she left the group in 1971 when the group barred its members from speaking to the press. By then, she had written several pamphlets on feminism, was a member of the Daughters of Bilitis and was advocating specifically political lesbianism. Atkinson led and participated in protests against

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

, the

Manhattan Marriage Bureau The Marriage Bureau is part of the Office of the City Clerk of New York City. The Bureau provides Marriage Licenses, Domestic Partnership registration, civil Marriage Ceremonies, registration of Marriage Officiants, and copies and amendments of Mar ...

, and gender-segregated classified ads in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.'' She advocated for more violent means of activism, and publicly admired the Italian-American Unity League and the Weathermen. Her book ''Amazon Odyssey'' was published in 1974. Atkinson was involved with Sagaris, an experimental feminist summer school in Lyndonville, Vermont, in the 1970s, but left the organization with several other faculty members after the school accepted a grant from ''

Ms. Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine ...

.'' In 1971, Patricia Buckley Bozell, a Catholic and conservative activist, slapped or attempted to slap (unclear if physical contact was actually made) Atkinson after the latter made what Bozell described as "an illiterate harangue against the mystical body of Christ". The incident occurred on the platform of

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

's auditorium while Atkinson was discussing the virginity of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. "Sisterhood", Atkinson famously said in her 1971 resignation from the Feminists, "is powerful. It kills. Mostly sisters." In 2013, Atkinson, along with Carol Hanisch, Kathy Scarbrough, and

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 ...

, initiated "Forbidden Discourse: The Silencing of Feminist Criticism of 'Gender'", which they described as an "open statement from 48 radical feminists from seven countries". In August 2014, Michelle Goldberg in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' described it as expressing their "alarm" at "threats and attacks, some of them physical, on individuals and organizations daring to challenge the currently fashionable concept of gender."Michelle Goldberg
"What Is a Woman? The dispute between radical feminism and transgenderism"
''

'', August 4, 2014.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Amazon Odyssey'' (1974)

Pamphlets and book chapters

* "The Institution of Sexual Intercourse" (pamphlet, 1968, published by The Feminists) * "Vaginal orgasm as a mass hysterical survival response" (pamphlet, 1968, published by The Feminists) * "Radical Feminism" (pamphlet, 1969, published by The Feminists) * "Radical Feminism and Love" (pamphlet, 1969, published by The Feminists) *

References

External links

Ti-Grace Atkinson speaks to the Feminist Art program at the California State University at Fresno
Retrieved April 23, 2007
Papers of Ti-Grace Atkinson, 1938-2013.Schlesinger Library
Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Ti-Grace 1938 births 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American LGBTQ people American feminist writers American lesbian writers American women's rights activists Cajun people Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Daughters of Bilitis members The Feminists members Lesbian feminists LGBTQ people from Louisiana Living people Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni Political lesbians Radical feminists Writers from Baton Rouge, Louisiana National Organization for Women people Tufts University faculty Second wave feminists