Florence Howe
Encyclopedia
Florence Howe, American author, publisher, literary scholar and historian, is understood to be a nationally recognised leader of the contemporary feminist movement.

Born in Brooklyn, New York on March 17, 1929, Florence was daughter to Samuel and Frances Stilly Rosenfeld. Florence loved learning from a young age. Her mother, Frances, a bookkeeper, encouraged her daughter to follow a teaching career.

In 1946, at age 16, Howe entered Hunter College High School
Hunter College High School
Hunter College High School is a New York City secondary school for intellectually gifted students located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It is administered by Hunter College, a senior college of the City University of New York. Although it is not operated by the New York City Department of...

. She was one of only five young women from Brooklyn to do so. In 1949, she was awarded entrance to Phi Beta Kappa, the elite academic organization which commends superlative academic achievement. Various people in power encouraged her to take graduate courses in literature and to become a college professor. After receiving a BA in English in 1950 from Hunter College, Howe entered Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...

 and earned an MA in English in 1951.

She taught black children in a Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 freedom school during 1964 and chaired the Modern Language Association
Modern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...

 commission on the Status of Women in the Profession. Howe also founded The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press is an independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. It publishes exciting writing by women and men who share an activist spirit and a belief in choice and equality...

, which published its first book in 1972.

The Florence Howe Award for feminist scholarship of the Women's Caucus for the Modern Languages
Women's Caucus for the Modern Languages
The Women's Caucus for the Modern Languages is an allied organization of the Modern Language Association that organizes sessions at each annual meeting focusing on professional issues of concern to women. The WCML also sponsors the Florence Howe Award for outstanding feminist scholarship, and the...

is named in her honor.

Writings

  • Myths of coeducation : selected essays, 1964-1999, Bloomington, Ind : Indiana University Press, 1984
  • "Learning from Teaching" in: Florence Howe (ed.), Mari Jo Buhle (introduction), The Politics of Women's Studies: Testimony from Thirty Founding Mothers, Paperback edition, New York: Feminist Press 2001, pp. 3–15
  • A Life in Motion, New York: Feminist Press 2011

External links


Secondary sources

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