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 Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as ...

entrepreneur. They lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, 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 a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

; with Planned Parenthood, the

National Urban League The National Urban League, 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 African Am ...

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

Education

She attended Smith College, then transferred to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, 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, 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 modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Ame ...

— 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 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, Indira Gandhi,

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,

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, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

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

, Elia Kazan,

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 w ...

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' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

, 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 pro ...

, 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 a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' (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, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...

and Bertolt Brecht. 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's world-touring exhibition

The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photography, photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) Department of Photography. According to Steichen, ...

for its curator

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

,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 20th-century American photographers 1905 births 1997 deaths People associated with Planned Parenthood 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American women photographers