31:
139:, Innes worked in the parks department in Los Angeles. In 1945 she directed a youth theatrical production in Los Angeles with over 150 youth participants, and chaired the program for a "thanksgiving harvest festival" in the city. In the 1950s, Sommers and her second husband worked for social and civil rights causes in the South.
142:
In the 1970s, Sommers became focused on feminist issues, especially involving older women. With the help of her friend Laurie
Shields, she successfully lobbied 39 states and Congress to pass displaced homemaker laws, which offered a network of job training and counseling centers for career housewives
218:
Innes married Sidney Arnold Burke in 1938; they later divorced. She married fellow activist Joseph
Sommers in 1949; they adopted a son, and divorced in 1972. "Undoubtedly the divorce was, in part, my own awakening," she later recalled. Sommers died from cancer in 1985 at the age of 71, in
167:
in 1975. She won the
Western Gerontological Society Award in 1979, and the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation's Ministry to Women Award in 1981. In 1982, already facing a cancer diagnosis, she was keynote speaker at a conference on employment at
122:
and raised in San
Francisco, the daughter of Murray Innes and Katherine Dorsch Innes. Her father was a mining engineer, and her mother was a teacher. She studied dance as a young woman, including three years in Germany in the 1930s. She attended the
231:
established the Tish
Sommers Senior Scholars program to honor her; it supports the work of older graduate and postdoctoral students working to improve the lives of older women. In 1991, a biography of her was published, titled
706:
Health Care for Elders: Alternative
Futures : Hearing Before the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, Second Session, March 18, 1984, Anaheim, Calif
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Medicare and
Acupuncture: Hearing Before the Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Ninety-eighth Congress, First Session, November 30, 1983, San Francisco, Calif
460:
660:
593:
434:
513:
646:
Future directions in social security: hearing before the
Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate, Ninety-third Congress, first session ...
150:'s task force on older women in the 1970s. She was also a NOW board member and led the Jobs for Older Women Action Project. She co-founded the
1083:
106:(September 8, 1914 – October 18, 1985) was an American author, women's rights activist, and the co-founder and first president of the
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The not-so-helpless female: How to change the world even if you never thought you could; A step-by-step guide to social action
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397:""Don't Agonize, Organize!": The Displaced Homemakers Campaign and the Contested Goals of Postwar Feminism"
338:"Tish Sommers | Older Women's Advocate Dies at 71: Tish Sommers Was Co-Founder of 15,000-Member Group"
337:
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224:
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who went through divorce or the death of a husband. Sommers coined the phrase "displaced homemaker."
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and aging. In 1984, she once again spoke before a
Congressional committee on aging and healthcare.
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Sommers was named one of the "Bay Area's Ten Most
Distinguished Persons" by the
203:"Three Caregivers Tell Their Stories: Seriously Near the Breaking Point" (1985)
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Chimes of change and hours: views of older women in twentieth-century America
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191:"Freelance Agitator Argues for Hiring Changes: Look Out Job Market!" (1978)
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Women take care : the consequences of caregiving in today's society
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877:"Three Caregivers Tell Their Stories: Seriously Near the Breaking Point"
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1035:. Internet Archive. Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press.
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Tish Sommers, activist, and the founding of the Older Women's League
722:"Freelance Agitator Argues for Hiring Changes: Look Out Job Market!"
234:
Tish Sommers, Activist: and the Founding of the Older Women's League
207:
Women Take Care: The Consequences of Caregiving in Today's Society
30:
643:
United States Congress Senate Special Committee on Aging (1973).
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Women's Rights: People and Perspectives: People and Perspectives
703:
United States Congress House Select Committee on Aging (1984).
686:
United States Congress House Select Committee on Aging (1984).
572:. Internet Archive. New York : McGraw-Hill. pp. ix.
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in 1974. She testified before a Senate committee on aging and
920:. Internet Archive. Gainesville, Fla. : Triad Pub. Co.
943:"with the wisdom of an owl: an interview with tish sommers"
172:. In 1983, she testified before a Congressional hearing on
941:
Sommers, Tish; Sorrel, Lorraine; Sojourner, Susan (1982).
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with Laurie Shields in 1980, and was its first president.
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University of California, San Francisco (June 10, 1993).
940:
881:
Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging
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Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging
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Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging
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Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging
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Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging
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Displaced homemakers : organizing for a new life
227:
Libraries. The Institute for Health and Aging at the
675:– via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
649:
U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 1679–1682.
608:– via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
528:– via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
514:"Tish Sommers lobbies for Displaced Homemaker's act"
486:
484:
482:
475:– via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
449:– via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
709:. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 17–22.
692:. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 46–51.
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261:. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 41–42.
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594:"Ageism, sexism; They call it double jeopardy"
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981:"Tish Sommers Dies; Led Older Women's Union"
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16:American author and women's rights activist
661:"Conference to Explore American Workplace"
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617:
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512:McCormack, Patricia (September 4, 1975).
511:
295:. University of Illinois Press. pp.
1059:A 1982 video interview with Tish Sommers
875:Sommers, Tish; Zarit, Steven H. (1985).
291:Feminists who changed America, 1963-1975
194:"If We Could Write the Script..." (1980)
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229:University of California, San Francisco
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435:"Hollenbeck to Present War Chest Show"
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223:. Some of her papers are held in the
125:University of California, Los Angeles
492:"Tish Sommers, 71, Women's Activist"
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386:
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200:"Caregiving: A Woman's Issue" (1985)
35:Tish Sommers, from a 1982 newspaper
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1084:American women's rights activists
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761:"If We Could Write The Script..."
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1065:television, on Internet Archive
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363:"Formal Normal Student Married"
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148:National Organization for Women
118:Letitia Gale Innes was born in
625:. Online Archive of California
600:. April 24, 1975. pp. B-2
539:DeLuzio, Crista (2009-11-12).
505:
461:"Thanks festival set tomorrow"
453:
427:
355:
197:"If I Had a Billion..." (1981)
89:Letitia Burke, Letitia Sommers
1:
838:"Caregiving: A Woman's Issue"
494:. Chicago Tribune. 1985-10-19
395:Levenstein, L. (2014-03-01).
239:
441:. August 14, 1945. p. 8
104:Letitia "Tish" Innes Sommers
7:
401:Journal of American History
255:Borenstein, Audrey (1983).
209:(1987, with Laurie Shields)
10:
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667:. March 3, 1982. p. 7
225:San Diego State University
1079:American feminist writers
1029:Huckle, Patricia (1991).
799:"If I Had a Billion . . "
545:. ABC-CLIO. p. 196.
287:Love, Barbara J. (2006).
93:
85:
66:
40:
28:
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566:Shields, Laurie (1981).
214:Personal life and legacy
114:Early life and education
170:Sonoma State University
160:San Francisco Chronicle
914:Sommers, Tish (1987).
836:Sommers, Tish (1985).
797:Sommers, Tish (1981).
759:Sommers, Tish (1980).
720:Sommers, Tish (1978).
623:"Tish Sommers Papers"
413:10.1093/jahist/jau007
152:Older Women's League
146:Sommers chaired the
108:Older Women's League
131:Career and activism
120:Cambria, California
985:The New York Times
665:Healdsburg Tribune
598:Healdsburg Tribune
518:San Bernardino Sun
45:Letitia Gale Innes
1042:978-0-87049-691-2
927:978-0-937404-28-7
579:978-0-07-056802-0
552:978-1-59884-115-2
342:Los Angeles Times
306:978-0-252-03189-2
268:978-0-8386-3170-6
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367:Chico Record
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137:World War II
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80:, California
72:(1985-10-18)
61:, California
23:Tish Sommers
1094:1985 deaths
1089:1914 births
848:(1): 9–13.
770:(4): 7–35.
1073:Categories
998:2023-01-07
953:(1): 6–7.
732:(4): 8–9.
671:January 6,
629:2011-11-27
604:January 6,
524:January 6,
498:2011-11-27
471:January 7,
465:Daily News
445:January 7,
439:Daily News
373:January 6,
348:2011-11-27
312:2011-11-27
240:References
51:1914-09-08
1015:UCSF News
993:0362-4331
959:0030-0071
893:0738-7806
854:0738-7806
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862:44875293
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174:Medicare
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