This is Sheila Michaels—in 1961 & more recently.

A feminist & civil rights activist, Michaels is credited with “discovering” & popularizing the title of Ms.

As the story goes, Michaels saw the typo “Ms.” on a piece of her roommate’s mail & decided it was the perfect alternative to having to choose between “Miss” & “Mrs.,” giving women the right to not be defined by marriage.

Sadly, Ms. Michaels passed away on June 22nd, at the ages  of 78.

Comments

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1. 

   Kathleen O says:

   I always wondered who started this trend… Thanks for sharing. :flower:

   On July 24, 2017 at 10:11 am

2. 

   Mary Kirkland says:

   Well that is interesting. I never would have known that.

   On July 24, 2017 at 1:52 pm

3. 

   Minna says:

   Oh, so that’s who I can blame when I’m wondering how am I supposed to translate Ms. in Finnish, since we only have “Miss” & “Mrs.” . :argh:

   On July 25, 2017 at 12:18 pm