Dorothy Kenyon

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Dorothy Kenyon (17 February 1888 – 12 February 1972) was a New York lawyer, judge, feminist and political activist in support of civil liberties. During the era of McCarthyite persecution, she was accused of being affiliated with 28 communist front organizations.

Kenyon was born in New York City to Maria Wellington (Stanwood) and William Houston Kenyon, a patent lawyer. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 1917 and in her first job served as a research specialist in the group of lawyers advising delegates to the Versailles Peace Conference. In the 1920s, she was known for her support of birth control. In 1920 she was a co-founder of the Consumers Cooperative Services, which ran a chain of cooperative cafeterias in New York City.

In 1930, Kenyon established the law firm of Straus and Kenyon with Dorothy Straus, with whom she worked in partnership until 1939, when she became a justice of the Municipal Court. From 1938-1943, she worked on the League of Nations Committee and travelled regularly between New York and Europe. During her membership on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, from 1946 until 1950, Kenyon deplored the small role of women in the government of the United States. She was not re-appointed.

In response to Joseph McCarthy's accusations on 8 March 1950 of her involvement with communist organizations, she described him as "an unmitigated liar" and "a coward to take shelter in the cloak of Congressional immunity." The following day, the New York Times published an editorial supporting Kenyon, following which McCarthy claimed to have little interest in the case. A Senate subcommittee dismissed the charges on 17 July.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Kenyon prepared briefs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and worked for the ACLU.

Kenyon died of stomach cancer in 1972.

[edit] References and further reading

Edited by Kerber, Linda K., Skla, Kathryn Kish and Kessler-Harris, Alice (1995). U.S. History As Women's History: New Feminist Essays. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807844950.
Strout, Lawrence N. (1999). Covering McCarthyism: How the Christian Science Monitor Handled Joseph R. McCarthy, 1950-1954. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-31091-2.
Hartmann, Susan M. (1998). The Other Feminists: Activists in the Liberal Establishment. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300074646.
Edited by James, Edward T., James, Janet Wilson and Boyer, Paul (1974). Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Belknap Press. ISBN 0674627342.