Edith Windsor
Edith "Edie" Windsor | |
---|---|
Born | Edith Schlain June 20, 1929 |
Died | September 12, 2017 | (aged 88)
Alma mater | New York University Temple University |
Employer | IBM |
Known for | United States v. Windsor |
Movement | LGBT rights |
Spouse(s) | Saul Windsor (?-?; div.) Thea Clara Spyer
(m. 2007; died 2009)Judith Kasen (after 2016) |
Awards | see below |
Website | EdieWindsor.com |
Edith "Edie" Windsor[1] (née Schlain; June 20, 1929 – September 12, 2017) was an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activist and a former technology manager at IBM.[2][3]
Windsor was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor, which successfully overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act and was considered a landmark legal victory for the same-sex marriage movement in the United States.
Windsor died in Manhattan, New York on September 12, 2017 at the age of 88.
Early life and education
[change | change source]Windsor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James and Celia Schlain, a Russian Jewish immigrant family of modest means. She was the youngest of three children.[2][3][4] During her childhood, her family suffered as a result of the Great Depression, and her father lost both his candy-and-ice-cream store and their home above it.[2][5] In school, she at times experienced anti-Semitism.[3][6] Throughout school, she dated boys her age, but said later she recalls having crushes on girls.[3][7]
Windsor received her bachelor's degree from Temple University in 1950.[2][8] In 1955, she began pursuing a master's degree in mathematics, which she obtained from New York University in 1957.[2][3][6] She then joined IBM, where she worked for the next sixteen years. During this time, she spent two semesters studying applied mathematics at Harvard University on an IBM fellowship.[2]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Curtis M. Wong (September 12, 2017). "Bill Clinton, Andy Cohen, Lea DeLaria And More Mourn Edie Windsor's Death". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Affidavit of Edith Schlain Windsor" (PDF). nyclu.org. United States District Court Southern District of New York. June 23, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Eliza Gray (December 11, 2013). "Edith Windsor, The Unlikely Activist". Time. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ↑ Naomi Zeveloff. "Forward 50 (2013): Edith Windsor". The Forward. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
- ↑ "Windsor Amended Complaint". box.com.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jill Hamburg Coplan (Fall 2011). "When a Woman Loves a Woman". Nyu.edu (17). NYU Alumni Magazine. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ↑ Totenberg, Nina (March 21, 2013). "Meet The 83-Year-Old Taking On The U.S. Over Same-Sex Marriage". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- ↑ Graham, Kristen A. (April 28, 2014). "At Temple, an alumna once closeted gets a hero's welcome back". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2015.