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Remembering Gloria Steinem's visits to Columbus

Alissa Widman Neese

Black-and-white photo of Gloria Steinem smiling, with long hair and round glasses, seated at a desk and raising one hand in a gesture. — Gloria Steinem during a 1983 book tour stop in Columbus. Photo: Bettman Archive via Getty Images

Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who died last week at 92, made several stops in Columbus during the decades she spent bringing the U.S. women's movement into the mainstream.

Flashback: The Toledo-born journalist was used to being "admired and reviled" in her politically divided home state, the AP reported in 2017.

That year, she spoke at Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio's centennial gala fundraiser and was characteristically unfazed by the protests it attracted.

From the beginning, Steinem drew a crowd.

A stop at Lazarus during her first book tour in 1983 drew over 650 fans, each receiving a personally autographed copy with their ticket — "a few men, even," a Dispatch story quipped.
"I think the most I ever had to sign before was around 300," Steinem said. "The response here has been exceptional."

Steinem was famously blunt, witty and quotable.

The Women's Fund of Central Ohio, which featured her as a Keyholder speaker in 2007, shared one popular saying after her death.

What she said: "The problem is the feeling that we're divided from politics, that our vote doesn't count or what we do doesn't count. In fact, everything we do counts."

What's next: Steinem's final memoir, "An Unexpected Life," is expected to publish later this month.

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Remembering Gloria Steinem's visits to Columbus

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