Florence Howe, Feminist Press Founder

Feminist Press founder Florence Howe (1929–2020)—author, editor, publisher, and teacher—is an internationally recognized leader of the modern feminist movement. She became closely involved with the women's movement after her participation in the civil rights and anti-war movements in the 1960s. Described by colleagues as the “Elizabeth Cady Stanton of women’s studies,” Howe began teaching women’s studies courses long before the field was established. Howe founded the Feminist Press in 1970, when many larger publishing houses showed blatant disregard for women authors. She published such notable writers as Ama Ata Aidoo, Rebecca Harding Davis, Marilyn French, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Zora Neale Hurston, Savyon Liebrecht, Dacia Maraini, Paule Marshall, Louise Meriwether, Lauretta Ngcobo, Tillie Olsen, Grace Paley, Agnes Smedley, Alice Walker, and Zoë Wicomb, many of whose works had been out of print for decades.

“Florence Howe was a visionary with extraordinary literary taste, an ear for transformative ideas, and a steely focus on feminism and social justice,” says Linda Villarosa, chair of the Feminist Press board. “The book All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave, first published by Florence at the Press in 1982, changed my life and thinking. Like me, people across several generations can thank Florence for opening our eyes, uplifting our voices, mentoring us as writers and scholars, and training us to step into her shoes.”

“I met Florence in 1947, when I was a freshman at Hunter College and she was a sophomore,” says Helene Goldfarb, president of the Feminist Press board. “I became an outspoken feminist because of her and joined her as a board member of the Press in the 1980s. She was a very big part of my life and made the Press a big part of my life. We spoke every day, and I am not sure how I will fill the hole in my heart and my life. But I do know that we must all work to keep the Press alive and well in honor of her legacy.”

Howe was a president of the Modern Language Association and held a dozen consultancies, including those with the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She authored or edited more than a dozen books and over 120 essays featured in publications such as the Harvard Educational Review, the Nation, the New York Review of Books, PMLA, and the Women’s Review of Books, as well as in a variety of anthologies.

“Florence’s razor-sharp vision, passion for feminist education, and unmatched fortitude leave an indelible imprint upon our hearts and minds. We owe her a tremendous debt for her unending devotion to championing marginalized voices and diversifying the publishing industry for over half a century,” says Jamia Wilson, executive director of the Feminist Press. “Thanks to Florence, I was born into a world where I could always recognize myself within the books on FP’s list. We look forward to continuing to pave the way for a more just world with all of the wisdom Florence shared with us. May her memory be a blessing for generations to come.”

If you’d like to learn more about Florence Howe’s work, we highly recommend her memoir A LIFE IN MOTION, which was published by FP in 2011.