Polly Spiegel Cowan

She was born Penelope Spiegel to a German Jewish immigrant family, the youngest of four children born to Lena (née Straus) and Modie Spiegel.[1][2] Her mother was the daughter of banker Frederic W. Straus.[2] Her grandfather was Joseph Spiegel and her great-uncle was Civil War Colonel Marcus M. Spiegel.[2] She and her three brothers, Frederick W. Spiegel (1898-1975), Modie "M.J." Spiegel Jr. (1901-1990), and John P. Spiegel (1911-1991),[2] were raised in Kenilworth, Illinois.[1] Although her family was of Jewish descent, they were raised in the Christian Science faith.[1][3] She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College where she had studied under Max Lerner and Robert Staughton Lynd.[1] She wrote an essay arguing for democratic socialism for her alumna magazine entitled "Pleading for Pink".[1] In 1939, she moved to New York City with her husband where they worked together as radio and television producers.[4] In 1952, her husband ran the media campaign for Adlai Stevenson and she was responsible for "Women Volunteers for Stevenson."[4] After her husband took a job at CBS, she took up social activism, first at the Citizens Committee for Children and then the National Council of Negro Women.[4] In 1964, she co-founded Wednesdays in Mississippi with Dorothy Height.[4][5][6][7]

She married twice. Her first marriage was to a man who worked for her grandfather.[1] On August 7, 1939, she married Louis G. Cowan.[1] In 1976, Cowan died along with her husband in a house fire.[8] They had four children: Paul Cowan, Geoffrey Cowan, Holly Cowan Shulman, and Liza Cowan.[8]