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Fannie Hurst

National Portrait Gallery
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Object Details

Artist
Joseph Margulies, 1896 - 1984
Sitter
Fannie Hurst, 19 Oct 1885 - 23 Feb 1968
Exhibition Label
Born Hamilton, Ohio
Fannie Hurst’s name and striking face are little remembered today, but in the early twentieth century she was one of America’s most prominent female celebrities. She owed her fame (as well as her fortune) to novels and short stories that spun heartrending tales of immigrant life and the struggles of working women. Phenomenally popular, her fiction was dramatized in more than thirty Hollywood films. Hurst’s passion for social justice led to friendships with Eleanor Roosevelt and several leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. She campaigned for a married woman’s right to retain her maiden name, fought racial discrimination alongside the Urban League, and raised money for refugees of Nazi Germany. A talk show she hosted in the late 1950s broke new ground by featuring forthright discussions of homosexuality, and Hurst was among the first public figures to champion gay rights.
Nacida en Hamilton, Ohio
Hoy pocos recuerdan su nombre o su impactante rostro, pero a principios del siglo XX Fannie Hurst fue una de las celebridades más destacadas de Estados Unidos. Adquirió fama (y fortuna) escribiendo novelas y cuentos sumamente emotivos acerca de la vida de los inmigrantes y las luchas de las mujeres trabajadoras. Sus obras alcanzaron una popularidad extraordinaria y fueron llevadas a Hollywood en más de treinta películas. El fervor de Hurst por la justicia social propició su amistad con Eleanor Roosevelt y varios líderes del movimiento conocido como “renacimiento de Harlem”. Defendió el derecho de las mujeres casadas a conservar su apellido original, luchó contra el discrimen racial junto a la Urban League y recaudó fondos para los refugiados de la Alemania nazi. A fines de la década de 1950 condujo un programa de entrevistas que rompió esquemas al incluir discusiones abiertas sobre la homosexualidad y fue una de las primeras figuras públicas que salieron en defensa de los derechos gay.
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
1929
Object number
NPG.70.50
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Drawing
Medium
Lithographic crayon on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 47.8 × 31.8cm (18 13/16 × 12 1/2")
Mat: 55.9 × 40.6cm (22 × 16")
See more items in
National Portrait Gallery Collection
National Portrait Gallery
Topic
Fannie Hurst: Female
Fannie Hurst: Literature\Writer\Novelist
Fannie Hurst: Literature\Writer\Playwright
Fannie Hurst: Literature\Writer\Screenwriter
Portrait
Record ID
npg_NPG.70.50
Metadata Usage (text)
Usage conditions apply
GUID (Link to Original Record)
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4cdd8382a-0877-4553-893e-a4bd56824b30

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