GRAY PANTHERS
Founded in 1970, the Gray Panthers is a national organization dedicated to social justice for old and young people alike. However, the Gray Panthers is best known for work on behalf of older persons. It has lobbied and litigated against AGE DISCRIMINATION in the areas of retirement, housing, and HEALTH CARE. The group’s broad liberal agenda reflects the politics of its founder, Margaret E. “Maggie” Kuhn (1905–1995), who built the fledgling organization into a powerful force in local and national politics. Kuhn’s success as an organizer, leader, spokeswoman, and author left the Gray Panthers, at the time of her
death in 1995, with 70,000 members in 85 chap-
ters nationwide. Although the organization is
strongest at the grassroots level, its relatively
small seven-member national staff has effected
significant changes in federal law.
The protest era of the VIETNAM WAR gave
rise to the Gray Panthers. In 1970 the 65-year-
old Kuhn was forced by the federal mandatory
retirement law to end her 22-year career in the
United Presbyterian Church. However, she did
not want to retire. In response Kuhn helped
form a loose-knit organization called Consulta-
tion of Older and Younger Adults for Social
Change. Its primary goals were changing the
mandatory retirement age and uniting people of
all ages to seek an end to the Vietnam War. As
the group gained recognition, the press coined
the term “gray panthers,” comparing it to the radical black activist group, the BLACK PANTHERS. Kuhn adopted the name in 1972.
The Gray Panthers developed a broad polit-
ical agenda. Among its goals were affordable
housing, the creation of a national health sys-
