VFA has urged members to leave instructions to their families to advise VFA of their passing, but we still hear about many long after they've died, if we hear at all. When Joan Israel of Detroit informed us of Harriet's death, I emailed Detroit members asking for Harriet's obit, and received these memories from Vicki Lange.
MEMORIES OF HARRIET ALPERN
I first met Harriet in the mid-1970s during the class-action lawsuit against The Detroit News for employment discrimination. Our committee for that endeavor was called "Women in the News," and Harriet was one of our committee members.
She enlisted my help in designing and printing posters for the League of Women Voters-Oakland Area and Women's Action for New Directions (WAND). The poster featured a muzzled Statue of Liberty with the following copy: "Women Have No Voice...If We Don't Vote! Our vote is our voice. Use it! Vote November 5th!"
Harriet was extensively involved with the promotion of women candidates. It was her belief that it is important to support all women running for office, regardless of their party affiliation or educational/professional credentials. However, she did have a litmus test: She preferred that the women were socially liberal and fervent advocates of abortion rights and pay equity, and she hosted events in her home to promote prospective candidates.
Harriet cofounded and developed a project to monitor the content of news reported by traditional media outlets. She and another woman scrutinized print and electronic stories about women to determine whether the reporting was fair, balanced and non-sexist in its approach and tone. She also offered formal media/speaker training to enhance the women's delivery before lights, cameras, microphones and the omnipresent reporters' notebooks.
Patricia Hill Burnett and Harriet grew up together in Detroit and shared many feminist missions. Patricia shared some stories about Harriet that I'd never heard before, including this one: When the front door to the private Detroit Athletic Club (DAC)--at that time closed to women--was first invaded by feminists, Harriet was among the approximately 40 women wearing their highest heels who stormed in, yelling: "The real heels of the DAC are inside!" Patricia and Harriet also were the cofounders of Michigan's NOW chapter.
Surviving are children Dwight Alpern and Abbey Alpern Bern, a sister, two sisters-in-law and three grandchildren.--Vicki Lange