Emily W. Sunstein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_W._Sunstein

Emily Weisberg Sunstein (April 28, 1924 - April 21, 2007) was an American campaigner, political activist and biographer.

Born Emily Weisberg in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from high school there. She married stockbroker Leon Sunstein, Jr. in 1943 a year before earning a bachelor's degree in Art History in 1944 from Vassar College. The couple then moved to Elkins Park before raising three children in Wyncote.

Before beginning her writing career, Sunstein was active in civic affairs. A charter member of Americans for Democratic Action (founded in 1947), she later became the first woman to serve as head of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

She sat on the State Commission for Human Relations from 1970 to 1974, was the head of the state Conference on Women's Economics Issues and the head of the Philadelphia YWCA in 1975.

She and her husband built a sprawling modern cedar home overlooking Fairmount Park in the mid-1970s.

In 1989, her first book, Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality (Little, Brown and Co., 1989) was published to critical acclaim. She won the Modern Language Association Prize for Independent Scholars in 1989.

She moved away from politics and started to enjoy other passions such as writing, collecting art, entertaining and horticulture. She remained active in Jewish causes until she became ill in the mid-1990s.

SUNSTEIN
EMILY W. (nee Weisberg), April 21, 2007; wife of Leon C. Sunstein Jr., mother of Kay (Paul) Hymowitz, Lauren K. Sunstein, Paul (Julie) Sunstein; sister of Alex Weisberg and Marie Jaffe; grandmother of Dan, Nora, Anna, Gabriella, Stella and Leon. Relatives and friends are invited to Funeral Services, Mon., 1 P.M., precisely at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St., Phila., PA 19123. The family will return to her late residence receiving until 8 P.M. Contributions in her memory may be made to The Rosenbach Museum, 2008 Delancey Place, Phila., PA 19103 or the Free Library of Phila. Foundation, 1901 Vine Street, Suite 111, Phila., PA 19103.

Emily Weisberg was born on April 28, 1924, in Dallas, and was reared there. In 1944 she earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Vassar College.

Before beginning her writing career, Ms. Sunstein was active in civic affairs. A charter member of Americans for Democratic Action, founded in 1947, she later became the first woman to serve as head of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee.

Besides her daughter Kay Sunstein, of Brooklyn, Ms. Sunstein is survived by her husband, Leon C. Sunstein Jr., whom she married in 1943; a son, Paul, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; another daughter, Lauren K. Sunstein, of Rome; and six grandchildren.