History
The organization was initially known as the Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change. The group’s main goals included changing the mandatory retirement age and seeking an end to the Vietnam War. In 1972, they were nicknamed the Gray Panthers by a New York talk show producer. The name was later officially adopted by the group. As of 2010 the group operated under a system of participatory democracy, designed to allow all of their members a say in the group’s direction.
The national office of the Gray Panthers has been located in Washington, D.C. since 1990. Previous office locations included Philadelphia, PA.
In 1992 former national Head Start administrator Jule Sugarman accepted the position of Interim executive director of the Gray Panthers, who were by then on the brink of insolvency, to help the group reorganize its by-laws, its board of directors, and its fund-raising activities.
Although their slogan was “Age and Youth in Action,” the group was seen by many as meeting the needs of only senior citizens.
The national Gray Panthers organization was a collection of local networks. The group gained official NGO (Non-governmental Organization) status at the United Nations in 1981. Seven Gray Panthers representatives participate in various UN committees and conferences.
The Gray Panthers celebrated their 40th Anniversary "Year of Activism" in 2010.
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“The history is always the same the product is always different and the history interests more than the product. More, that is, more. Yes. But if the product was not different the history which is the same would not be more interesting.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
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—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)