Dorothy Rodgers

Dorothy Rodgers (née Feiner; 1906–1993) was an American author, inventor, businesswoman, and philanthropist.[1] She was married to the Broadway composer Richard Rodgers, of the famous duo Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Life

Born in New York City to a Jewish family, Rodgers attended the Horace Mann School and Wellesley College in the late 1920s, where she studied art and interior design.[2] She married Richard Rodgers in 1930.[2]

She started her own business, Repairs Inc. in 1935 before she invented the Jonny Mop in 1945.[2] Rodgers was also the creator of the Basically Yours dress pattern and the Ideal Toy Company's Turn and Learn storybooks.[2]

She is the author of several books focusing on interior design and entertaining at home such as 1967's The Home in My Head.[2] In 1970, Rodgers also co-wrote a self-help book with her daughter Mary Rodgers Guettel about mother-daughter relationships and housekeeping called A Word to the Wives.[2][3] This spawned a related radio show and a regular magazine column for McCall's Magazine, "Of Two Minds."[3]

Rodgers was also known as an activist, writing letters against antisemitism.[3] She likewise a noted philanthropist who supported several Jewish cultural organizations.[3]

Death

Rodgers died in her Manhattan home at the age of 83 in August of 1992. She was survived by her two daughters, Mary and Linda.[2]

References

Belzer, Tobin (1999). "A Jewish Identity at the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Class: Dorothy Feiner Rodgers". Race, Gender & Class. 7: 152–166 – via JSTOR.
Grimes, William (August 18, 1992). "Dorothy Rodgers is Dead at 83; Writer, Inventor and Decorator". New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
Koren, S. (2009). The "one-woman lobby on anything and everything:" discovering the other side of dorothy Rodgers1 2 3. Women in Judaism, 6(1), 1-21. Retrieved from http://unr.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/200845122?accountid=452

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[1] Belzer, Tobin (1999). "A Jewish Identity at the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Class: Dorothy Feiner Rodgers". Race, Gender & Class. 7: 152–166 – via JSTOR.

[:0-2] Grimes, William (August 18, 1992). "Dorothy Rodgers is Dead at 83; Writer, Inventor and Decorator". New York Times. Retrieved 7 March 2020.

[:1-3] Koren, S. (2009). The "one-woman lobby on anything and everything:" discovering the other side of dorothy Rodgers1 2 3. Women in Judaism, 6(1), 1-21. Retrieved from http://unr.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/200845122?accountid=452