Dorothy Zellner

Dorothy Zellner, born in New York City in 1938 to Jewish leftist parents, became a prominent figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Inspired by the sit-in movement, she joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Atlanta, Georgia, initially as office support before transitioning into a leadership role as a staff member. Throughout her time at SNCC, she supported voter registration efforts in the South, coordinated communications, and helped publicize civil rights violations, often facing significant risks in the process. After leaving SNCC in the late 1960s, Zellner worked to address racism in white working-class communities and later returned to New York, continuing her activism in feminist movements and advocacy for Palestinian rights.