Harriet Hausman: A Lifetime of Social Justice

In 2010, a newspaper headline called Harriet Hausman ’72 a “kindly senior” who was “tough as nails on social justice.” It’s a description that fit her mother well, Harriet’s daughter, Barbara Hausman, said.

“She was steadfast about weaving into her daily life ways to help others who were less fortunate,” Barbara said.

Harriet Hausman passed away in November of last year at the age of 99. Between raising a family in River Forest, Harriet, with her husband, Martin, at her side, found opportunities for activism. She marched for civil rights in Selma, Alabama; protested against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.; worked alongside the Black Panthers serving breakfast to children; and defended Constitutional free speech by supporting the right of a neo-Nazi group to march in Skokie even though the Hausmans were Jewish. 

“We believed it was better if their ugly words were aired,” Harriet said of the marchers.

She would go on to serve on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union, which presented her with the Edwin A. Rothschild Civil Liberties Award for her lifetime of activism In her 40s, Harriet returned to school, studying psychology at Rosary College. Her work in social justice was aided by what she learned there, her daughter believes.

“It enriched her understanding of people and circumstances,” Barbara said.

Her interests were many. She wrote Reflections—A History of River Forest, which is in the Library of Congress local history collection, and wrote regular columns for the Wednesday Journal newspaper up until the week she died. When her husband passed away in 1988, Harriet took over the railroad supply business she had helped him run.

“She had an unwillingness to give up, to give in,” Barbara said. “She was an incredible role model.”