Gloria Steinem, the pioneering journalist and organizer known as one of the most prominent figures of the American women’s movement, died Wednesday, Sept. 2, at her home in New York City. She was 92.
Her representatives and the Gloria Steinem Foundation announced the death on her official social media accounts.
She died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, the statement said. No cause of death was disclosed.
Steinem continued writing and hosting informal gatherings at her Manhattan brownstone in her final years.
The gatherings, known as Talking Circles, will continue in her memory, the foundation noted. Her forthcoming memoir, An Unexpected Life, was scheduled for publication this fall.
Women’s rights activists Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92.
— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 3, 2026
She was most known as a nationally recognised leader of second-wave feminism in the U.S. pic.twitter.com/p3Y4V5ILEt
Steinem became a well known journalist before becoming one of the leading organizers of the Feminist movement in the late 1960s and 1970s.
The feminist Icon graduated from Smith College in 1956 and spent two years in India on a fellowship before chasing her journalism career in New York.
In 1963, Show magazine sent Steinem undercover to investigate working conditions at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club. She took a job as a Playboy Bunny and wrote about the experience in “I Was a Playboy Bunny.” that article brought her national attention.
In 1968, she helped found New York magazine, becoming an editor and political writer.
Her reporting on abortion became a turning point. In 1969, while covering a public event on the legalization of abortion in New York, Steinem heard women describe their experiences and spoke publicly about her own abortion for the first time.
Steinem had undergone an illegal abortion in 1957 while traveling through London on her way to India.
In 1971, she helped found Ms. magazine. Smith College says the publication was created in response to the lack of journalistic media produced by and for women.
Gloria Steinem, a leading American feminist activist, journalist, and co-founder of Ms. magazine. A key voice in the 1960s-70s women's rights movement, the woman who advocated for equality and reproductive rights has passed away at age 92.💔💔🕊️RIP Gloria Steinem https://t.co/YL6QsGpeK5 pic.twitter.com/b57p6R4HDN
— Banter God (@Banter_God1) September 3, 2026
Before Ms., Steinem said, “…there really was nothing for women to read that was controlled by women.”
The magazine debuted as an insert in New York magazine and sold 300,000 copies in less than a week, according to Smith College. It addressed issues including abortion and domestic violence and became a leading voice in the second-wave feminist movement.
Steinem was also a founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971, alongside Shirley Chisholm, Betty Friedan, Fannie Lou Hamer and Bella Abzug. The organization sought to increase women’s participation in political and public life.
Her activism expanded beyond Ms. She traveled across the country speaking at campuses, rallies and community gatherings, while organizing, fundraising and campaigning for women’s rights.
Steinem described herself in an interview with The New Yorker as “an entrepreneur of social change.”
She later helped establish the Ms. Foundation and remained involved with organizations focused on women’s rights and media. Her papers at Smith College document decades of correspondence, speeches, research and organizational work.
In her final years, Steinem continued writing and meeting with people through the Talking Circles at her home.
The Gloria Steinem Foundation asked people wishing to honor her to donate to the foundation rather than send flowers
