AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Today, we are remembering the trailblazing activist and journalist Gloria Steinem. She died yesterday at the age of 92. For decades, she was lionized for her work advocating for the rights of women. But perhaps one less well-known aspect of her legacy is that she helped make one of the most classic children's albums of all time. It's called "Free To Be... You And Me." NPR culture correspondent Anastasia Tsioulcas has this story.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FREE TO BE... YOU AND ME")
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: The kids album "Free To Be... You And Me" was the brainchild of actress Marlo Thomas, but it may never have existed without the contributions of Gloria Steinem and her fellow writers at Ms. Magazine. The album was released in 1972. Women's rights had reached some important milestones that year. Title IX passed, banning sex discrimination in all federally funded education programs. And Congress had also passed the Equal Rights Amendment, even though it got ensnarled in state ratification. And that summer, Ms. Magazine published its first standalone issue.
Thomas called upon her friend, Steinem, to help her shape "Free To Be... You And Me." In turn, Steinem introduced Thomas to Letty Cottin Pogrebin, one of Ms. Magazine's founding editors. They all realized that mothers and their young children would be a perfect audience. As Pogrebin told NPR in 2022, if the feminist calls to action in Ms. Magazine were for the grown-ups, the songs and stories on "Free To Be... You And Me" were the same messaging for kids.
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LETTY COTTIN POGREBIN: Kids have the purest sense of justice of anybody. They just say, it's not fair that I can't do this. Why can't I do this?
TSIOULCAS: And together, they assembled a diverse group of contributors for the project. Former football pro Rosey Grier reassuring boys that it's OK to express their emotions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S ALL RIGHT TO CRY")
ROSEY GRIER: (Singing) It's all right cry. Crying gets the sad out of you.
TSIOULCAS: To Carol Channing, advising listeners that advertisements for domestic godliness - decades before trad wives and social media influencers - were lies.
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CAROL CHANNING: The lady who smiles as she scours or scrubs or rubs or washes or wipes or mops or dusts or cleans or whatever she does on our TV screens - that lady is smiling because she's an actress, and she's earning money.
TSIOULCAS: This collection of songs, skits and original stories was a huge success. The album was later spun off into a book and a television special that won Emmy and Peabody Awards.
(SOUNDBITE OF THE VOICES OF EAST HARLEM SONG, "SISTERS AND BROTHERS")
TSIOULCAS: More than 50 years on, "Free To Be... You And Me" still resonates with generations of children and their parents. In 2020, the Library of Congress inducted the album into its National Recording Registry.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SISTERS AND BROTHERS")
THE VOICES OF EAST HARLEM: (Singing) Every father's daughter, every mother's son. Brothers and sisters, sisters and brothers, each and every one. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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