Nora Ruth Roberts

Roberts—Nora Ruth Roberts, 76, on December 26, 2018, in New York, N.Y. Nora was born on April 19, 1942, in Los Angeles, Calif., and was a direct descendent of Henry and William James and of a long line of Quaker scholars. She grew up as a Trotskyist and was a member of the Socialist Workers Party’s affiliated youth organization, the Young Socialist Alliance. Earning her bachelor’s in English from City College of New York (CCNY) and studying for her master’s at both CCNY and Yale, she earned a doctorate in philosophy from City University of New York (CUNY). She was a member of Fifteenth Street Meeting and later Morningside Meeting, both in New York City.

More political than religious, she will be remembered for her work with educational reform, the African American Civil Rights Movement, and women’s liberation. Her incentive helped to keep socialism legal in the United States, including taking part in a U.S. Supreme Court case in the 1990s when she was at CUNY. She wrote extensively about socialism and about radical women writers.

Nora will be remembered by her two surviving children, Kit Wainer and Robben Wainer, and her grandchildren. Friends can view her niche in the Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum.