Janet Stevenson

Janet Marshall Stevenson (February 4, 1913 – June 9, 2009) was an American writer, teacher and social activist from Oregon who wrote in the areas of civil rights, the women's movement, the peace movement, the environment and the arts. She published works in several fiction and non-fiction genres, and was recognized with several awards. She wrote a biography of California Attorney General Robert W. Kenny, who defended the Hollywood Ten before the House Un-American Activities Committee; she herself was placed on the Hollywood blacklist for her political beliefs and associations, along with her husband Philip Stevenson. Early life and education Janet Atlantis Marshall was born on February 4, 1913, in Chicago, Illinois, to John Carter, an investment banker, and Atlantis Octavia (née McClendon) Marshall. Marshall graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1933 and received an MFA in theater arts from Yale University in 1937. Marshall married playwright and screenwriter Philip Edward Stevenson in New York City in 1939. They met while working for a summer stock theatre in Surry, Maine. The Stevensons collaborated on several plays, including "Counterattack," which was produced on Broadway in 1944. It was later turned into a successful motion picture of the same name. Janet and Philip had two sons, Joseph and Edward. The Stevensons were divorced in 1964 and Philip died while traveling in the Soviet Union in 1965. Janet Stevenson moved to Astoria, Oregon, the same year.