Susanne Steinem Patch

Susanne Steinem Patch (February 19, 1925 – November 2, 2007) was an American gem expert and staff lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission. Early life Susanne Steinem was born in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of Leo Steinem and Ruth Nuneviller Steinem. Her paternal grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem, was a suffragist and activist for vocational education in Toledo. After their parents' divorce and their mother's health issues, Susanne was an important support for her younger sister, Gloria Steinem.<ref>Letty Cottin Pogrebin, "Gloria Steinem" Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. (Jewish Women's Archive, March 2009).</ref> Susanne Steinem attended Smith College, earning an undergraduate degree in 1946. At age 50, after raising six children, she returned to school, earning her law degree from Antioch School of Law in 1978. Career While in college, Susanne Steinem worked at a jewelry store, and became fascinated by gems. She learned the industry working as buyer in New York and Washington D.C. She taught gemology classes and hosted a local television show on the subject. In the 1970s she served as a docent at the Smithsonian Institution's Hall of Gems and Minerals and Hall of Physical Geology in the 1970s. Patch wrote a book, Blue Mystery: The Story of the Hope Diamond'' (1976), and was a technical consultant on the subject for various documentaries and exhibits.