-
Stories & Articles by Sonia

Articles and Stories by Sonia Pressman Fuentes

Sonia’s submission to the book Mother Knows Better - Sense and Nonsense from American Moms by Patti Murphy is one of over two hundred momisms in the book.
Sonia’s article about the travails of The Forward after Superstorm Sandy appeared in Der Bay (Vol. XXIII, No. II, Mar.-Apr. 2013, p. 12).
NOW (National Organization for Women) Founder Sonia Fuentes Gives Back To Education
"A heart-healthy diet is easier to adhere to than it may seem, especially with plenty of grocery and restaurant choices in Sarasota," December 7, 2012. (To see this article, which first first appeared on the Sarasota News Leader Web site, once the large picture appears, scroll down to the article.)
“A Journey of Discovery,” Sonia’s article about her September 2011 week’s trip to Germany exploring Jewish life in Germany, published in two parts.
- Part I: March-April issue of Outlook: Canada’s Progressive Jewish Magazine, pp. 22 through 24.
- Part II: May-June issue of Outlook: Canada’s Progressive Jewish Magazine, pp. 24 through 26.
"Finding My Identity as a Feminist" - This article appeared in the online magazine, Identity, on September 21, 2011.
"My Story" - This article appeared in HavaMag, Issue 4, August, 2011.
- To access the article:
  - Click on the arrow to the right until it takes you to the Table of Contents on the left.
  - Click on the first item in the Table of Contents, which is the article about Sonia, on page 10.
  - When you come to the article, double click on each page to make the type readable.
"First Woman: Sonia Pressman Fuentes," appeared at the end of July 2011 in Ms. JD, an e-zine for women law students and lawyers.
“Judging Our Future: Supreme Women Move Up,” about the increasing percent of women judges on the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts, went online in the Café section of On the Issues e-zine on December 21, 2010. In February of 2012, the article was added to the featured news & comments section of the website of Cornell University’s Avon Global Center for Women and Justice.
"Advancing Rights: 1964 Marks the Beginning of a New Era" - This article was published in On The Issues Magazine, Café section, on August 25, 2010, in celebration of Women’s Equity Day, the 90th anniversary of suffrage, August 26, 2010.
"Sonia Pressman Fuentes on Pregnancy Leave, Parental Care Leave, and the Law" - Sonia explains the law on leave and benefits in connection with pregnancy, delivery, and post-delivery on scitable.com, a website for women in science. (2010)
"My Life After Divorce" - Sonia discusses her life after divorce for a “Divorce and Women’s Success” series. (2010)
"A Negative Experience, A Positive Outcome" - The lucky day Fuentes was fired. (2009)
"First Wedding at the Fontainebleau," an unpublished anecdote, November 23, 2008.
"Fun With Yiddish" - Sonia starts a Yiddish club in Sarasota, FL. (2007)
"My Fortuitous Escape from the Holocaust and My Life Thereafter" - This article is published on a Web site called "Women and the Holocaust." (2006)
“A Love Letter to Ostuni” (2005)
"My Visit to Piltz" - A sequel to "A Visit to Piltz." (2005)
"Three-hour Tour Turns Unforgettable" - This article, by Fuentes, recalling the saga of her trip to the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford estates in Ft. Myers, FL, appeared in The East County Observer, a newspaper in East Manatee and Sarasota Counties, Florida, January 16, 2003.
"I Lucky Everything: The Story of a Real `Miss Saigon'" - Along with a manicure, a reminder of how immigrants revitalize our nation. (2002)
"A Visit to Piltz" - This article is about Fuentes' August 2001 journey to her parents' birthplace, a village called Piltz in Poland. (2001)
"How I Built a Life in Retirement" - Sonia had a difficult time adjusting to retirement, and then she entered the best years of her life. (2000)
"How I Published My Memoir: A Lawyer-Feminist's Story" - This is the story of the six years Fuentes spent in researching, writing, publishing and marketing her memoir and making the transition from being a lawyer to a writer and public speaker. (Also see: "How I Got Published in South Africa) (2000)
"A Seder in Shanghai" - Fuentes participates in a seder in a most unlikely city, Shanghai, China. This piece appeared previously in JoyZine and on Harry Leichter's website. (1999)
"HUD Goes to the Moscow Trade Show" - This article was originally published in Sparks 28. March - April, 1999. (1999)
Breast Cancer and Ruptured/Leaking Breast Implants - The story of Fuentes' experience with breast cancer. (1998)
- "Surviving Cancer"
- "What To Do with Aging Breast Implants" by Linda Searing
- "Ruptured Breast Implants"
- Fuentes’ video on icarevillage.com
- Fuentes’ interview about her breast cancer
"Three Legendary Feminists" - This article is about Fuentes' most memorable encounters with Alice Paul, the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, and Catherine East. (1998)
- Introduction
- Alice Paul
- Pauli Murray
- Catherine East
“Representing Women,” a 17-page article, originally published in Frontiers, a Journal of Women Studies (Vol. 18, No.3, Nov. 3, 1997), by the Washington State University Press, is available by emailing Sonia at spfuentes@comcast.net and asking her to email it to you or by purchasing it at jstor.org. This was Sonia’s first published article about women’s rights.
"House of History" - A history of the Sewall-Belmont House, one of the oldest houses on Capitol Hill, is the story of the current headquarters of the National Woman's Party. (1996)
"Magnolias" - A Washington, DC, love story. (1996)
"Family Past Unfolds Like Detective Story" - Research Leads to Ship's Records, a Movie and Snapshots. (1995)

Sonia Pressman Fuentes

A Negative Experience, A Positive Outcome

This article was first published in the e-zine, The Gantseh Megillah of March 2009.

At the end of 1981, I accepted a position with one of this country's top corporations in Cleveland, Ohio, to be in charge of their Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action programs. It was a daunting decision because acceptance required me to move, as a newly-single mother with my nine-year-old daughter, to the Midwest--a part of the country I had never expected to live in since I had spent my entire life (since coming to the US from Germany at the age of five) in the East.

My time at this corporation was rocky because I realized after I came aboard that the company had hired me because (1) at that time the federal government was requiring that companies improve their diversity policies and (2) so the company could say it had a well-known feminist on board, although it did not really want anything done about its EEO policies.

In 1984, at the request of my boss, I prepared a slide presentation to be shown to the company's chairman and president on the company's EEO situation. The presentation I prepared revealed problems in recordkeeping with regard to diversity at the company's west coast operation. When he learned what the presentation would show, my boss said, "You're not going to hang that on the west coast!" and shortly thereafter, I was fired.

I was devastated--I had moved my family to the Midwest, I was 56 years old, and did not know what I was going to do.

Everyone told me not to bother trying to find another job as no one would hire a 56-year-old woman. But I felt I had no choice--I had worked all my adult life, wanted to continue, and had to support myself and my daughter. I began to seek other employment. It took me a year-and-a-quarter, during which time my brother gave me loans that tided me over, and then I was offered a position as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at HUD (U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development). This brought me back to Washington, DC, where I had previously spent 16 years as an attorney with the federal government. I stayed there until my retirement in 1993, thus adding considerably to my pension with the federal government. Shortly thereafter, I began to write my memoir, Eat First--You Don't Know What They'll Give You, The Adventures of an Immigrant Family and Their Feminist Daughter, became a writer and a public speaker, was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, and moved to Sarasota, FL, where I created a new life for myself. My discharge (which, with the help of a Cleveland attorney, was turned into a resignation) turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.