From the Editor

Over the past 30 years the Journal of Women & Aging has published numerous, primarily original research, articles on a wide variety of topics concerning older women. The idea for the Journal of Women & Aging was born in the head of Bill Cohen, then CEO of Haworth press. At the recommendation of Rose Dobrof, Professor of Social Work at Hunter, in early 1988, I was brought on board as editor to bring to fruition Bill’s idea.

The first three issues of the Journal of Women & Aging came out in 1989 and were also published as a book, Women as They Age, Challenges, Opportunities, and Triumphs. The book, co-edited with Susan O. Mercer became a supplemental textbook in undergraduate and graduate programs in aging and in women’s studies. In the introduction we wrote about some truly remarkable old women. Women like Hulda Crooks, who climbed Mount Fuji at the age of 91, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus who, in 1958, founded the American Association of Retired Persons, and 81-year-old Murial Clark who went undercover to assist in the investigation of nursing home fraud that later resulted in prosecutions. At its inception, the journal was ground breaking with its focus specifically on older women. As far as I know we remain the sole academic journal with that focus.

I lost track of Bill Cohen after Haworth Press was acquired by the significantly larger Taylor & Francis Group. My professor, mentor, and friend, Rose Dobrof, is no longer with us. Susie Mercer is now retired and living in Santa Fe. I am also essentially retired, with the exception of continuing to edit this journal and now living in Florida, a state with a virtual army of retired older women.

Under the auspices of Taylor & Francis, the journal has expanded to encompass publication of significantly more articles from around the globe. Next year I will be retiring from editing this journal and will be leaving in in the capable hands of Francine Conway, who is our current book review editor and Dean of the School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers.

As was true when our journal was conceived, there continue to be many positives of being old and female. We have proven our durability. Long after our once trusty appliances have been replaced, our once shiny, new car has been crushed for metal, and many of our male colleagues are no longer with us, we are still here representing the majority of people who survive to old, old age. We provide the bulk of volunteer services worldwide, many of us continue to work into the retirement years, and we provide frequently uncompensated care for our grandchildren and great grandchildren.

It unfortunately remains true that we constitute the majority of the older poor, are frequently plagued by chronic illness, and older women continue to be under-studied in many research endeavors. The Journal of Women & Aging continues to be committed to lessening that latter gap.