Janet Stevenson
American writer, teacher, and social activist

Janet Marshall Stevenson (February 4, 1913 – June 9, 2009) was an American writer, teacher and social activist who wrote in the areas of civil rights, the women's movement, the peace movement, the environment and the arts. She published works in multiple fiction and nonfiction genres, and was recipient of several awards. She co-authored the successful 1943 Broadway play, Counterattack, which was adapted for the screen. She wrote a biography of California Attorney General Robert W. Kenny, who had defended the Hollywood Ten before the House Un-American Activities Committee. She and her husband Philip Stevenson were placed on the Hollywood blacklist for their political beliefs and associations. She spent the latter decades of her life in Oregon where she became active in local politics.
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.
Janet graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1933 and received an MFA in theater arts from Yale University in 1937. She 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.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18631457. VIAF identifies the subject as 67754710. The Library of Congress control number is n80009887. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1913, 2009, 1943 and 1933.
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This entry incorporates text from “Janet Stevenson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.