Lillian B. Rubin
American sociologist and writer (1924-2014)

Lillian Breslow Rubin (January 13, 1924 – June 17, 2014) was an American writer, professor, psychotherapist and sociologist. She was a distinguished professor of sociology at Queens College and also worked as a senior researcher at the Institute for the Study of Social Change at the University of California, Berkeley. Rubin was a feminist.
Biography
Rubin was born in Philadelphia, and her parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Her father died when she was five. Rubin and her brother moved to New York after her father died where Rubin's mother worked in the garment industry. The family grew up poor, and her mother was abusive, and often told Rubin that "Girls shouldn't be born." Rubin graduated high school at age fifteen and was hired as a secretary, a job her family saw as "a high achievement." Another reason she started working was so that she could help contribute money for her brother to go to college. Her mother had emphasized that girls "marry up," while boys should go to college. Rubin got married when she was nineteen, and had a daughter, Marci. Her first marriage was to an accountant, Seymour Katz.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Lillian B. Rubin” as american sociologist and writer (1924-2014). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american sociologist and writer (1924-2014). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2488041. VIAF identifies the subject as 41860973. The Library of Congress control number is n82165655. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1924 and 2014.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Lillian B. Rubin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Lillian B. Rubin primary sources, Lillian B. Rubin archive and Lillian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Lillian B. Rubin”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Lillian B. Rubin” 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.