ANN SAND

SAND--Ann Sulzberger, social worker and longtime activist, dies at 89. Ann Sand died May 17 in Sleepy Hollow, NY after a very brief illness. Sand was an early champion of many causes that found broader support years after her advocacy. Greater compassion in society's social safety net, childhood literacy and rights for the homeless were among her personal and professional passions. She also was an avid tennis and ping pong player, with a nasty left hand spin. Sand was married for 61 years to federal Judge Leonard B. Sand (SDNY) who died in 2016. A lifelong New Yorker, she was the youngest daughter of David H. and Louise B. Sulzberger. Sand was a graduate of the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and received her M.S.W. from the New York School of Social Work at Columbia University. Her board service over the years included Citizens Committee for Children, Columbia University, Reach Out and Read (New York) and others. In 1950, while in college, Sand corresponded with then Chair of the United Nations Commission of Human Rights Eleanor Roosevelt, expressing concern that Ms. Roosevelt's address to the college would be before a segregated audience. In response to Sand's letter, Roosevelt wrote that she would not speak to a segregated audience. The college then opened up the event to all who wished to attend. In 2018, Sand gifted Ms. Roosevelt's letter to the FDR Presidential Library in Hyde Park, NY. Sand is survived by her children David, Robert and Peggy Sand and their spouses Jocelyn, Andrea and Jonathan, and her six grandchildren Ted, Naomi and Paul Sand; Anna Sand; and Max and Alison Sand Kronstadt. She was predeceased by her sisters, Jean Sulzberger and Ellen Sulzberger Straus. Funeral services will be private. Contributions in memory of Ann S. Sand may be made to Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 1102, New York, NY 10038. https://www.reachoutand readnyc.org/donate