Anna Margaret Glenn an American advocate for people with disabilities and communication disorders as well as the wife of astronaut and Senator John Glenn – died on May 19 2020 due to Covid 19.
Suffering from stuttering at an early age, Glenn was notable for raising awareness of children and adults suffering from this, among other, disabilities.
Anna Margaret Castor was born on February 17, 1920, in Columbus, Ohio, to parents Homer and Margaret Castor. Her father was a dentist. In 1923, the Castor family moved to New Concord, Ohio.
Castor met John Glenn at a very young age when her parents became involved in the same community organizations as Glenn’s parents. The families developed a friendship which allowed Castor and Glenn to remain close as they grew up. The pair became high school sweethearts and continued dating through college. Castor attended Muskingum College where she majored in music with a minor in secretarial skills and physical education. Castor was an active member of the swim team, volleyball team, and tennis team. She graduated in 1942. Even though she received an offer for a pipe organ scholarship from the Juilliard School, Castor declined the offer, choosing instead to stay in Ohio with Glenn. Castor and Glenn were married on April 6, 1943.
During the early years of her marriage to John Glenn, Annie Glenn worked as an organist in various churches and taught trombone lessons.
Through the middle of the twentieth century, the Cold War tensions between the United States of America and the Soviet Union heightened. In an effort to boost American citizens’ confidence in their government, President Eisenhower decided to become involved in the Space Race and launch Project Mercury. Seven young men were chosen for this space mission. These all-American astronauts were regarded as wholesome heroes and their wives were the picture of domestic patriotism. Annie Glenn was one of the wives of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Glenn and the other six wives formed a tight-knit support group called the Astronaut Wives Club. These women became celebrities overnight and were influential in shaping American identity.
During this time of national anxiety, Americans found security in their values of family, patriotism, and consumerism, all of which were embodied in Glenn. During the 1950s, the desire to have a perfect family life was so ingrained in societal values it seemed to Americans a harmonious family life was necessary for national security. There was a quiet but prevalent understanding that women needed to pursue a peaceful marriage as a way to support the United States during the Cold War. American women turned to Glenn, who had been elevated in the media because of her all-American family, as a role model on how to maintain a happy home. Glenn was also an indirect propagator of the American value of consumption. The appearance of the Astronaut Wives in the media was marketed to average American housewives. For example, when the wives wore a shade of “responsible pink” lipstick to a Life magazine photoshoot, the published photographs showed the wives wearing “patriotic red” lipstick instead. The lip color was changed to represent a new, vibrant period in American history. After the magazine was published, red lipstick became a fad. Similarly, while Mercury 7 astronauts were given sporty Corvettes to drive, the wives were strongly encouraged to keep their family-friendly station wagons, which meant that the average American housewives who were following the Astronaut Wives’ example also bought station wagons. As a result of Glenn and the other members of the Astronaut Wives Club, women across the U.S. were inspired to be brave and of course, to buy the same consumer goods Glenn and the other wives had in their homes.
Like her father, Annie Glenn experienced a speech stutter throughout her life. As a child, Glenn did not feel hindered by her stutter; she happily participated in activities such as softball, girl scouts, school dances, and choir. It was not until sixth grade that she first realized her speech impairment. It was determined that her stutter was present in eighty-five percent of her verbal utterances. Despite her difficulty speaking, she was able to create and maintain close relationships. After graduating college, Glenn wanted to get a job in a different town but because of her disability, her parents were worried about her living independently. However, Glenn found ways to effectively communicate without speaking out loud. For example, before shopping, she would write down exactly what she was looking for and then show the note to the sales clerk when she needed help.
Annie Glenn, the lifetime companion and the wife of national icon John Glenn, was the steadfast alter ego for her hero husband but she didn’t spend her life living in his shadow.
John and Annie were a strong couple — married 73 years — but while John spent his life in the air and in public service, Annie spent hers here on Earth, focused on the people who often go unseen: the disabled.
For more than five decades, Annie wrestled with the burden of a severe stutter, which pulled apart and severed her speech. She was an 85 percent stutter, meaning she would become “hung up on 85 percent of the words she tried to speak, which was a severe handicap,” as John Glenn put it. She knew every time she wanted to speak something could and usually did, go awry.
At age 53, Glenn discovered and attended a three-week treatment course at Hollins Communications Research Institute in Roanoke, Virginia, to help with her dysfluency. After attending the treatment course, her speech was greatly improved, however, she did not consider herself “cured” of stuttering. Glenn was finally able to confidently verbally interact with others. When her husband began campaigning for the Senate, she was able to support him by giving speeches at public events and at rallies. Glenn used her newfound voice to bring attention to the disabled whom she knew had been overlooked so often.
In 1983, Annie Glenn received the first national award of the American Speech and Hearing Association for her meritorious service to those with communicative disorders. In 1987, the National Association for Hearing and Speech Action awarded the first annual Annie Glenn Award for achieving distinction despite a communication disorder. Glenn presented the award to James Earl Jones as its first recipient. She was inducted into the National Stuttering Association Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2015, The Ohio State University renamed 17th Avenue (on its campus) to Annie and John Glenn Avenue.
Glenn was an adjunct professor with Ohio State’s Speech Pathology Department. In 2009, the university awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Public Service to recognize her work on behalf of children and others. The department awards the “Annie Glenn Leadership Award” annually to a person that has displayed innovative and inspirational work in speech/language pathology.
At the time of her husband’s death in December 2016, Annie and John Glenn had been married for 73 years and eight months. During the course of their marriage, the couple had two children — John David, born in 1945, and Carolyn Ann, born in 1947 — and two grandchildren.
Glenn turned 100 in February 2020. Three months later, on May 19, 2020, she died at a nursing home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from complications of COVID-19.
Glenn was played by Mary Jo Deschanel in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. The film highlighted her stutter, particularly in a scene involving Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. In a 2015 interview, she and John Glenn indicated that, although they liked the Tom Wolfe book, they did not care for the movie adaptation of The Right Stuff.
In the 2015 ABC-TV series The Astronaut Wives Club, she is portrayed by Azure Parsons.