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EPISODE · May 5, 2025 · 39 MIN

Altina Schinasi

from Stuff You Missed in History Class · host iHeartPodcasts

Altina Schinasi is known as the inventor of cat-eye glasses, but she was also an artist, a documentarian, and an activist. And she was very frank about her own faults and bad decisions. Research: “Altina Schinasi 1924 (1907-1999).” Helen Temple Cook Library. Dana Hall School. https://library.danahall.org/archives/danapedia/alumnae/altina-schinasi-1924-1907-1999/ “Altina Schinasi's 116th Birthday.” Google Doodle. https://doodles.google/doodle/altina-schinasis-116th-birthday/ “Altina Schinasi, The Harlem Girl Who Knew Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Salvador Dali And Invented Cat-Eye Glasses.” Harlem World. June 21, 2023. https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/altina-schinasi-the-harlem-girl-who-knew-martin-luther-king-rosa-parks-salvador-dali-and-invented-cat-eye-glasses/ “Artist Altina Schinasi Miranda Dies at 92.” Ventura County Star. Aug. 17, 1999. https://www.newspapers.com/image/935509837/?match=1&terms=Altina%20Schinasi Bachz, Betty. “From Audrey Hepburn to Hailey Bieber: How cat-eye frames became a timeless look.” Vogue Scandinavia. Oct. 8, 2021. https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/history-of-the-cat-eye-sunglasses “Heiress Asks Divorce.” The Cleveland Press. June 21, 1933. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1164656661/?match=1&terms=Altina%20Schinasi “The League’s Legacy.” Art Students League of New York. https://www.artstudentsleague.org/timeline#timeline “Mengel Module Furniture - Morris B. Sanders.” Modernism 101. https://modernism101.com/products-page/industrial-design/mengel-module-furniture-promotionalsales-ephemera-for-morris-b-sanders-furniture-designed-in-1946-produced-by-the-mengel-furniture-company-of-louisville-ky/ “Morris Schinasi.” The Daily Times. Sept. 13, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/724032205/?match=1&terms=Morris%20Schinasi “Morris Schinasi Leaves $1,300,000 to Institutions.” The Daily Times. Sept. 28, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/724032801/ Ravo, Nick. “Altina Schinasi Miranda, 92, Designer of Harlequin Glasses.” The New York Times. Aug. 21, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/21/arts/altina-schinasi-miranda-92-designer-of-harlequin-glasses.html “Rose-Colored Glasses.” Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Sept. 12, 1939. https://www.newspapers.com/image/88914623/?match=1&terms=%22harlequin%20eyeglasses%20%22 Sander, Peter. “Altina.” 2014. Schinasi Estate Put at $8,014,962.” The Springfield Morning Union. May 2, 1930. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1067224117/?match=1&terms=Altina%20Schinasi Peabody, Pam. “Visions: sculptor Altina interviewed by Pam Peabody.” American Women Making History and Culture. WFPW. 1978. https://archive.org/details/pacifica_radio_archives-WZ0295.01 Zaltzman, Lior. “The Pioneering Sephardic Jewish Mother Invented the Cat-Eye Glasses.” Kveller. Aug. 4, 2023. https://www.kveller.com/this-pioneering-sephardic-jewish-mother-invented-the-cat-eye-glasses/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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