Dorothy Cohen Frank; Backed UNESCO

Dorothy Cohen Frank, a writer who earned national attention for championing UNESCO, has died. She was 80.

Mrs. Frank died of cancer July 26 at her Laguna Hills home, her daughter, Ellen Frank, said this week.

During the anti-communist era of the early 1950s, many parents and organizations claimed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was politically pro-communist, and advocated eliminating it from the Los Angeles school curriculum.

But as chairman of the Education Committee of Women for Legislative Action, Mrs. Frank defended UNESCO and argued that it must be taught about here.

“Los Angeles must not be allowed to become the ostrich city of our country,” she told the Board of Education.

“Teaching children to become world citizens has no political intent,” she argued. “To neglect to teach them about UNESCO and the United Nations is to neglect their education.”

Her negative reception prompted Mrs. Frank to write an article for Collier’s magazine in 1953 titled “I Was Called Subversive.”

Her article caused complaining readers to brand the magazine and Mrs. Frank “pro-communist.” It was cited as a major reason behind an organized advertising boycott that helped bring about the prestigious magazine’s demise.

Mrs. Frank asserted in the nationally circulated article: “UNESCO does not abridge a single American right. It is specifically prohibited from intervening in any nation’s domestic jurisdiction.

“No, it is not a world government,” she wrote. “It has no power except to appeal to the ration and conscience of man. No, it is not Communist.”

Her advocacy won her the Woman of the Year award from her own Women for Legislative Action, and honors from the League of Women Voters.

Mrs. Frank also wrote for The Nation magazine, and authored three cookbooks--”La Gourmette Violet,” “The Peanut Cookbook,” and “Cooking With Nuts.”

When she was 55, the longtime housewife took a full-time job licensing foster homes for Los Angeles County.

Her friends and family affectionately referred to her as “the purple lady” because of her penchant for dressing completely in purple, even in an era when the color was reserved for royalty or mourning.

The widow of Dr. Justin Frank, she is survived by her daughter, her son, Justy, and four grandchildren.

The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to Physicians for Social Responsibility, Suite 810, 1000 16th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, or Artists Fellowship, Inc., 47 5th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10024.