Antedating of "Libber," "Women's Libber"

[Garson O'Toole]

Fred Shapiro wrote:
> libber (OED 1971), women's libber (OED 1971)
>
> 1970 _L.A. Times_ 22 Oct. H19 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)  The men's s=
> hop has already been frequentd by visiting writer-Women's Libber Gloria Ste=
> inem.

Here is an instance of "women's libber" a little earlier in 1970.

Cite: 1970 August 04, Hutchinson News, The View From Here: Books and
Such by s.a., Page 4, Column 6, Hutchinson, Kansas. (NewspaperArchive)

[Begin excerpt]
What we could use right now is a revival of Gilbert and Sullivan's
"Princess Ida," which Gilbert said was "a respectful perversion of Mr.
Tennyson's exquisite poem." The poem was published in 1847, 123 years
ahead of Women's Lib, but pertinent.

POEM AND operetta poke fun at women who would reform the world and
exalt their sex to its rightful place. They concern a 19th century
women's libber who founds a female university in a castle, barring men
on pain of death.
[End excerpt]

There is another match in the NewspaperArchive database in the Montana
Standard newspaper of Butte, Montana. The database assigns a date of
December 30, 1960 to the match; however, direct examination of the PDF
revealed that the date was November 20, 1974.

Garson

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