| Before June 20, 1986, a woman could not be a Ms. in the pages of The Times. |
| “The top editor had persuaded the publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, that the usage was a passing fad,” a groundbreaking Times editor, Betsy Wade, wrote recently. |
 The New York Times announced on June 20, 1986, that it would embrace the use of “Ms.” as an honorific. The New York Times |
| So reporters had to pry when interviewing women: Are you Miss or Mrs.? |
| “It’s none of your damned business!” reporters were sometimes told. |
| In 1972, “Ms.” was accepted by the American Heritage School Dictionary. |
| But it took protests, internal pressure, time and a smart strategy to persuade The Times to follow suit. |
| Paula Kassell, a feminist writer and publisher, bought Times stock so that she could raise questions about the policy at shareholders’ meetings. |
| In April 1986, she persuaded Mr. Sulzberger to convene language experts — but then received word that the paper would allow “Ms.” without further discussion. |
| As The Times prepared its first edition using “Ms.,” Ms. Wade wrote, “Gloria Steinem, Mary Thom and other editors of Ms. magazine walked into the city room with a basket of flowers for the editor” — A. M. Rosenthal — “and the copy editors and reporters applauded.” |
| David Dunlap contributed reporting. |
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