Sara Finkelstein (née Finkelstein; September 21, 1917 – September 3, 2015) was born in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn. She attended Parsons School of Design on scholarships from the School Art League of NYC and the National Council of Jewish Women, graduating in 1939. She acquired the nickname, “Little Sara,” during school due to her being 4’11” in height. Upon entering the industry, she then adopted the name “Little” professionally.
Postwar, Sara was hired by many Fortune 100 companies to design new applications for technologies that were developed for the war effort. Consulting with international corporations and governments’ leadership, Sara was recognized within the business world, but invisible to the general public. “I am scrupulous about not taking credit for any idea,” she said. “An original concept may be mine, but the result is only as good as its final implementation.”
“Ninety percent of my career was made up of failure, but failure is not defeat for those who innovate and look for new horizons.”
Sara Little Turnbull
In 1974, Sara Little Center for Design Research at the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington was born with artifacts Sara gathered in her travels – clothing, cooking and dinning implements, textiles, artworks. In 1988, Sara School’s Process of Change Lab at Stanford Business School, which later moved to Sara Little Center for Design Research. The purpose of Sara Little Center for Design Research is to educate and enhance the public’s knowledge in the area of design and further the education of disadvantaged women. Sara also taught in various schools from MIT to Harvard in addition to Stanford University.
Bibliography
About Sara Little Turnbull. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://centerfordesign.net/about-sara
Laboratory Director Shuts Red Door. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from http://web.archive.org/web/20070429174627/http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm0611/spreadsheet_turnbull.html
McFadden, R. D. (2015, September 07). Sara Little, Peripatetic Product Designer, Dies at 97. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/business/sara-little-turnbull-product-designer-inspired-by-anthropology-and-nature-dies-at-97.html?_r=1
Rees, P. (n.d.). Sara Little Turnbull. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.womenshistory.org/sara-little-turnbull
