United States Office of War Information
After her parents' divorce, she changed her name to Stephens, her mother's maiden name. Her family relocated to Arlington County, Virginia in the Washington, D.C. area. She attended the University of Alabama for a year, then transferred to Barnard College in New York City, from where she graduated. After college, she took an overseas assignment with the United States Office of War Information (O.W.I.), and was stationed in Chungking.