Stanley Ann Dunham Obana Soetoro (November 29, 1942 - November 7, 1995), known as Ann Dunham and StanleyAnn Dunham, was an American anthropologist, left-wing social activist, and the mother of Senator Barack Obama. She was born in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , to Stanley and Madelyn Dunham. Her father was a furniture salesman in downtown Seattle , Washington , and her mother worked for a bank. After a year living in Seattle , her family moved to Mercer Island , Washington , in 1956 so that 13-year old Ann could attend the Mercer Island High Schoolthat had just opened. At the school she was on the debate team and graduated in 1960. Her family moved to Hawaii and Ann attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she studied anthropology. When Ann Dunham arrived in Hawaii , she was a full fledged radical leftist and practitioner of critical theory. She also began to engage in miscegenation (inter-racial relationships) as part of her attack on society. Susan Blake, one of her frien...