 1953), and taught English at the Jefferson School, a Manhattan private school favored by the political left.Gitel and husband Robert Steed opened the doors of their house on West 23rd Street to visitors who included Ruth Bunzel, Sula Benet, Vera Rubin, Stanley Diamond, Alexander Lesser, Margaret Mead, and Conrad Arensberg.In 1970 Steed revisited Bakrana, its population then doubled since her last visit, to observe the impact of the transforming politics in India.