Emma Nolan, Editor-in-Chief
@emman_courant
Happy Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day! March is a month to remember inspirational and influential women throughout history. Throughout the remaining weeks of March I’ll be posting my favorite feminist heroes to celebrate their accomplishments. Stay tuned for more!
Esther Peterson
Esther Peterson. Photo taken from Google
Esther Peterson was one of the most influential driving forces behind gender equality and the wage gap. One of Peterson’s main projects was raising the minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents an hour for all people. In her goal of raising minimum wage, Peterson joined the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO, becoming its first woman lobbyist. Working on JFK’s first campaign, Peterson was appointed head of the Women’s Bureau in the Department of Labor. Peterson then established the President’s Commission on the Status of Women to further highlight her studies of female status. The commission brought attention to the lack of help and daycare for working parents, equal pay for equal work, and women clustered in low-wage work. The report started a national debate over the value of women’s work, drawing more positive attention to the issue, eventually creating a great change for working women. The same commission also sparked the National Women’s Committee on Civil Rights to ensure African American women were heard in the civil rights movement, eventually creating help for all types of women. Peterson was also honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame as “one of the nation’s most effective and beloved catalysts for change.”
