Faye Wattleton
Faye Wattleton | |
---|---|
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | |
Education | Ohio State University (BA) Columbia University (MS) |
Occupation(s) | Feminist activist Author and news commentator Registered nurse |
Website | Official website |
Faye Wattleton (born Alyce Faye Wattleton; 8 July 1943) is an American reproductive rights activist who was the first
Early life and childhood
Wattleton was born in
Education and early career
Faye Wattleton attended
Wattleton attended Columbia University in New York for post-graduate work on a full scholarship.[10] Due to her interest in children born with drug addictions inherited from their using mothers, Wattleton did her master's thesis on phototoelectrophoresis,[11] the medical term for the test used to screen pregnant mothers for drug use so that a baby can be treated for withdrawal immediately.[11] Wattleton graduated from Columbia with her Master's of Science degree in maternal and infant care, with certification as a nurse-midwife, in 1967.[12]
While working toward her master's degree, she interned at a hospital in Harlem.[10] There, Wattleton saw female patients with life-threatening side effects of unsafe abortions.[9] During her time at the hospital in Harlem she learned about many aspects of unwanted pregnancy.[11] Approximately 6,500 women were admitted for complications from incomplete abortions during her time there.[6] After graduating from Columbia, Wattleton accepted a position as deputy chief of the Dayton Ohio Health Department's visiting nurse association's maternal and child health programs.[11] For two years she also served as the nursing instructor at the Miami Valley Hospital School of Nursing in Dayton[10]
While working in Dayton facilities, Wattleton kept track of the numbers of mothers receiving prenatal care and realized that about 30 percent of them received none.[11] Based on her view of neighborhood health clinics helping pregnant women in New York, Wattleton pushed for a similar system in Dayton.[11] Her efforts were rewarded with the establishment of one such clinic where Wattleton and another nurse would treat patients for minor issues and refer them to participating area hospitals for major issues and for childbirth.[11]
In Wattleton's role as midwife and deputy of visiting nurses in the Dayton Health Department, she saw many troubled women. The youngest girl that Wattleton cared for in her clinic was 13 years old.[11] During her time in this position Wattleton thought about the societal consequences that pregnancy had on young mothers. The issue of teenage pregnancy troubled Wattleton and she began to work for women's reproductive rights.[11] She joined the board of the local Planned Parenthood and shortly after, in 1970, Wattleton became the president of the Planned Parenthood of Dayton.[13] The legal status of abortion was now on the political agenda. Wattleton accomplished a major victory for Dayton's Planned Parenthood when she began a successful initiative to provide teenagers with contraceptives without their parent's consent.[11] In 1978, Faye Wattleton was appointed President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America by its board, making her the first African American woman to lead the organization.[6]
Leadership of Planned Parenthood
Under her presidency at the
Supreme Court rulings on abortion during Wattleton's advocacy
Faye Wattleton worked for reproductive rights at a time in America where the political tension surrounding the issue was mounting. In January 1973, the Court issued
Post Planned Parenthood career
After leaving Planned Parenthood, Wattleton hosted a Chicago-based television talk show from 1992 to 1995.[4] After the show ended, Wattleton began to give lectures across the country[6] and created a non-profit think tank called the Center for Gender Equality, renamed the Center for the Advancement of Women in 2002.[15] The purpose of this center was to "promote strategies for dismantling the obstacles that impede full equality for women".[15] and to start a national conversation about the economic, political and educational aspects of women's everyday lives. The center closed in 2010 due to fundraising difficulties.[16] In 2017, Wattleton Co-Founded EeroQ Quantum Computing with Nick Farina and Michigan State Professor Johannes Pollanen.[17]
Personal life
In 1970, Faye Wattleton's Parents moved to Texas where her mother preached at a small congregation outside of Houston.[11] Wattleton was experiencing immense change in her occupational path as director of Planned Parenthood, Miami Valley when her father got lung cancer. By the time that she found out, he only had six months to live.[11] He died that same year.
Also during this time, Wattleton's mother was struggling with the activism of her daughter. Her mother often told her that she was killing children and going against "God's word".[11] Wattleton struggled to balance her faith and her activism. Her church stood at odds with pro-choice ideals. This would be a barrier in the relationship Wattleton held with her mother.[11]
Faye Wattleton met her future husband, Franklin Gordon, in 1972.[11] He was a jazz musician whom she had met at a conference sponsored by the Junior League.[11] After the conference they parted, but Franklin wrote and mailed Faye poems.[11] Wanting to have children, Wattleton married Gordon at the end of August in 1972.[11] In January 1975, she learned that she was pregnant.[11] She worked during her pregnancy by running for President of the National Executive Directors Council (NEDC) of Planned Parenthood's midwestern regional affiliates. On October 20, 1975, Wattleton gave birth to her daughter, Felicia Megan Gordon.[11] Wattleton and Gordon divorced in 1981.[18]
Books and awards
In 1986, the American Humanist Association named her Humanist of the Year.[19]
In 1992, Wattleton received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.[20][21]
She was a 1993 inductee into the National Women's Hall of Fame.[22]
In 1996, she published her autobiography, Life on the Line. Wattleton wanted to show people why she became an advocate for reproductive health. The book highlights important moments in her career.[6]
Also in 1996, she received the Margaret Sanger Woman of Valor Award[20]
She contributed the piece "Unfinished Agenda: Reproductive Rights" to the 2003 anthology
In 2004, Wattleton won the Fries Prize for Improving Health.
Other awards that she received include: American Public Health Association's Award of Excellence; the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Humanitarian Award; Independent Sector's John Gardner Award; and the Women's Honors in Public Service from the American Nurses Association.[15]
Wattleton served on the Boards for
Wattleton has also received 15 honorary doctoral degrees.[20]
References
- ^ "History & Successes". Planned Parenthood. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ISBN 9781578593231.
- ^ "NCOA Welcomes New Chair-Elect Faye Wattleton". NCOA. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
- ^ a b "Alyce Faye Wattleton Biography". The HistoryMakers. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
- ^ "Faye Wattleton". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9780787691240.
- ^ Green, Jesse. "What I've Learned ... From My Daughter". Oprah.com. O, the Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ a b Port, Rachel (11 February 2013). "A Conversation With Faye Wattleton: Part 2, Belief and Mission". Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ a b Middleton, Britt (8 July 2013). "This Day in Black History: July 8, 1943". BET. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9781578593231.
- ^ OCLC 35652753.
- ^ Jone Johnson Lewis. "Faye Wattleton". About.com Women's History. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780521402583.
- ^ a b c d e "A History of Key Abortion Rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Faye Wattleton Biographical Sketch". www.ncccusa.org. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
- ^ "Collection: Center for the Advancement of Women records | Smith College Finding Aids". findingaids.smith.edu. Retrieved 7 November 2021. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 3.0 license.
- ^ "Quantum Computing Startup | Quantum Computing Report". 5 September 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ^ Lisa, Schwartzman (1 November 1996). "Lie on the line". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Humanists of the Year". American Humanist Association. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
Faye Wattleton - 1986
- ^ a b c "Faye Wattleton". Baker & Taylor Author Biographies. 2 January 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Jefferson Awards FoundationNational - Jefferson Awards Foundation". Jefferson Awards Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ "Women's Issues". The Fischer Ross Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 31 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
- ^ "Library Resource Finder: Table of Contents for: Sisterhood is forever : the women's anth". Vufind.carli.illinois.edu. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
Sources
- "Wattleton, Faye"[dead link] (2007). Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
- Interview on Hillary Clinton and Obama on YouTube
External links
- Official website
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Faye Wattleton on Charlie Rose
- Faye Wattleton at IMDb
- "A Conversation With Faye Wattleton". (2013). Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona. Retrieved 15 March 2013.