Born: Nov 6, 1920
Died: Sept 24, 2007
Known For: Public Service, Original Member of NOW and the EEOC
Wait, there was a man among the first officers of the National Organization for Women? This must be yet another fact that highlights the absurdity of equating “feminism” with “man-hating.”
Richard Graham became the first Vice-President of NOW when the brand new group elected its officers at an October 1966 organizing conference. He had previously worked with Aileen Hernandez, another NOW officer, on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). They were both frustrated by the inability or unwillingness of the EEOC and the U.S. government to actually solve the problem of sex discrimination.
Founding With Friedan
Richard Graham was among the founding members of NOW who had been discussing feminism and the burgeoning women’s movement with legendary feminist Betty Friedan. During the early 1960s, feminists and activists in Washington D.C. connected with each other in what Betty Friedan called an “underground feminist movement.” They agreed about the need for an organization that would work on behalf of women the way the NAACP worked for civil rights and fought against racial discrimination.
Before Washington D.C.
Richard Graham was born in 1920 and raised in the Midwest. After growing up in Lima, Ohio and Milwaukee, he eventually saw much of the world through his life’s work. He served in Iran during World War II and later worked in Tunisia for the Peace Corps.
Richard Graham received his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell in 1942. He worked as an engineer during the war and again back home with his father’s manufacturing business before he began his career in public service in 1961. He later earned a master’s in education and a doctorate in philosophy.
Tackling the Problem of Discrimination
Richard Graham was one of the original commissioners appointed to the EEOC by President Lyndon Johnson. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex; that last category was a late addition to the legislation. Richard Graham said that the EEOC was more willing to work on race discrimination than sex discrimination.
Among other employment issues, Richard Graham fought against segregated job ads, which listed jobs as either “Help Wanted Male” or “Help Wanted Female.” Although the EEOC voted not to end the segregated ads (until years later), he and Aileen Hernandez notably cast their dissenting votes when the Commission decided that issue.
Public Servant and Visionary Leader
Richard Graham’s other accomplishments include several important leadership roles:
- Director of the National Teacher Corps, which brought teachers to struggling schools
- Peace Corps Director in Tunisia from 1963-1965
- Founder of the District of Columbia Commission on the Status of Women
- First Director of the Center for Moral Development at Harvard
- President of Goddard College from 1975-1976
- Co-Founder of the Goddard-Cambridge Center for Social Change, an early Women’s Studies center
- Advisor to the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy based in Washington, D.C.
Richard Graham died in Maryland in 2007.